Download or read book The Story of Jazz written by Marshall Winslow Stearns and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1970 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The effect of jazz upon American culture and the American character has been all-pervasive. This superlative history is the first and the most renowned systematic outline of the evolution of this unique American musical phenomenon. Stearns begins with the joining of the African Negro's musical heritage with European forms and the birth of jazz in New Orleans then follows its course through the era of swing and bop to the beginnings of rock in the 50s, vividly depicting the great innovators, and covering such technical elements as the music's form and structure.