Jazz Appreciation Month

April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Jazz is a uniquely American musical art form. It originated in the African-American community in New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 1800s. The Great Migration helped to spread Jazz to other parts of the country. The development of commercial radio programming in the 1920s made Jazz a national and international phenomenon.

New Orleans, March 2010. Jazz dance at "Maison", 508 Frenchmen Street. Detroit Brooks on banjo, Dr. Michael White on clarinet, Gregg Stafford, trumpet.
By Seamus Murray (originally posted to Flickr as Maison) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. 

Our library has a large collection of Jazz books, audio recordings, and other items.

Books:
The Contradictions of Jazz by Paul E. Rinzler
Giants of Jazz by Studs Terkel
Jazz: A History of America's Music by Geoffrey C. Ward
Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition by Tony Whyton
Jazz Improvisation for Keyboard Players by Dan Haerle
Jazz Italian Style: From its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra by Anna Harwell Celenza
Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence by Andre Hodier
Jazz Masters of the Thirties by Rex Stewart
The Jazz Tradition by Martin T. Williams
Texan Jazz by Dave Oliphant
Understanding Jazz by Leroy Ostransky
Where's the Melody? A Listeners' Introduction to Jazz by Martin T. Williams
Why Jazz Happened by Marc Myers

Thelonious Monk in 1947.
William P. Gottlieb [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Digital Audio Recordings:
Billie Holiday: The Commodore Master Takes by Billie Holiday
Cole Porter Songbook by Cole Porter
Count Basie and Oscar Peterson: Yessir, That's my Baby by Count Basie
Ella Fitzgerald, the Best of the Concert Years by Ella Fitzgerald
The European Tour by John Coltrane
Gentle Duke by Duke Ellington
Miles Davis Plays for Lovers by Miles Davis
Satchmo Serenades by Louis Armstrong

Ella Fitzgerald in 1947.
By William P. Gottlieb  [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Biographies:
Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon by Donald Clarke
Count Basie: Swingin' the Blues, 1936-1950 by Ken Vail
Duke Ellington and His World: A Biography by A.H. Lawrence
Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Biography by Stuart Nicholson
John Coltrane and Black America's Quest for Freedom: Spirituality and the Music by Leonard L. Brown
Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life by Laurence Bergreen
Miles Davis: A Biography by Ian Carr
Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making by Gabriel Solis

Louis Armstrong in 1953.
By World-Telegram staff photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Let us know if you need help finding additional library resources on Jazz or any other topic by calling 254-968-9249 or emailing reference@tarleton.edu.