 |   Author : Kabir Sehgal Edition : 1st Number of Pages : 264 Publisher : Better World Books List Price: Our Price: $8.18 You Save: $13.77 (63%) Used Price : $5.43 |
Product Description
Sometimes a jam session includestrading fours,where each member of the band takes four measures to solo. If someone forgets to play his four, there is a flagrant void of sound. If you play one measure extra, you're not respecting the form. In the jam session of a Jazzocracy, Americans trade fours with each other. Talk and listen. In the 1950s, jazz musicians became the literal embodiment of American democracy. Through one of the largest ever funded cultural projects, premier jazz musicians traveled to places beyond the Iron Curtain, and throughout the Third World in an effort to promulgate ideals of democracy. Now, from a new generation, we have a new challenge. It s the challenge to see the evolution of jazz and democracy as forming our next set of mythologies, ones that cast beyond the tired legacy of Billy the Kid, or the degraded trends of popular music. This young author asks the big question are we forgetting the very spirit that inspired jazz in the first place? Kabir Sehgal shows us how jazz can help us recapture America s rightful soul.
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Customer reviews
Read this book! by .. Eugene Marlow (New York City)
Review by Eugene Marlow, Ph.D
In a later chapter of Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology, Kabir Sehgal writes: "It is illuminating that those who were the most oppressed in America [blacks] have created the most democratic of arts." This simple statement is fraught with layers of meaning in a book that delves comprehensively into the metaphor of jazz-as-democracy.
Jazzocracy gives an initial impression of a young first-time author who wants to tell you everything he or she ever learned about a subject, like many top students who have yet to integrate and organize their knowledge. By the end of the book, however, you realize you have just read something brilliant, articulate, insightful and important.
In part, Jazzocracy shines because of its compactness. With a narrative only 171 pages long, it consists of 650 endnotes drawn from 237 sources. Sehgal's work succeeds at melding the seemingly disparate subjects implied by jazz and democracy.
jazzocracy review by .. When in doubt, keep it interesting (california)
mr. sehgal has written a good book, here. the important thing to realize is not whether there are ideas in jazzocracy that are found elsewhere, or that he has famous people writing blurbs on the back of his book jacket; kabir sehgal has found a way to resonate the point of his book to a new generation (one does not really think of music and government together) this is most important. he's a bright, young author with an international background, and i read the book because, for a change, here was a book on jazz and government, not written by your balding, cynical, white (self- proclaimed) scholar.
Jazzocracy: Inspiring and Engaging by .. Krista P. Bower (Jackson, MS)
Kabir Sehgal's well-crafted book challenges both the jazz aficionado and the novice jazz listener. As one who has recently discovered the beauty and depth of this American art form, reading Jazzocracy was a perfect complement to my jazz education. As Mr. Sehgal writes in Jazzocracy, "Jazz deserves to be preserved, encouraged and promoted because it retains certain fundamental American qualities that speak to a shared history for all omni-Americans." Jazzocracy is a vital part of this preservation by encouraging readers to identify connections between the democratic process and the give-and-take nature of jazz improvisation. The creative spirit of jazz should inspire its listeners and foster a sense of pride for all Americans who share in this musical heritage. Most interesting is Sehgal's concept of jazz as part of the greater American mythology. Mr. Sehgal's thought-provoking book awakens a strong commitment to jazz and a desire to keep listening and learning.
Fresh Perspective on Little-known Subject by .. Daniel Regenstein (Atlanta, GA)
This book is a terrific read, telling a story few know much about on a subject dear to the hearts of millions of people.
Sehgal tells the story of how jazz and democracy are intertwined, and how they share a remarkable number of similarities. A true student and lover of jazz himself, Sehgal is just the right person to serve as an ambassador of jazz.
For someone who is interested in both politics and music, I found it very interesting to see all of the similarities between the evolution of democracy and jazz, an historical tie that has never before been so thoroughly and convincingly explored.
The story of 'Jazzocracy' is told from Sehgal's own personal experience, which makes for a fascinating story. The book focuses on the close bond linking New Orleans and jazz, and the discussion of the amazing and turbulent lives of many New Orleans musicians is riveting. Indeed, there could hardly be a book about jazz without such a focus, since jazz was born in New Orleans, and reborn there following Katrina.
Jazz is a truly democratic institution, which is why the Nazis and Soviets tried so hard to suppress and ban the medium, including Hitler's banning of all jazz in the Third Reich.
One of America's best weapons against the Soviet Union was using Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts of such music into Russia, creating much goodwill for the United States and undermining Soviet efforts to discredit America.
Whether you have an interest in politics, music, or American history, this hugely entertaining book provides a unique tour of how it all ties together. And it gives the reader a newfound and well-deserved respect for jazz, democracy and the history of this great country.
Rediscovering and Reshaping America's Culture Through Jazz by .. Dustin Reidy (Albany, NY)
Kabir Sehgal's endeavor Jazzocracy begins with guiding the reader to rediscover Jazz, America's greatest contribution to culture. And not only its greatest contribution to culture, but a rosetta stone to learning America's culture and government itself as it evolved into one of both dynamic individualism and a great community project.
America's representative democracy is the rhythm of the beat, keeping every jazz musician on the same path. Jazz's virtuoso solos are the oratory and individualism of the leader in democracy. Jazz promotes and celebrates the virtuoso, but, just like in government they are never separate from and dis attached from the community of jazz artists they are on stage with. Through a vigorous exposition of the metaphors of jazz, Sehgal applies the same metaphors to American Democracy and shows the verisimilitude of both projects.
The same can be said of Jazz's and America's history according to Kabir. Jazz's roots stretch back to the music traditions of Africa, brought here with the black slaves America exploited. A direct link to the land these African Americans were torn from, as jazz evolved the same history of segregation is written into the chords of blues and jazz.
Jazz comes to be much more than the outgrowth of classical African music. America gives jazz its distinctive individualism as it grew in America's most cosmopolitan city, New Orleans. And as it was exported to Europe, Jazz became seen as America's imprint on world culture. What seemed like a natural music to Americans, was understood as democracy at its best by Europeans. Jazz became an important weapon in the arsenal of democracy employed through out the cold war. Sehgal points out that the radio free Europe project which broadcast music into Soviet Russia, predominately played jazz music. For the communist or any non-American, the beauty that is jazz was taken as a metaphor for the beauty and intelligence of democracy. Jazz was a beacon of our democracy through the last century.
Jazzocracy unfortunately ends in the opposite end of the New Orleans funeral procession. New Orleans, to date, is still left in disrepair. Jazz is being forgotten in lieu of a music culture which is superficial at best and degrading to its artists and listeners at word. Sehgal throws down the gauntlet it what he sees an American culture war, stridently demanding that jazz be used again as a tool to build a vibrant democratic culture. Kabir calls for the remythification of the solo trumpeter, blaring his instrument through the night in the hot, thick New Orleans air. He calls for jazz to help unify a country in political doldrums, both in creating a community once again and celebrated individuals.
The prospects for this may seem idealistic, daunting, and unlikely. But by seeing how Jazz shaped America's government and culture in the past, there is no reason why it can't do so again. The first step, buy the book and learn the lessons Sehgal has mastered. Jazz is democracy and democracy is jazz. And America can once again link the two, substantiating what should be called a Jazzocracy