Jazz and its discontents

"From Bob Hope to Sun Ra, from the jazz age to middle age, with thoughts on everything in between, Francis Davis has been writing about American music and American culture for more than twenty years. His essays have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, and the Village Voice among countless other publications from coast to coast. And now here is a selection of the most important writings of his impressive career - the quintessential Davis on everything from Duke Ellington to Wynton Marsalis, Jack Kerouac to Jerry Seinfeld, jazz to rap. And Davis's writing is as enjoyable as the culture of which he writes. The New York Times Book Review has compared Davis's work to "a well-blown solo." Wire said that Davis "packs in data, asides, and encapsulated opinions with enviable skill." No matter what the subject is, Jazz and Its Discontents shows as never before a writer of deep opinions and thoughtful insight - one of the most dazzling critics of our times."--BOOK JACKET.