Michael Stephans – författare

In Experiencing Jazz: A Listener’s Companion, writer, teacher, and renowned jazz drummer Michael Stephans offers a much-needed survey in the art of listening to and enjoying this dynamic, ever-changing art form. More than mere entertainment, jazz provides a pleasurable and sometimes dizzying listening experience with an extensive range in structure and form, from the syncopated swing of big bands to the musical experimentalism of small combos. As Stephans illustrates, listeners and jazz artists often experience the essence of the music together—an experience unique in the world of music.Experiencing Jazz demonstrates how the act of listening to jazz takes place on a deeply personal level and takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the genre, instrument by instrument—offering not only brief portraits of key musicians like Joe Lovano and John Scofield, but also their own commentaries on how best to experience the music they create. Throughout, jazz takes center stage as a personal transaction that enriches the lives of both musician and listener. Written for anyone curious about the genre, this book encourages further reading, listening, and viewing, helping potential listeners cultivate an understanding and appreciation of the jazz art and how it can help—in drummer Art Blakey’s words—“wash away the dust of everyday life.”

Saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman, along with pianist Cecil Taylor, was one of the founding forces of the Free Jazz movement which took the music world by storm in the 1950s and 60s. His brilliance as an instrumentalist at first positioned him as a polarizing figure, but eventually brought him recognition as an American original and international jazz treasure.Jazz drummer Michael Stephans explores the personal challenges Coleman faced, the music he created from one decade to the next, and the incredibly positive attitude he maintained in the face of so much negativity throughout his life. Revealing how Coleman became an iconic, enigmatic figure not only in jazz, but in much of contemporary improvisational music, Stephans weaves together analysis of Coleman’s recordings with interviews of those who knew Coleman best.Experiencing Ornette Coleman: A Listener's Companion encourages both jazz devotees and readers with little knowledge of the music to trace the inspirational journey of this now-seminal figure from his early years through the beginnings of the new millennium. Along the way, readers will learn about the music and motivations of the free jazz movement while experiencing an utterly human story of artistic genius and expression.

In Experiencing Jazz: A Listener’s Companion, writer, teacher, and renowned jazz drummer Michael Stephans offers a much-needed survey in the art of listening to and enjoying this dynamic, ever-changing art form. More than mere entertainment, jazz provides a pleasurable and sometimes dizzying listening experience with an extensive range in structure and form, from the syncopated swing of big bands to the musical experimentalism of small combos. As Stephans illustrates, listeners and jazz artists often experience the essence of the music together—an experience unique in the world of music.Experiencing Jazz demonstrates how the act of listening to jazz takes place on a deeply personal level and takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the genre, instrument by instrument—offering not only brief portraits of key musicians like Joe Lovano and John Scofield, but also their own commentaries on how best to experience the music they create. Throughout, jazz takes center stage as a personal transaction that enriches the lives of both musician and listener. Written for anyone curious about the genre, this book encourages further reading, listening, and viewing, helping potential listeners cultivate an understanding and appreciation of the jazz art and how it can help—in drummer Art Blakey’s words—“wash away the dust of everyday life.”