Joe Diorio is an accomplished guitarist and composer as well as a respected music educator. In this book he combines his skills to present innovative intervallic designs for the guitar. Written in standard notation and tab, these linear, often 12-tone flavored studies reflect Diorio's jazz roots and compositional mastery. Due to the harmonic ambiguity of these lines, the author recommends an experimental approach in applying these examples in various melodic and harmonic settings. the companion stereo CD features Diorio's performance of each of the 96 studies in the book.

Joe Diorio constructs 16 modern and ultra-modern jazz guitar solos over eight classic jazz chord progressions. Each solo is jammed full of inventive licks and patterns to use as building blocks and jumping-off points for creating dynamic jazz guitar solos. Comping patterns and chord voicings are included.

This book contains a study and breakdown of "harmony in 4ths". The introduction of quartal harmony in modern jazz began in the 1960's. Compositions by Miles Davis and John Coltrane such as "Impressions" and "So What" showcased chord voicings derived from quartal harmony. The purpose of this book is to show guitarists how to function in an area of harmony mostly dominated by keyboard players. Common uses of quartal harmony are demonstrated and analyzed. Exercises and compositions in the style of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and others are included. Includes access to online audio which contains demonstrations of all exercises.

Where the Dark and the Light Folks Meet tackles a controversial question: Is jazz the product of an insulated African-American environment, shut off from the rest of society by strictures of segregation and discrimination, or is it more properly understood as the juncture of a wide variety of influences under the broader umbrella of American culture? This book does not question that jazz was created and largely driven by African Americans, but rather posits that black culture has been more open to outside influences than most commentators are likely to admit. The majority of jazz writers, past and present, have embraced an exclusionary viewpoint. Where the Dark and the Light Folks Meet begins by looking at many of these writers, from the birth of jazz history up to the present day, to see how and why their views have strayed from the historical record. This book challenges many widely held beliefs regarding the history and nature of jazz in an attempt to free jazz of the socio-political baggage that has s

Jazz Blues Styles presents guitar solos in the styles of Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins, and other jazz blues greats. Within the context of the blues, this book teaches: styles of jazz blues; jazz ideas, phrases, and licks; jazz syncopation, the rhythmic language of jazz; jazz phrasing, the breath of jazz; how to use the triplet, altered chords, and slash chords; how to reharmonize the blues; a new innovative vocabulary of jazz chord sequences; how to usefragments of the chords to outline the harmony and create interesting new sounds; and how to play walking bass lines with chords. Joe Diorio's Right Brain Guitarist(R) approach helps to direct your playing with your intuitive sense asopposed to your logical sense. The accompanying audio download available online will help convey the subtle nuances of the music

Between Beats: The Jazz Tradition and Black Vernacular Dance offers a new look at the complex intersections between jazz music and popular dance over the last hundred-plus years. Author Christi Jay Wells shows how popular entertainment and cultures of social dancing were crucial to jazz music's formation and development even as jazz music came to earn a reputation as a "legitimate" art form better suited for still, seated listening. Through the concept of choreographies of listening, the book explores amateur and professional jazz dancers' relationships with jazz music and musicians as jazz's soundscapes and choreoscapes were forged through close contact and mutual creative exchange. It also unpacks the aesthetic and political negotiations through which jazz music supposedly distanced itself from dancing bodies. Fusing little-discussed material from diverse historical and contemporary sources with the author's own years of experience as a social jazz dancer, it advances participatory dance and embodied practice as central topics of analysis in jazz studies. As it explores the fascinating history of jazz as popular dance music, it exposes how American anxieties about bodies and a broad cultural privileging of the cerebral over the corporeal have shaped efforts to "elevate" expressive forms such as jazz to elite status.

As the first organic overview of the history of jazz in Europe and covering the subject from its inception to the present day, the volume provides a unique, authoritative addition to the musicological literature.

One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, GQ, Billboard, JazzTimes In jazz parlance, “playing changes” refers to an improviser’s resourceful path through a chord progression. In this definitive guide to the jazz of our time, leading critic Nate Chinen boldly expands on that idea, taking us through the key changes, concepts, events, and people that have shaped jazz since the turn of the century—from Wayne Shorter and Henry Threadgill to Kamasi Washington and Esperanza Spalding; from the phrase “America’s classical music” to an explosion of new ideas and approaches; from claims of jazz’s demise to the living, breathing scene that exerts influence on mass culture, hip-hop, and R&B. Grounded in authority and brimming with style, packed with essential album lists and listening recommendations, Playing Changes takes the measure of this exhilarating moment—and the shimmering possibilities to come.

In this book, the legendary Joe Diorio takes you through John Coltrane's classic (and very challenging) improvisation vehicle Giant Steps." This in-depth study includes 17 single-note solos, II-V patterns, substitution principles for both comping and soloing, and eight complete chord-melody solos utilizing a variety of harmonization techniques."

Is Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?