What Is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Black Culture and Jazz Education (Black Studies and Critical Thinking)

How does academic jazz education impact the Black cultural value of soulfulness and esthetic standards in contemporary jazz music? Through candid conversations with nine of the country’s most highly respected jazz practitioners and teachers, __What Is This Thing Called Soul__ explores the potential consequences of forcing the Black musical style of jazz into an academic pedagogical system that is specifically designed to facilitate the practice and pedagogy of European classical music. This work tests the belief that the cultural, emotional and esthetic elements at the very core of jazz’s unique identity, along with the music’s overt connection to Black culture, are effectively being "lost in translation" in traversing the divide between academic and non-academic jazz spheres. Each interviewee commands significant respect worldwide in the fields of jazz performance and jazz pedagogy. Noteworthy subjects include: Rufus Reid, Lewis Nash, Nicholas Payton and Wycliffe Gordon―along with the late jazz masters Marcus Belgrave and Phil Woods. Interviews are supplemented by original analysis of the nature and validity of these issues contributed by the author. What Is This Thing Called Soul offers a candid and objective look into pressing issues of race, culture and ethnic value in relation to both jazz music and jazz education. Sensitivity, marginalization and even a fear of offending others has limited open discussion of how the soul of jazz music can be lost in technical boundaries. __What Is This Thing Called Soul__ is the first attempt to directly address such culturally urgent issues in jazz music. Cover 1 Table of Contents 7 Foreword by Derrick Gardner 9 Acknowledgements 13 Chapter 1. Introduction: Jazz Is Black Music 15 Chapter 2. The Black Church: Stefon Harris Interview (1973–) 35 Chapter 3. Melting Pot Experience: Ellen Rowe Interview (1958–) 57 Chapter 4. Just Play Something Real: Rufus Reid Interview (1944–) 73 Chapter 5. Spirit and Hope: Marcus Belgrave Interview (1936–2015) 101 Chapter 6. Self-Taught Through Emersion: Brad Goode Interview (1963–) 125 Chapter 7. The Devil’s Music: Wycliffe Gordon Interview (1967–) 147 Chapter 8. The First Rule of Colonization: Nicholas Payton Interview (1973–) 161 Chapter 9. 4/4 Swinging Beat: Lewis Nash Interview (1958–) 185 Chapter 10. Music is Music: Phil Woods Interview (1931–2015) 211 Chapter 11. Discussion: “You Cannot Teach Culture” 223 Chapter 12. Conclusion: Adjusting Course 245