Eurojazzland
Europe 'conquers' the Usa
Jazz and European Sources, Dynamics, and Contexts

It is entitled "Eurojazzland. Jazz and Its European Sources, Dynamics and Contexts", and it's just been released by Northeastern University Press/University Press of New England. The book was conceived and edited by Luca Cerchiari (Padua University, Italy, the author of a dozen books on African-American music) with Laurent Cugny (Paris Sorbonne University, France, the author of "Electric Miles" and "Jazz Analysis") and Franz Kerschbaumer (Graz University, Austria, the author of "Miles Davis" and Director of the "Jazzforschung"/"Jazz Research" magazine, in German and English). Preface by Luca Cerchiari.

Comprising five hundred pages written by nineteen outstanding contributors from Europe and the USA(University professors and scholars, musicians, music critics), "Eurojazzland" shows on one side, for the first time ever, how various European musical traditions shaped the American jazz idiom, and, on the other, how European jazz was born(from Django Reinhardt to Jan Garbarek, from Toots Thielemans to Giorgio Gaslini, from George Shearing to Michel Petrucciani, and so on). But it also deals with the influence of peculiar aspects of European jazz on the international jazz scene(e.g. the ECM label, jazz criticism, electric and electronic instruments).

It is often said that jazz is America's gift to the world, but this truism belies the surprising, often crucial role that Europe has played in the development and popularity of jazz through the world. Based on a serie of symposia, "Eurojazzland" is the first theorethical book dedicated to the impact of oral and written European traditions on the birth of American jazz, and viceversa. These topics, and others (intruments, repertoire, and so on) are discussed in the first part of the book.

THE SECOND PART OF "EUROJAZZLAND"
The second part of "Eurojazzland" deals with the European stories of some American jazzmen in Europe(namely, Benny Carter in the UK and Duke Ellington in France)and gives new insights on the pre-jazz era in Europe(black minstrels, singers, musicians, and dancers).The third part is dedicated to the "circulation of Eurojazzland":
"Eurojazzland" proves that jazz is simply too rich and varied for one country to claim, define or contain.

"This volume, " writes Dan Morgenstern, former Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, "fills a notable gap in jazz literature and provides some most worthwhile and needed contributions to illuminate the topic. Eurojazzland should lead to much stimulating and productive discussion of the fascinating history of jazz in Europe".

THE AUTHORS
Franz Kerschbaumer (Graz), Bruce Boyd Raeburn (New Orleans), Martin Guerpin (Paris), Vincent Cotro (Tours), Rainer Lotz (Bonn), Luca Cerchiari (Milan), Catherine Tackley Parsonage (Salford), Laurent Cugny (Paris), John Edward Hasse (Washington), Manfred Straka (Graz), Alyn Shipton (London), Ekkehard Jost (Giessen), Juergen Arndt (Mannheim), Tony Whyton (Salford), Arrigo Cappelletti (Venice), Davide Ielmini (Varese), Mike Heffley (Portland), Gianfranco Salvatore (Lecce), Herbert Hellhund (Hannover).

Information
Email: lucacerc@tin.it