Jazz and Blues: Crossroads and Evolution

Jazz and Blues: Crossroads and Evolution is meant to address the American musical traditions from a couple of different perspectives. It examines culture--how jazz and blues mirrored the changes and movements of the American people throughout the 20th century. And it takes the purely musical view―valuing the great performers and performances, tracing the development of style from one sub-genre to another, and laying the ground rules for judging and debating the quality of the art form.

The book is designed for use in various kinds of courses―History of Jazz and Blues, Jazz Appreciation, or Blues History. It can be both accessible to the non-music major and enlightening for the music major. In its entirety, the book is designed with the general education student of humanities in mind. The appendix on foundational elements of music provides a background for the musical concepts covered in the book, and the body of the book covers the music in depth and tie in important cultural movements.

Rhapsody.com playlists give the student easy access to the musical examples discussed in the textbook. Rhapsody has an enormous library of music, which provides the instructor the opportunity to develop supplemental playlists and provides the student a broad landscape of recordings to explore after they have listened to the assigned material.