Jazz has always been a genre built on the blending of disparate musical cultures. Latin jazz proves this rule perhaps better than any other style in this rich tradition, yet its cultural heritage has been all but erased from narratives of jazz history. Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz corrects the record. Acclaimed musician and jazz scholar Christopher Washburne traces the roots of Latin jazz back to 18th and 19th century colonial New Orleans, and follows its evolution to the 21st century global stage. Washburne provides a historical account that embraces the genre's international nature and explores the dynamic interplay of economics, race, ethnicity, and nationalism that shaped it. Along the way, he highlights the African American and Latin American traditions whose influence is still present in Latin jazz today, exploring cultural centers like New York and Cuba, moments like the Civil Rights Movement and the emergence of pan-Africanism, and the careers of musicians like Chano Pozo and Tito Puente. Told from the illuminating perspective of a long-time jazz insider, Latin Jazz proves the genre's remarkable transcendence beyond stylistic, national, and racial borders.

Book Information
ISBN 9780195371628
Author Christopher Washburne
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press