Jazz - Geoffrey C Ward

It is America's music - born out of a million American negotiations: between having and not having; between happy and sad, country and city; between black and white and men and women; between the Old Africa and the Old Europe - which could only have happened in an entirely New World.It is an improvisational art, making itself up as it goes along - just like the country that gave it birth. It demands individual expression but demands selfless collaboration. It is forever changing but nearly always rooted in the blues. It has a rich tradition and its own rules but it is brand-new every night. 'Jazz,' the drummer Art Blakey liked to say, 'washes away the dust of everyday life'.Above all, it swings.