I love jazz. If you know me, you probably already knew that. I did not, however, know much about the origins of this music, in terms of the first musicians and early songs. “Creating Jazz Counterpoint” fills in some gaps in this knowledge through excellent research and effective communication. Although more of an academic book, Vic Hobson’s writing is clear and concise, and objectively reconstructs what may have happened, based on the sources available.

The two musicians given the most focus are Buddy Bolden and Bunk Johnson, cornet/trumpet players before Louis Armstrong. Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy are other important figures, and events like the Robert Charles riot – a massacre – feature both as turning points and references for chronology. Contemporaries, Bolden was born in 1877 and Johnson was born at least two year later – the exact date is uncertain, and a central research question of the book. It is funny to read about them as youngsters wearing “short pants,” but that was indeed the custom until the age of 21, when they would change into long pants. This is not a biography, but rather a study of who played with whom, the instrumentation, and the repertoire. Songs like “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say” (one of its alternate titles being “Funky Butt”) and “Careless Love,” which may or may not be a blues, but was treated as one, are case studies.

Barbershop originated with African Americans, spontaneous quartets singing chords where the bass and lead hold the root note of the key, and the middle voices change pitch before the final resolution. Hobson cites a hierarchy of four (and more) fundamental cadences that define this kind of music. Well-placed examples of transcribed music make for convenient reading. If you don’t read music notation, there are words in some instances, but the author explains the theory, which, if you need to, can be worked through with logic and simple math. (Personal plug here: if you are interested in discussion of music theory, see my other blog: http://smalltheoriesproject.blogspot.com/ )

Some musicians from jazz’s formative years (and now, for that matter) only played by ear; others played only by reading. To do both was another new thing at the time. I suppose the “counterpoint” in the title mostly refers not to the responsibility of the musicians carrying the melody, but the secondary harmonized parts – an important stepping stone towards establishing jazz. Hobson’s definition of jazz is more vague, but considering the evolution of ragtime, blues, and barbershop, we gain a better idea of how jazz grew out of these and other styles, in and around New Orleans.

I thank NetGalley and the University Press of Mississippi for generously providing a review copy of this title. For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/ ( )