Thriving on a Riff
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From the Harlem Renaissance to the present, African American writers have drawn on the rich heritage of jazz and blues, transforming musical forms into the written word. In this companion volume to The Hearing Eye, distinguished contributors ranging from Bertram Ashe to Steven C. Tracy explore the musical influence on such writers as Sterling Brown, J.J. Phillips, Paul Beatty, and Nathaniel Mackey. Here, too, are Graham Lock's engaging interviews with contemporary poets Michael S. Harper and Jayne Cortez, along with studies of the performing self, in Krin Gabbard's account of Miles Davis and John Gennari's investigation of fictional and factual versions of Charlie Parker. The book also looks at African Americans in and on film, from blackface minstrelsy to the efforts of Duke Ellington and John Lewis to rescue jazz from its stereotyping in Hollywood film scores as a signal for sleaze and criminality. Concluding with a proposal by Michael Jarrett for a new model of artistic influence, Thriving on a Riff makes the case for the seminal cross-cultural role of jazz and blues.Features
- Reveals fascinating new connections between jazz, blues, film, and literature
- Offers fresh insights into how America's music has been adopted by cultures around the world
- Written by top-notch scholars in the field
Reviews
"The authors...provide a stimulating variety of literary perspectives on jazz...a provocative and nuanced cross-disciplinary approach to jazz in particular and art in general."-- AllAboutJazz.com
"Criss-crossing artistic and disciplinary divides with an exemplary spirit of inquiry, the essays and interviews collected in Thriving on a Riff make a vital contribution to our understanding of the influence of jazz and blues on other forms of African American creative practice. In addition to documenting salient moments in this history of cross-genre interplay, Graham Lock and David Murray have extended the archive with an accompanying website through which curious readers can now become active listeners. I encourage you to tune in."
--Ajay Heble, Professor, School of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph/ Artistic Director, The Guelph Jazz Festival
"Examining complex issues of authenticity, identity, and assimilation within a broad cultural context, Thriving on a Riff's thought-provoking essays and interviews illuminate the various meanings and metaphors of a music that remains as misunderstood as it is inspirational and sublime." --Art Lange, co-editor, Moment's Notice: Jazz in Poetry & Prose
"For decades, many critics and scholars have argued that most African American art is informed by black music. This fascinating collection tries to unpack just what that means by exploring the 'jazzistic' character of African American writing and filmmaking. Essential reading for all students of American culture."
--Robin D. G. Kelley, Author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination
"Highly readable and will fascinate anyone intrigued by where jazz goes when it steps outside music."--Jazz UK
About the Author(s)
Graham Lock is a freelance writer, Special Lecturer in American Music, University of Nottingham, and author, Forces in Motion: Anthony Braxton and the Meta-reality of Creative Music (Quartet, 1988), Chasing the Vibration: Meetings with Creative Musicians (Stride, 1994), and Blutopia: Visions of the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington and Anthony Braxton (Duke, 1999), and editor, Mixtery: A Festschrift for Anthony Braxton (Stride, 1995).
David Murray is Professor of American Studies, University of Nottingham, and author, Indian Giving: Economies of Power in Early Indian-White Exchanges (Massachusetts UP, 2000), Forked Tongues: Speech, Writing and Representation in North American Indian Texts (Indiana UP, 1992), and Matter, Magic and Spirit: Representing Indian and African American Belief (Pennsylvania UP, 2007).
Companion Resources
The following resources are available from the "Thriving on a Riff" companion site:
