Scarecrow Press
Pages: 502
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-8108-8289-8 • Hardback • October 2013 • $74.00 • (£57.00)
978-1-4422-7952-0 • Paperback • January 2017 • $40.00 • (£30.00)
978-0-8108-8290-4 • eBook • October 2013 • $38.00 • (£30.00)
Michael Stephans teaches writing at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. A writer, jazz journalist, and award-winning poet, he has written liner notes and promotional material for such luminaries as Bennie Maupin, Bob Brookmeyer, and David Liebman. Stephans is also a prominent jazz musician and has performed and recorded with a wide array of jazz artists.
As a very successful attempt to draw interested parties into the world of jazz, Experiencing Jazz is highly recommended.
— Musoscribe
Stephans, a prominent jazz musician, has written widely on jazz music and has written promotional material for many fine musicians. His style is straightforward and easygoing, and will help long-time listeners of jazz and those new to the genre cultivate an understanding and appreciation of jazz music. He gives readers explanations of both technical and scholarly aspects but also important points of what we should be listening for. He provides a survey in the art of listening to jazz and provides an insider's perspective to its ever-changing culture. Along the way he provides readers chapters with important historical and musical insights into the history and styles of jazz during the 1940s and 1950s, discusses the functions and forms of jazz on and off the bandstand, gives details on small groups and big bands, and discusses the key instrument and their significant roles in music (e.g., trombone, saxophone, piano, clarinet). An index makes it easy to find specific topics, persons, places, or musical pieces. As good as this book is—and it is wonderful—it cannot bear scrutiny as a reference tool. Rather, it is a monograph on the history, styles, and movements of jazz music.
— American Reference Books Annual
Experiencing Jazz is unlike any other listener's guide. An experienced jazz performer himself, Stephans describes this book as a 'guided tour to the world of jazz.' Rather than offering an alphabetical compendium of artists with brief annotations about his favorite recordings (and to whom one should listen), the author digs deeper to help the reader better understand what to listen for and how to listen. He engages the reader with descriptions of venues, the life of a working musician, record labels, and the business of music. At the heart of the book are some dozen chapters devoted to the principle instruments in jazz, and conversations with a master of that particular instrument. . . .A solid resource for an appreciation class, Experiencing Jazz takes up many substantive topics. This volume will lead to a more meaningful appreciation of jazz and its practitioners. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; professionals; general readers.
— Choice Reviews
The book is written so that the student or interested reader can sample chapters of interest and still benefit. Of course, reading all the way through, as I did, allows one to appreciate the subject in its entirety. There is liberal use of photographs, many of which come from William Gottlieb’s collection, now owned by the Library of Congress, and by extension, we the American public. Another interesting aspect of the book, Stephans lists the official websites of the principal performers and suggests collateral reading. As mentioned already, he gives some illustrative jazz anecdotes which personalize for the reader the jazz experience. Mr. Stephans, besides being an active jazz drummer, is a poet, author and professor. At Bloomsburg University, part of the U of PA system, he teaches a writing course for science and technology majors. Who would benefit from this book? Jazz enthusiasts, especially students and those wishing to develop a broader appreciation for the art.
— Jazz Society of Pensacola