While many books chronicle the history of jazz, few are both designed for classroom use and follow jazz's evolution to the modern day. But by speaking to the student musician, veteran performer and educator David LeeFish has created uncommon opportunities for general music teachers to r elate the work of the jazz masters, their instruments, and their musicalachievements to popular music and today's jazz styles.
S tarting with the origins of jazz, Dr. Fish traces the genre's history asit evolved from ragtime in the clubs of New Orleans. Each of the book's 15 chapters covers an era in jazz history by focusing on the people who shaped the music, from Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie , Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Jaco Pastorius to the greats of today, like Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, and more. Each chapter also includes a printed music example tracing the evolution of the music, offers suggested listening, and contains a brief list of historical events that helped shapethe society in general (making this book a useful text for cross-curric ulum study).
• Covers jazz from past to present
• Written for young musicians in a plain style that avoids jargon
• Printed music examples and suggested lessons help teachers explain the music in a classroom
• A separate teacher handbook offers lesson plans and classroom activities
• Streaming audioexamples at MusicAlive.com
• Longer, and priced lower, than other classroom books covering similar material
