Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Why Jazz Happened

By: Marc Myers
Narrated by: Peter Lerman
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Why Jazz Happened is the first comprehensive social history of jazz. It provides an intimate and compelling look at the many forces that shaped this most American of art forms and the many influences that gave rise to jazz’s post-war styles. Rich with the voices of musicians, producers, promoters, and others on the scene during the decades following World War II, this book views jazz’s evolution through the prism of technological advances, social transformations, changes in the law, economic trends, and much more.

In an absorbing narrative enlivened by the commentary of key personalities, Marc Myers describes the myriad of events and trends that affected the music's evolution, among them, the American Federation of Musicians strike in the early 1940s, changes in radio and concert-promotion, the introduction of the long-playing record, the suburbanization of Los Angeles, the Civil Rights movement, the “British invasion” and the rise of electronic instruments. This groundbreaking book deepens our appreciation of this music by identifying many of the developments outside of jazz itself that contributed most to its texture, complexity, and growth.

The book is published by University of California Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

“A highly engaging, thoroughly researched book.” (All About Jazz)

“A needed historical overview...Highly recommended.” (CHOICE)

"Excellent new jazz history. . . . A refreshingly concrete volume on a genre that stubbornly, sometimes proudly, refuses to be defined." (The New York City Jazz Record)

©2013 The Regents of the University of California (P)2023 Redwood Audiobooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Move On Up cover art
Otis Redding cover art
The British Invasion (The Bands): The Best 60s Pop & Rock cover art
A Song for Everyone cover art
Help! cover art
Quincy Jones: His Life in Music cover art
Hip Hop America cover art
Quit Your Band! Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground cover art
Man in the Music cover art
Only Wanna Be with You cover art
Hungry Beat cover art
Kick It cover art
Bring That Beat Back cover art
David Bowie Made Me Gay cover art
Listen to This cover art
Play It Loud cover art

What listeners say about Why Jazz Happened

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.