The title of jazz critic Ted Gioia’s new book, “How to Listen to Jazz,” has some strange implications. The phrase not only suggests that there is a correct way to listen to jazz, it also assumes that ...

All About Jazz readers are usually very hip to the joys and challenges of listening to this uniquely American and endlessly fascinating art form we call jazz. Aficionados of jazz like to talk about ...

"As you develop your listening skills, [answer this question]: Are the musicians playing the notes with precision, almost as if they are reading music from some Platonic ideal score, or are they ...

Jazz music is an ever-evolving fusion of style, a national art form embodying the metaphor of America as a complex cultural melting pot. From the start, early American musical elements — West African ...