Juan Tizol: His Caravan through American Life and Culture Juan Tizol is often remembered as the famed trombonist who composed the jazz evergreens known as Caravan and Perdido. Few know that this enigmatic figure was a multifaceted talent who lived an extraordinary life in the world of music. Juan Tizol Martínez was a native of Puerto Rico who divided his life into four broad segments; the first 20 years in his native land, the next several years in Washington, D.C., the third in New York City and for almost 40 years in Los Angeles. From these different venues, Tizol acquired an abundance of experiences in music that permitted him to make a contribution that has been described as one "whose Latin American touch changed the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the history of jazz." This book provides the reader with greater details of Juan Tizol's talents as a trombonist, composer, music transcriber and arranger. Tizol's soft-spoken and gentle demeanor may have undermined his much sought-after talents. The recorded history of jazz confirms his many contributions to the music of Ellington, Harry James, Louie Bellson, Nelson Riddle, Nat King Cole, and others. Juan Tizol has been described as the "progenitor of Latin Jazz" and this book provides the necessary information to make a convincing case to support the description.

Musicians from Puerto Rico played a substantial role in the development of jazz during the early years of the twentieth century, before and during the years surrounding the Harlem Renaissance. These jazz pioneers, including instrumentalists, composers, and vocalists, were products of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States and contributed to the early history of this uniquely American genre. In this study, author Basilio Serrano provides a detailed look at the lives of these men and women and their contributions to the development of jazz and Latin jazz. Serrano explores how the music of Puerto Rico helped to shape them and offers a comprehensive review of the bands in which they played, studying specialists in a variety of instruments as well as band leaders and composers. This group included notable figures such as Fernando Arbello, the Bayron sisters, the Rivera family, Louis King Garcia, Joe Loco, Juan and Paco Tizol, Augusto and Willie Rodriguez, Augusto Coen, and Cesar Concepcion. Covering a period from 1900 to 1939, Puerto Rican Pioneers in Jazz, 19001939 presents the stories of early Puerto Rican jazz musicians whose contributions to the genre have previously been overlooked.

This fresh look at the neglected rhythm section in jazz ensembles shows that the improvisational interplay among drums, bass, and piano is just as innovative, complex, and spontaneous as the solo. Ingrid Monson juxtaposes musicians' talk and musical examples to ask how musicians go about "saying something" through music in a way that articulates identity, politics, and race. Through interviews with Jaki Byard, Richard Davis, Sir Roland Hanna, Billy Higgins, Cecil McBee, and others, she develops a perspective on jazz improvisation that has "interactiveness" at its core, in the creation of music through improvisational interaction, in the shaping of social communities and networks through music, and in the development of cultural meanings and ideologies that inform the interpretation of jazz in twentieth-century American cultural life. Replete with original musical transcriptions, this broad view of jazz improvisation and its emotional and cultural power will have a wide audience among jazz fans, ethnomusicologists, and anthropologists.

Modern low brass instruments—trombone, tuba, and euphonium—have legions of ancestors, cousins, and descendants in over five-hundred years of history. Prominent scholar and performer Douglas Yeo provides a unique, accessible reference guide that addresses a broad range of relevant topics and brings these instruments to life with clear explanations and the most up-to-date research. Brief biographies of many path-changing individuals highlight their influence on instrument development and use. The book’s inclusive scope also recognizes the work of diverse, influential artists whose important contributions to trombone and tuba history and development have not previously been acknowledged in other literature. Extensive illustrations by Lennie Peterson provide insight into many of the entries.

Volume II of this two-volume set traces the artist's life and career month by month from the orchestra's return from an extended European tour in June 1950, to Ellington's death in 1974. Jazz historian and graphic designer Vail presents b & w photographs, newspaper reports, advertisements, reviews, and brief diary-type entries; he includes all known club, concert, theater, television, film, and jam sessions, as well as a selected list of recordings. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR