EDITOR'S NOTE

Abstract

EDITOR'S NOTE theage oftwenty, I becamean accidental jazz aficionado at thesametime I becamean accidental Englishmajor. Twoyears earlier, whenI entered theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln as a freshman, I wasconvinced thatI neededto pursuea "useful"major,like aeronautical engineering or pre-medicine. Then thesiren songofliterature, inspired bymyreading of Shakespeare in one of Professor Robert Knoll'slegendary survey courses, luredmeaway from career-minded majors andintoan enduring fascination with languages, literature, andculture. Atthesametime, serendipity struck mymusical tastes - I stumbled uponfour jazz albumsincassette recordings, allfirst recorded in 1958-59 and rereleased onColumbia's JazzMasterpieces label: MilesDavis'sKind ofBlue, Billie Holiday'sLady in Satin, Charles Mingus's Mingus AhUrn, andDave Brubeck's TimeOut.I listened to thesealbums obsessively, entranced by Davis's sonicmoods, Holiday'sachingvocals (she died,destitute, in 1959), Mingus's throbbing pulsions, andBrubeck's shifting time signatures. Admittedly, mynewfound passionforjazz was moreemotional and kinesthetic thanculturallysophisticated or historically informed. Little didI know, for example, that thetrack "Fablesof Faubus"onMingus AhUrn wasoriginally a politicallycharged satire ofArkansas governor Orval E. Faubus'sattempts to blockthedesegregation ofCentral HighSchoolin Little Rock,Arkansas, in1957. According toRobert Bennett, thelyrics of the song's original version used"the wholearsenal ofblack-modernist cultural weaponry to expose andridicule American racism." Onthefirst album version released byColumbia, however, thelyrics werestripped out, leaving aninstrumental version that, inBennett's words, "still swings andbopsbut delivers fewpunches." Drawingon Saul Scott's accountofthishistory inFreedom Is,Freedom Ain't: Jazzand theMakingof theSixties(2003), Bennett contends thatmodern jazz, especially thebebop and hardbop ofthelate1950sand '60s,served as a "blueprint forthecultural revolutions ofthe post-World War II Americanavant-garde" as wellas a "revolutionary aesthetic-political soundscape " - namely, a soundtrack totheCivilRights Movement's sit-ins, freedom marches, and other actsofcivildisobedience ("SongsofFreedom: The Politics andGeopolitics ofModern Jazz"). Evenas modern jazz intheUnited States was intertwined withthecultural politics oftheage, theinternational influence ofjazz continued to soar.Asiswellknown, musicians andwriters who flourished in theHarlemRenaissance butwere deniedequalrights during theJim Croweraexperienced tremendous popularity as expatriates performing insuchcities asParis, Havana,andShanghai in the1920sand '30s.Then,in thedecades following World WarII,theU.S.State Department began sendingjazz musicians - including Louis Armstrong, MilesDavis,and CharlesMingus as soft-power cultural ambassadors aroundthe worldas partoftheir overall strategy ofColdWar diplomacy (onthistopic, seePenny VonEschen's fascinating 2004study,Satchmo BlowsUptheWorld: JazzAmbassadors PlaytheColdWar).Littlewonder, then,thatthejazz aesthetic - withits cathartic emphasis onspontaneity, freedom, andimprovisation - found itswayintothework ofa remarkable rangeof international writers, includingBoris Vian,Joseph Skvorecky, JulioCortázar, Haruki Murakami, KamauBrathwaite, MichaelOndaatje, andothers. In thetwenty-first century, theinfusion of jazz intotheworkof contemporary poetsand novelists continues unabated. Thecontributors to thecurrent issue'sspecialsection on jazz poetry all demonstrate botha deep appreciation forthe uniquely American evolution ofthegenre as well as a thorough absorption ofitstropes, themes, and rhythms. As guesteditor LaurenCampnotesin hercompelling introductory essayon thesound ofjazz inpoetry {page 23),oneneednotbe a jazz musician, historian, or connoisseur to appreciate thepoemsincluded here."Toknownothing," she writes, "might justbethetruest waytoexperience anycomplex form ofart.You respond withyour bodyandyourfeelings - andleavetheanalytical, thinking mindtotheside."Evenas we appreciate thegenre's deepembeddedness incomplexities of race,class,and history, in itspurest form jazz is oneofthoseembodied pleasures that justhas to be experienced. Five Songs Played Obsessively on My Cassette Player • Nina Simone,"Chilly Winds Don't Blow/The AmazingNinaSimone • Charles Mingus, "Goodbye PorkPie Hat," MingusAhUrn • Miles Davis,"Flamenco Sketches," KindofBlue • EllaFitzgerald, "Day Dream,"EllaSingsDuke • Dave Brubeck, "Blue Rondo à laTurk," TimeOut WÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊM March-April2011 13 z O < m < i Q. ...