Analysis of Jazz: A Comprehensive Approach, originally published in French as Analyser le jazz,
is available here in English for the first time. In this groundbreaking
volume, Laurent Cugny examines and connects the theoretical and
methodological processes that underlie all of jazz. Jazz in all its
forms has been researched and analyzed by performers, scholars, and
critics, and Analysis of Jazz
is required reading for any serious study of jazz; but not just
musicians and musicologists analyze jazz. All listeners are analysts to
some extent. Listening is an active process; it may not involve
questioning but it always involves remembering, comparing, and listening
again. This book is for anyone who attentively listens to and wants to
understand jazz.
Divided into three parts, the book focuses on
the work of jazz, analytical parameters, and analysis. In part one,
Cugny aims at defining what a jazz work is precisely, offering
suggestions based on the main features of definition and structure. Part
two he dedicates to the analytical parameters of jazz in which a work
is performed: harmony, rhythm, form, sound, and melody. Part three takes
up the analysis of jazz itself, its history, issues of transcription,
and the nature of improvised solos. In conclusion, Cugny addresses the
issues of interpretation to reflect on the goals of analysis with regard
to understanding the history of jazz and the different cultural
backgrounds in which it takes place.
Analysis of Jazz presents a detailed inventory of theoretical tools and issues necessary for understanding jazz.
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