Once a lively presence on radio, jazz now finds itself relegated to satellite broadcasters and low-watt stations at the edge of the dial. Aaron J. Johnson examines jazz radio from the advent of Black radio in 1948 to its near extinction from the commercial dial after 1980. Even in jazz’s heyday, programmers and DJs excluded many styles and artists, and Johnson delves into how the politics of decision-making and the political uses of the medium shaped jazz radio formats. Johnson shows radio’s role in the contradictory perceptions of jazz as American’s model artistic contribution to the world, as Black classical music, and as the soundtrack of African American rebellion and resistance for much of the twentieth century.
An interwoven story of a music and a medium, Jazz Radio America answers perennial questions about why certain kinds of jazz get played and why even that music is played in so few places.
By:
Aaron J. Johnson
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780252046223
ISBN 10: 0252046226
Series: Music in American Life
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 10 December 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Preface Introduction Part I Jazz on Commercial Radio Jazz Here and Jazz There: Jazz Rides the Omnibus Independent Contractors: Jazz Shows Outside the Format Jazz Around the Clock: All-Jazz Commercial Radio/Jazz as a Radio Format Part II Jazz on Noncommercial Radio Paradise Found, Paradise Lost: The Rise and Fall of Jazz on Noncommercial Radio Don’t Get Too Far Out: Programming Jazz on Noncommercial Radio Jazz Is for Everybody: Missions and Mission Statements, Precursors, Models, and Ownership Postscript: Jazz Radio Present and Future Appendix A: Notable Jazz Disc Jockeys Appendix B: Jazz Radio Stations c. 2020 Notes Bibliography Index
Aaron J. Johnson is an associate professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh.
Reviews for Jazz Radio America
“An engaging style, the lived experience of the author as a jazz musician and DJ, and a wealth of insights on music, technology, and business combine to make this book a truly significant contribution to the field.”--Mark Katz, author of Music and Technology: A Very Short Introduction
