Books. Stefano Zenni presents HISTORY OF JAZZ. A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Book appointment as part of the Twelfth edition of Jazz Appreciation Month Livorno April 2025, by the Unesco Jazz Day Livorno Committee, in collaboration with the Municipality of Livorno, the State Conservatory Pietro Mascagni, the Unesco Club of Livorno, the Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean, and Symphony. With the patronage of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO.
Wednesday, April 23rd, for World Book and Copyright Day, at 9.15 pm, in the Auditorium “Cesare Chiti” of the State Conservatory Pietro Mascagni in Livorno, the updated, corrected, and expanded edition of Stefano Zenni’s book HISTORY OF JAZZ. A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE (Chorus Edizioni), published in its first edition in 2012, will be presented. Andrea Pellegrini from the Unesco Jazz Day Livorno Committee will speak. A video intervention by Stefano Zenni addressing those present at the meeting will be projected.

Stefano Zenni, one of the leading Italian musicologists, specializing in jazz and African-American music, holds the chair of “History of Jazz and African-American music” at the G.B. Martini Conservatory in Bologna, where he also teaches “Analysis of compositional and performative forms of jazz”. He is the artistic director of the Torino Jazz Festival and MetJazz in Prato.

In this History of Jazz, Stefano Zenni uses multiple perspectives that take into account the relationships between individuals and geographical movements – from intercontinental migrations to local urban dynamics –, the interweaving of genres, the link between improvisation and writing, clarifying relationships with other music, from European classical to rock.

To understand the evolution of jazz, it is essential to explore the intricate cultural and artistic interactions that have accompanied its development, from the African roots of the sixteenth century to its birth on the American continent and its spread from the twentieth century onwards. This process must be analyzed considering the different contexts in which it developed (clubs, dance halls, theaters), the professional figures involved (such as producers and managers), the dynamics of the music industry, as well as the connections with political movements.

Hundreds of jazz masterpieces are presented to the reader on solid musicological foundations, offering a selective guide to essential listening. The maps, specially elaborated for the book, underline the geographical aspect of the narrative and clarify the expressive relationships between styles and musicians, exploring connections with Europe, Africa, Latin America, India, Japan, and Russia.

Stefano Zenni reworks and expands the research carried out in the previous History of Jazz (2012), presenting an updated, corrected, and expanded version. In particular, a new section focuses on the current scene, examining the influence of electronics, connections with hip hop, leading figures of the contemporary scene in the United States, intersections with world music, and the emergence of new geographical and stylistic areas, from Africa to Northern Europe.