JAZZ: A Quick Immersion (Quick Immersions) Paperback – August 31, 2020

In a day when reality often falls far short of advertising, Dinerstein’s Jazz: A Quick Immersion makes good on the book title’s promise in a straight-forward yet insightful way. As a listener and then musician who has immersed themselves in this music for 50 years, what impresses me most is that the book, through its many musical examples, schools the listener on not only what to listen for, but how to go about listening to it. My only real negative criticism is that Cecil Taylor, one of the leaders of the free jazz movement of the 1960s, does not get space he so richly deserves. This is disappointing given that Dinerstein does a fine job introducing the reader to the music of Ornette Coleman (who coined the term “free jazz”), as well as demonstrating the importance of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the Chicago chapter and its subsequent migration to New York City. Also impressive is his understanding of the importance of Horace Tapscott to the Los Angeles jazz scene as well as to the black community itself, particularly for someone who never lived in LA. A must read for anyone who is interested in jazz and wants to gain a deeper appreciation for this country’s greatest contribution to the culture of this world.

Tracing the history and development of jazz by way of its migration through major American cities is such a fruitful and natural organizing principle. Dinerstein situates the music in New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, New York, and LA at very particular moments in both these cities' and the music's life. As rich a social history as it is a musical history. And it's a fun read to boot. Highly recommend.

Just what I wanted - an overview of Jazz. Got the idea from watching the Jazz documentary on PBS

Through Jazz: A Quick Immersion, Joel Dinerstein proves that quick doesn't equal superficial. Compact and clear, Dinerstein concisely gets to the heart of jazz's power and enduring legacy. The short book generously offers an entrance point to help readers figure out what kinds of jazz they want to start actively seeking out. But it does more than that as well, pointing to what's at stake underneath the sounds in terms of race, dignity and freedom in the United States in the last 100+ years.Fantastic anecdotes peppered throughout the text bring the book alive. Now when I listen to Fats Waller, I will imagine the astounding story of how he was kidnapped by Al Capone so that he would play for him. And when I hear Sonny Rollins, I won't be able to help but picture the two years that the saxophonist spent strengthening his sound by playing under a highway overpass to the passing traffic.What I most appreciate about this book is that the author is open and generous to jazz both at its most traditional and mainstream, on the one hand, and its most experimental, free and 'outside,' on the other. Throughout, he places Louis Armstrong and Bill Evans alongside AACM, Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman and the band Harriet Tubman, refusing to succumb to the neo-traditionalist line-in-the-sand that dismisses the more dissonant sounds from the 1960s forward as derailing jazz. Perhaps the fact that Dinerstein grew up in New York City but has long lived in New Orleans helps account for this equanimity.Along the same lines, I was glad to see that Dinerstein acknowledges (as deeply as the short format permits) the depth, importance and complexity of the relationship of Latin American and Latinx Music to jazz. And, despite his stated U.S.-centered focus, the book includes a final section that turns to the global reaches of the genre. Unlike too much music scholarship, Dinerstein neither detaches the musical sounds from their broader social context, nor only focuses on the social.When I taught History of Jazz back in 2007, I remember awkwardly having to use examples from a 10-cd jazz anthology box set that students would have to go to the library to check out in order to do their listening homework. This book, in contrast, works much more nimbly, because it was written during the streaming era. Dinerstein's carefully arranged playlists allow the reader/listener to hear for themselves the grooves, solos, ensembles and beauty described within.

THE best introduction to jazz I’ve read. And, I have read at least a dozen over the last 40 years. Dinerstein has really done something remarkable here. A uniquely insightful contribution.The immersion is quick-- a mere 40,000 words in witty, precise, everyday language. But it also allows you to swim in rich, thoughtful, and deep waters. The pages fly by because he tells a story.Dinerstein’s tale takes us through the history of jazz via five cities in which jazz’s creative sparks emerge. For example, I didn’t know the importance of LA’s Central Avenue scene that runs from the 1930s through to Kamasi Washington. I also wasn’t fully aware of the centrality of Kansas City’s saxophone culture that produces both Charlie Parker and rock-and-roll.Of course, he sketches the big personalities (Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane) as well as lesser-known characters (Mary Lou Williams, Art Pepper). He describes the sounds and helps us understand the structure and flow of the music. All the details formulate Dinerstein’s larger picture which is about black culture’s unique contributions to the world of music. He suggests how Jazz’s way of playing is really a way of living.Part 2 of the book delivers descriptions of 62 compositions under five playlists: groove, solo, beauty, ensemble, and blues. These propel the novice listener into some of Jazz’s finest. I was especially thrilled by the range offered by the list titled “Sound and Solo” which exhibits Keith Jarret’s passionate impressionism, Lester Bowie’s gurgling funk, Eric Dolphy’s jagged cubism, Betty Carter’s turning the familiar inside out, and Ella Fitzgerald’s spontaneous perfection made to look easy.I thought I knew a lot about Jazz, but this book is a revelation. Especially his claim that jazz is the foundation of all popular music in the US -- and elsewhere. I have been a jazz fan all my life and I learned something about the music’s power and influence on every page. Treat yourself to this fine offering. You’ll be better because of it.

Best for those who’ve had almost no exposure and those interested in the history of jazz.

This is an effective short primer to the history of jazz. The author wants to achieve 2 things: to get us to understand the history of how jazz has continually re-invented itself, and to get us to appreciate what was going on musically in general styles and in specific bits of music. There are short and focus listening lists for each chapter (they come out a bit oddly on the Kindle version, but are legible).The first part tells the history of jazz through 4 cities: New Orleans, Kansas City, New York and Los Angeles. The book blurb says the author brings urban history into the story, but this mainly means telling us that cities are noisy and lively places (and the music will reflect this). But, that doesn't really matter as these sections were surprisingly interesting. I had not really listened to much jazz from Kansas City or Los Angeles (apart from KC's Wes Montgomery, who doesn't really get mentioned). Using the listening lists I think I got a lot from these chapters in particular. I do think the chapter on New York was a bit weak - the description of bebop was weaker than the others (less detailed and insightful about the musical structure and effects). The author also shares the general jazz-lover's prejudices against fusion.But there are so many more positives. I liked the discussions on singing (Armstrong, Holiday and, to a lesser extent, Chet Baker). The verbal talk-throughs of specific bits of music are a bit confusing to read, but come alive when read along with the actual music. The whole final section of the book involves working through some diverse and nicely curated listening lists. Its easier than ever to access this music and following the author's guidance here makes this such a strong feature (without listening along this section is a bit like reading wine tasting notes without the wine).As other reviewers have written, this book crams a huge amount of information into a short and friendly read. It increased my listening pleasure and has given lots of paths to follow up.