Despite the fact that most of jazz’s major innovators and performers have been African American, the overwhelming majority of jazz journalists, critics, and authors have been and continue to be white men. No major mainstream jazz publication has ever had a black editor or publisher. Ain’t But a Few of Us presents over two dozen candid dialogues with black jazz critics and journalists ranging from Greg Tate, Farah Jasmine Griffin, and Robin D. G. Kelley to Tammy Kernodle, Ron Welburn, and John Murph. They discuss the obstacles to access for black jazz journalists, outline how they contend with the world of jazz writing dominated by white men, and point out that these racial disparities are not confined to jazz but hamper their efforts at writing about other music genres as well. Ain’t But a Few of Us also includes an anthology section, which reprints classic essays and articles from black writers and musicians such as LeRoi Jones, Archie Shepp, A. B. Spellman, and Herbie Nichols.
Contributors
Eric Arnold, Bridget Arnwine, Angelika Beener, Playthell Benjamin, Herb Boyd, Bill Brower, Jo Ann Cheatham, Karen Chilton, Janine Coveney, Marc Crawford, Stanley Crouch, Anthony Dean-Harris, Jordannah Elizabeth, Lofton Emenari III, Bill Francis, Barbara Gardner, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Jim Harrison, Eugene Holley Jr., Haybert Houston, Robin James, Willard Jenkins, Martin Johnson, LeRoi Jones, Robin D. G. Kelley, Tammy Kernodle, Steve Monroe, Rahsaan Clark Morris, John Murph, Herbie Nichols, Don Palmer, Bill Quinn, Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., Ron Scott, Gene Seymour, Archie Shepp, Wayne Shorter, A. B. Spellman, Rex Stewart, Greg Tate, Billy Taylor, Greg Thomas, Robin Washington, Ron Welburn, Hollie West, K. Leander Williams, Ron Wynn
- Cover
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Willard Jenkins
- 1. Roundtable: Eric Arnold, Jordannah Elizabeth, Bill Francis, Steve Monroe, Rahsaan Clark Morris, Robin Washington, and K. Leander Williams
- 2. The Authors: Playthell Benjamin, Herb Boyd, Karen Chilton, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Robin D. G. Kelley, Tammy Kernodle, Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., Gene Seymour, A. B. Spellman, and Greg Tate
- 3. Black Jazz Magazine Editors and Publishers: Jo Ann Cheatham (Pure Jazz), Jim Harrison (Jazz Spotlite News), Haybert Houston (Jazz Now), and Ron Welburn (The Grackle)
- 4. Black Dispatch Contributors: Robin James and Ron Scott
- 5. Magazine Freelancers: Bill Brower, Janine Coveney, Lofton Emenari III, Eugene Holley Jr., John Murph, Don Palmer, and Ron Wynn
- 6. Newspaper Writers and Columnists: Martin Johnson, Greg Thomas, and Hollie West
- 7. The New Breed (Online): Bridget Arnwine, Angelika Beener, and Anthony Dean-Harris
- 8. Anthology
- Classics
- “Jazz and the White Critic,” LeRoi Jones (DownBeat, 1963)
- “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” / Marc Crawford: (Transition, 1966)
- “Inside the Horace Silver Quintet,” / Barbara Gardner: (DownBeat, 1963)
- “Trane + 7 = a Wild Night at the Gate,” / A. B. Spellman: (DownBeat, 1965)
- “The Testimony: An Interview with Alto Saxophonist: Bunky Green,” / Bill Quinn (DownBeat, 1966)
- On Jazz and Race
- “Putting the White Man in Charge,” / Stanley Crouch: ( JazzTimes, 2003)
- “My Bill Evans Problem—Jaded Visions of Jazz and Race,” / Eugene Holley Jr. (New Music Box, 2013)
- “Where’s the Black Audience?,” / Ron Wynn ( JazzTimes, 2003)
- “Whither the Black Voices,” / Anthony Dean-Harris (Nextbop, 2013)
- “Brooklyn’s Jazz Renaissance,” / Robin D. G. Kelley: (ISAM Newsletter, 2004)
- Additional Ain’t But a Few of Us Contributors
- “Wynton Is the Greatest!,” / Playthell Benjamin: (Commentaries on the Times, 2016)
- “Jazz Is . . . Free. . . ?,” / Ron Welburn (The Grackle, 1976)
- “Why Jazz Will Always Be Relevant,” / Greg Tate: (The Fader, 2016)
- “Rhapsody in Rainbow: Jazz and the Queer Aesthetic,” / John Murph: ( JazzTimes, 2010)
- Black Musician-Writers
- “Billy Taylor Replies to Art Tatum Critic,” / Billy Taylor: (DownBeat, 1955)
- “Creativity and Change,” / Wayne Shorter: (DownBeat, 1968)
- “An Artist Speaks Bluntly,” / Archie Shepp: (DownBeat, 1965)
- “The Jazz Pianist-Purist,” / Herbie Nichols: (Rhythm, 1946)
- “Smack! Memories of Fletcher Henderson,”/ Rex Stewart: (DownBeat, 1965)
- Index
- A
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- F
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- I
- J
- K
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- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
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