The New York loft jazz scene of the 1970s was a pivotal period for uncompromising, artist-produced work. Faced with a flagging jazz economy, a group of young avant-garde improvisers chose to eschew the commercial sphere and develop alternative venues in the abandoned factories and warehouses of Lower Manhattan. Loft Jazz provides the first book-length study of this period, tracing its history amid a series of overlapping discourses surrounding collectivism, urban renewal, experimentalist aesthetics, underground archives, and the radical politics of self-determination.

About the Author
Michael C. Heller is an ethnomusicologist, music historian, and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews
"[Heller] paints a kaleidoscopic portrait... inherently fascinating." The Wire "Heller - through dozens of interviews and painstaking research that included full access to the ample personal archive of percussionist Juma Sultan, a pivotal figure in the movement - refreshingly moves beyond reductionist notions." Village Voice "Using interviews and archival research, Michael G. Heller examines the scene's rise and eventual fall from historical, pedagogical and sociological perspectives... [He] itemizes what differentiated Loft Jazz from other styles and how its creation, dissemination and demise affected innovative jazz." The New York City Jazz Record



Book Information
ISBN 9780520285415
Author Michael C. Heller
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 408g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 15mm