New Books In Music

Jazz is often dubbed the greatest American original art form. This claim might be difficult to contend. But a close exploration of the folks who created, listened, and participated in jazz environments can also tell us lot about the religious history of those people. In his new book, Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion (Oxford University Press, 2015), Jason Bivins, Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State University, argues that Jazz is a unique and under-explored venue for investigating American religious history. Bivins explores Jazz through common components of religious communities and traditions, including as forms of ritual, institutional structures, practices of healing, and jazz cosmologies. He begins with an outline of the deep connections between jazz musicians and their relationships with specific religious traditions, including Islam, the Black church, Bah’ ethics, Buddhism, and Scientology. He also outlines how artists engage in historical self-ref