Jazz Changes

An evening with Thelonious Monk at the Five Spot Cafe. Jelly Roll Morton's recordings for the Library of Congress. Langston Hughes reading poetry to the sound of jazz. The tragic life of Billie Holiday. Over the years, Martin Williams has explored subjects both intimate and imposing, always with a sharp eye and prose as musical as his beloved jazz. In Jazz Changes, he brings together some of the finest pieces he has written over the last thirty years to take readers on an engaging personal tour of the changing jazz world. Williams's third collection includes jazz portraits, interviews, narrative accounts of recording sessions, rehearsals, and performances, along with liner notes and discussions of musicians such as John Lewis, Thelonious Monk, Dinah Washington, and Fats Waller. The book also contains an extended interview with Ross Russell about the Dial Record sessions with Charlie Parker, detailed notes on Jelly Roll Morton's 1938 Library of Congress recording session, and reflections on the Ellington era. Williams advocates for serious critical engagement with jazz as a vital part of world culture.