Watching Jazz
Encounters with Jazz Performance on Screen
Edited by Björn Heile, Peter Elsdon, and Jenny Doctor
Reviews and Awards
"In this collection of essays authors delve into the rich audiovisual documentation of jazz, much of which has been neglected by scholars, with some fascinating results. Watching Jazz makes an important contribution to jazz studies, exemplifying methodologies for studying audiovisual sources and providing a key reference point for future scholarship."--Catherine Tackley, The Open University
"Jazz is performance and performances are visual. This elegant and expertly constructed book interrogates, in a game changing way, the notion that all jazz is to some extent visual. It opens fertile new avenues of debate, challenges some sacred cows and will undoubtedly become an essential text for anybody interested in the relationship between jazz and how it is presented on screen."--Raymond MacDonald, Edinburgh University
"This stimulating collection encourages us to reexamine some of the more commonly-held and persistent assumptions with regard to jazz on screen, whether that screen is large or small, analog or digital, public or private. Essential reading for anyone interested in watching jazz."--Alan Stanbridge, University of Toronto
"Watching Jazz is an enlightening and enjoyable book. Well written and well edited, these chapters speak to each other, and contrasting viewpoints come across as alternative understandings rather than conflicting standpoints. I recommend this book to any jazz, media, or social history scholars seeking to explore new ways in which to think about the production and reception of jazz, or the ways that the music and audiovisual presentation developed in tandem. Watching Jazz is a timely collection, as it builds upon recent scholarship (by Elsdon, Brian Harker, Katz, Jed Rasula, Gabriel Solis, Catherine Tackley, Keith Waters, and others) about the role of audio recording in jazz, and expands this scholarship by showing how the visual element directs viewers towards aspects of the music, which in turn allows them to see and hear elements of jazz more clearly." --Notes
