Full Description
Bowed Strings in 20th-Century Jazz in the United States serves as a historical examination of the roles of bowed strings (violin, viola, and cello) in jazz. The subject of bowed strings in jazz has garnered considerable interest, evident in the swell of pedagogical materials published in the last decade, the proliferation of college programs incorporating alternative styles for strings, the increasing number of jazz groups featuring improvising string players, and the abundance of articles, both biographical and historical, on bowed strings in jazz.
Sequentially, this book discusses the roles of violin, viola, cello, string quartets, and miscellaneous groupings of strings in various contexts. The discussion progresses from specific instruments and players to chamber groups and then ensembles of a variety of sizes.
This book will appeal to scholars and students alike interested in the musical study of jazz in the United States.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Smith faces South and an Anything-but-Average Joe: Violins in Jazz, 1900-1950
Chapter 2 Saxes and Violins: Violins in Jazz, 1950-2000
Chapter 3 This Ain't No Viola Joke
Chapter 4 Jazz Cellobration
Chapter 5 Alone Together: Stand-Alone Jazz String Quartets
Chapter 6 String Theory, or, Creative Chaos: Eclectic Groups Including Bowed Strings
Bibliography
Selected Discography
