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In Blutopia Graham Lock studies the music and thought of three pioneering twentieth-century musicians: Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and Anthony Braxton. Providing an alternative to previous analyses of their work, Lock shows how these distinctive artists were each influenced by a common musical and spiritual heritage and participated in self-conscious efforts to create a utopian vision of the future.A century after Ellington’s birth, Lock reassesses his use of music as a form of black history and compares the different approaches of Ra, a band leader who focused on the future and cosmology, and Braxton, a contemporary composer whose work creates its own elaborate mythology. Arguing that the majority of writing on black music and musicians has—even if inadvertently—incorporated racial stereotypes, he explains how each artist reacted to criticism and sought to break free of categorical confines. Drawing on social history, musicology, biography, cultural theory, and, most of all, statements by the musicians themselves, Lock writes of their influential work.Blutopia will be a welcome contribution to the literature on twentieth-century African American music and creativity. It will interest students of jazz, American music, African American studies, American culture, and cultural studies.

Jazz --- History and criticism. --- Sun Ra --- Ellington, Duke, --- Braxton, Anthony --- Duke, Obie, --- Ėllington, Di︠u︡k, --- Ellington, Edward Kennedy, --- Ellington, Obie Duke, --- Greer, Sonny, --- Turner, Joe, --- Blount, Herman --- Ra, Sun --- Le Sun Ra --- Ra, Le Sun --- Le Sony'r Ra --- Ra, Le Sony'r --- Blount, Sonny --- Bourke, Sonny --- Lee, Herman --- Criticism and interpretation. --- MUSIC --- SUN RA --- ELLINGTON (DUKE), 1899-1974 --- BRAXTON (ANTHONY) --- JAZZ

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Breaking down walls between genres that are usually discussed separately-classical, jazz, and popular-this highly engaging book offers a compelling new integrated view of twentieth-century music. Placing Duke Ellington (1899-1974) at the center of the story, David Schiff explores music written during the composer's lifetime in terms of broad ideas such as rhythm, melody, and harmony. He shows how composers and performers across genres shared the common pursuit of representing the rapidly changing conditions of modern life. The Ellington Century demonstrates how Duke Ellington's music is as vital to musical modernism as anything by Stravinsky, more influential than anything by Schoenberg, and has had a lasting impact on jazz and pop that reaches from Gershwin to contemporary R&B.

Jazz --- Music --- History and criticism. --- Analysis, appreciation. --- Ellington, Duke, --- Duke, Obie, --- Ėllington, Di︠u︡k, --- Ellington, Edward Kennedy, --- Ellington, Obie Duke, --- Greer, Sonny, --- Turner, Joe, --- Criticism and interpretation. --- Ellington, Duke --- Criticism and interpretation --- History and criticism --- Analysis, appreciation --- 20th century --- 20th century classical music. --- 20th century history. --- 20th century music. --- aaron copland. --- book club reads. --- books for music lovers. --- discussion books. --- easy to read. --- educational books. --- engaging. --- evolution of music. --- gifts for music lovers. --- history of music. --- how music changed modern life. --- igor stravinsky. --- jazz history. --- jazz. --- learning about composers. --- learning from experts. --- leisure reads. --- music and culture. --- music exploration. --- music. --- musicians. --- nonfiction. --- page turner. --- pop music. --- timeless music. --- vacation reads.