"A most valuable and engrossing book that will surely be read by all those who write about jazz. Fans will also seek it out. It offers a wealth of perspectives, allowing the reader to learn what people in other disciplines have to say about jazz."--Lewis Porter, author, with Michael Ullman, of "Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present"

Acknowledgments viiIntroduction: The Jazz Canon and Its Consequences / Krin Gabbard 1Rethinking Jazz History"Moldy Figs" and Modernists: Jazz at War (1942–1946) / Bernard Gendron 31Jazz in Crisis, 1948–1958: Ideology and Representation / Steven B. Elworth 57Other: From Noun to Verb / Nathaniel Mackey 76Historical Context and the Definition of Jazz: Putting More of the History in "Jazz History" / William Howland Kenney 100Oral Histories of Jazz Musicians: The NEA Transcripts as Texts in Context / Burton W. Peretti 117The Media of Memory: The Seductive Menace of Records in Jazz History / Jed Rasula 134Jazz Artists Among the Discourses"Out of Notes": Signification, Interpretation, and the Problem of Miles Davis / Robert Walser 165Critical Alchemy: Anthony Braxton and the Imagined Tradition / Ronald M. Radano 189Ephemera Underscored: Writing Around Free Improvisation / John Corbett 217The Essential Context: Jazz and PoliticsDouble V, Double-Time: Bebop's Politics of Style / Eric Lott 243Ascension: Music and the Black Arts Movement / Lorenzo Thomas 256Contributors 275Index 277