Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz

by Caroline Vézina

Overview

The first scholarly volume dedicated to French Creole music and its contribution to the development of jazz in New Orleans

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496842404
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Series:	American Made Music Series
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Caroline Vézina is an independent scholar specializing in the study of music and culture. Based in Montréal, she split her time between her hometown and New Orleans for many years to further her research on the music of the French Creoles.

Editorial Reviews

"[Jazz à la Creole] closes, to a great extent, the gap that previously existed in the history of jazz.--Bert Thompson "The Syncopated Times"

Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz is a worthwhile addition to any jazz bookshelf. . . . Caroline Vézina has done us a service by delving into this topic so thoroughly.--Joe Bebco "THe Syncopated Times"

Music and Creole culture are both central to New Orleans history but only now have these two themes been brought together in a book. And what a wonderful book Caroline Vézina has given us, starting with Louisiana's French founders and bringing us all the way up to the revival of Creole songs in the 1940s and '50s. Along the way we encounter familiar jazz musicians alongside forgotten manuscripts and songbooks, all helping to connect the dots of an illustrious Creole musical legacy. Magnifique!--Matt Sakakeeny, author of Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans

One of the distinct merits of Caroline Vézina's study of French creole music and the birth of jazz is precisely the nuance, care, and precision she brings, because it is scholarly, but never dull or pedantic. . . . Everything that should be in a model monograph plus photos are to be found in this excellent book.--Richard J. Salvucci "All About Jazz"

With a rich variety of musical notations, lyrics, and historical quotations, Jazz à la Creole demonstrates how the constantly evolving process of creolization was foundational to the development of New Orleans's unique musical traditions. Vézina distills a topic as intricate and boundless as jazz itself with purpose and precision.--Eric Seiferth, curator and historian at The Historic New Orleans Collection

Jazz à la Creole is an excellent scholarly synthesis of the various attributions to Afro-French Creole culture regarding the formation and early development of New Orleans jazz. The study ties together issues related to race, ethnic identity, gender, class, religious and secular education, transcultural exchange, and canon formation. The depth and breadth of sources used and integrated on this topic surpasses previous efforts. This work is indispensable.--Bruce Boyd Raeburn, curator emeritus, Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz at Tulane University, and author of New Orleans Style and the Writing of American Jazz History

From the Publisher