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A substantial number of novels and stories with jazz music as a component of the story have been published over the years, and the scholar David J. Rife has written short essay/reviews of them. In this 16th edition featuring excerpts from his outstanding literary resource, Rife writes about jazz-inflected speculative fiction stories (sci-fi, fantasy and horror)
...A substantial number of novels and stories with jazz music as a component of the story have been published over the years, and the scholar David J. Rife has written short essay/reviews of them. In this 14th edition featuring excerpts from his outstanding literary resource, Rife writes about stories whose themes include High Spirits, Dark Laughter, and Absurdity
...Jazz has produced an impressive number of gifted child musicians. In this edition, David J. Rife writes about stories whose theme is World War II and jazz
...Jazz has produced an impressive number of gifted child musicians. In this edition, David J. Rife writes about stories whose theme is child prodigies
...In this edition, Rife writes about the influence of Billie Holiday in several short stories and novels.
...In this edition, Rife writes about the “chicks” (energetic women, attractive, and open to experience) and “hens” (older women who have either buried or lost a loved one, and who seem content with their lives) who are at the center of stories with jazz within its theme.
...In this edition, Rife writes about the “queering” of jazz fiction, examples of which are described in the five books/short stories he reviews.
...In this edition, Rife writes about the “quest” theme in contemporary jazz fiction, where long-lost instruments and rumored recordings take the place of more dramatic artifacts like the Holy Grail.
...In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature stories about jazz music’s international influence.
...In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature stories about women, written by women.
...In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature a theme of “mystery.”
...In this edition, Rife writes about three novels/short fiction that include stories about Scott Joplin, the primary forerunner and significant influencer of jazz.
...In this fourth edition featuring excerpts from his book, Rife writes about five novels/short fiction that include stories about the interconnected cultures of jazz, dancing and nightclubs.
...In this third edition featuring excerpts from his book, Rife writes about four novels/short fiction that include stories involving Louis Armstrong.
...In this edition, Rife writes about four novels/short stories that include stories involving relationships between fathers and children.
...David Rife’s essay/reviews about jazz-themed novels and stories. In this edition, Rife writes of three novels that explore challenges of the mother/daughter relationship.
...From the Jerry Jazz Musician archives, in a March, 2003 interview, David Colley, author of Blood For Dignity: The Story of the First Integrated Combat Unit in the U.S. Army, talks about the integration of the United States military, and about the courage of African American soldiers determined to achieve success before and after World War II.
...Prior to the closing months of World War II, American military doctrine had long held that blacks were inferior fighters who fled under fire and lacked the intelligence, reliability, and courage of white fighters. That changed in early March 1945, when, for the first time, more than two thousand African-American infantrymen entered the front lines in Germany to fight alongside white soldiers in infantry and armored divisions engaged in the final battles of World War II in Europe.
...In the introduction to The Jazz Fiction Anthology, editors Sascha Feinstein and David Rife cite James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” as “the most famous jazz short story ever written,” and is pointed to by Baldwin biographer David Leeming as “the prologue to a dominant fictional motif in the overall Baldwin story, the relationship between two brothers that takes much of its energy from the close relationship between James and [brother] David Baldwin.” The story, originally published in Partisan Review in 1957, centers on the narrator’s need to, in Leeming’s words, “save his brother [Sonny] from the precariousness of his life as an artist.” Sonny, in turn, finds his voice by playing bebop in the Village, which results, according to Leeming,
...Jerry Jazz Musician – Summer, 2025 Newsletter Information about new content published on the website Jerry Jazz Musician In This Issue Monk, as seen by Gottlieb, Dorsett and 16 poets – an ekphrastic poetry collection Dear Readers: …..I recently invited interested poets to take part in an ekphrastic poem exercise that involved … Continue reading “Summer 2025 Jerry Jazz Musician newsletter”
...Jerry Jazz Musician – Spring, 2025 Newsletter Information about new content published on the website Jerry Jazz Musician In This Issue Interview with Ricky Riccardi, author of Stomp Off, Let’s Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong It’s safe to assume we can agree that Louis Armstrong deserved this – a comprehensive biography (now … Continue reading “Spring 2025 Jerry Jazz Musician Newsletter”
...Jerry Jazz Musician – Winter, 2025 Newsletter Information about new content published on the website Jerry Jazz Musician In This Issue Announcing the book publication of Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry Dear Readers: For several years I have published major jazz poetry collections that were solely available on the Jerry Jazz … Continue reading “Winter 2025 Jerry Jazz Musician Newsletter”
...Jerry Jazz Musician – Fall, 2024 Newsletter Information about new content published on the website Jerry Jazz Musician In This Issue Jazz Poetry…Collected! With a major collection of jazz poetry soon to be published in book form, this edition of Jerry Jazz Musician features poets from all over the world whose work … Continue reading “Fall 2024 Jerry Jazz Musician Newsletter”
...Jerry Jazz Musician – Spring/Summer, 2024 Newsletter Information about new content published on the website Jerry Jazz Musician In This Issue A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Spring/Summer 2024 Edition In this, the 17th major collection of jazz poetry published on Jerry Jazz Musician, 50 poets from all over the world again demonstrate the ongoing influence … Continue reading “Spring/Summer 2024 Jerry Jazz Musician Newsletter”
...On March 11, 2019, .Jerry Jazz Musician.will publish the 50th.winning story in our thrice-yearly Short Fiction Contest. To celebrate this landmark event, we have asked all the previous winners (dating to 2002) to reflect on their own winning story, and how their lives have since unfolded.
This week’s edition covers authors of winning stories #’s 1 – 6
...Forty poets describe their experiences with the tumultuous events of 2025, resulting in a remarkable collection of work made up of writers who may differ on what inspired them to participate, but who universally share a desire for their voice to be heard amid a changing America.
...What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025? How do you see it playing out? 50 readers respond to the question, What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?
...The author speaks with Bob Hecht about his book and his decades-long dedication to the genius of Pepper Adams, the stellar baritone saxophonist whose hard-swinging bebop style inspired many of the top-tier modern baritone players.
...Over 60 poets from all over the world celebrate their love of jazz…in poetry.
...In a November 16, 2020 interview with Jerry Jazz Musician, Ricky Riccardi, author of Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, discusses his vital book and Armstrong’s enormous and underappreciated achievements during the era he led his big band.
...In a November 16, 2020 interview with Jerry Jazz Musician, Riccardi discusses his vital book and Armstrong’s enormous and underappreciated achievements during the era he led his big band.
...In the illustrious and richly documented history of American jazz, no figure has been more controversial than the jazz critic. Jazz critics can be revered or reviled often both but they should not be ignored. And while the tradition of jazz has been covered from seemingly every angle, until now, nobody has ever turned the pen back on itself to chronicle the many writers who have helped define how we listen to and how we understand jazz. In Blowin Hot and Cool: Jazz and its Critics, John Gennari provides a definitive history of jazz criticism from the 1920s to the present.
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”Dear Aretha” by J. Stephen Whitney
The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work...
J. Stephen Whitney reads his poem at its conclusion
Click here to read previous editions of The Sunday Poem
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