Landing on the Wrong Note; Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice
Editorial Reviews
Review
"To the extent that the book leaves us wanting more, and opens up questions which still seem important eough to call out for answers, it is a success. It is certainly required reading for anyone interested both in jazz and contemporary critical theory.."
–William Echard, Topia
"...this kind of work is badly needed in jazz studies. Heble's book raises crucial issues and...the work should certainly be read by anyone interested in jazz as a cultural practice.."
–William Echard, Topia
"Landing on the Wrong Note...[introduces] some fascinating new ways of looking at jazz history and articulating a jazz-informed criticism.."
–Hua Hsu, The Wire
"Heble approaches the idea of 'dissonance', or non-agreement, as a symptom of the modern condition and its discipline-minded political practices. Take that, Wynton Marsalis!."
–Hua Hsu, The Wire
"Heble gets off on the good foot, and many of Landing's best moments tread this sticky cultural line of right/wrong.."
–Hua Hsu, The Wire
Book Description
Jazz is perhaps the most cerebral and most unpredictable of musical forms. Miles Davis transforms the simplest tune and structure into wildly imaginative improvisations. Thelonious Monk made dissonance glorious. And as Duke Ellington said, "Dissonance is our way of life in America. We are something apart, yet an integral part."
In Landing on the Wrong Note, Ajay Heble provides a groundbreaking analysis of jazz in its cultural context and a lucid exploration of the musical form itself: its dissonant riffs and resistance to traditional interpretations are emblematic of the social struggles surrounding the jazz scene and the people who created it. Drawing on personal anecdote, observation, conversations with jazz artists, and cultural theory, Heble demonstrates that although jazz may be free-form, its rich and varied history makes it an important point of entry into some of the most hotly contested issues of our era -- power, identity, representation, history, ethics, and social change. As artistic director of a jazz festival and noted critic, he has unique insight into the gap between critical interpretation and the reality of performance.
An imaginative and passionate synthesis of form and function, Landing on the Wrong Note goes beyond mainstream jazz criticism, outlining a new poetics of jazz that emerges not from the ivory tower but from the clubs, performances, and lives of today's jazz musicians.
Landing on the Wrong Note; Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice
Landing on the Wrong Note; Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice,AJAY HEBLE,Routledge,0415923484,Dissonance (Music),Genres & Styles - Jazz,History & Criticism - General,History and criticism,Instruction & Study - Theory,Jazz,Music,Music Theory,Poetry,Social aspects,Cultural studies,Theory of music & musicology
Landing on the Wrong Note; Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice
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