The Crime of the Century Or, the Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin

The outline is 7 broad categories: • The earliest African/European cross culturalization • The roots of Jazz before the turn of the Century • The New Orleans/Chicago/Big Band Period to Mid-1950’s • The development of Bop and the resulting emphasis on Jazz as Concert Music [rather than a Functional Music] • The immediate Post-Bop era to mid-1960 • The Modal/Fusion development to late-1970 • The stylistic fractionalization from l980 to the present The context is a little longer. So first, I wish to state, that I am self taught in this. I have no formal training in Jazz History - I am a Guitarist. That training was through private lessons and the musicians I worked with [all of whom worked or were taught by others who lived through the period from the late 20’s on]. Second, I have no prejudices about what is Jazz [and I’m not going to define what is or is not Jazz] - if it is honest and comes from a “Jazz” esthetic I will accept it, though I might not like it. And finally, I consider the Arts of a particular culture or era an access point into that culture or time period - provided you are willing to learn the esthetic language of the particular Art form [Music is often described as the Universal Language and I would disagree] ...»