Buy Online Reviewed by Jean Porath Jazz is cool. Jazz never sacrifices its identity even when incorporating whatever is interesting and timely. Jazz's defining characteristic is improvisation, often collective improvisation. Jazz is considered by many to be America's greatest contribution to music, its mother the grand city of New Orleans, its DNA the experiences of early African Americans in formidable times and frustrating situations. Jazz begins, like most music, with a set of notes or riffs, short rhythmic, melodic lines either repeated to create a main melody or used as the impetus for solos.
Skinner is cool.
He's written jazz. More impressive, he's written jazz as a mystery novel, though in truth the two might go hand in hand. In the early part of the century jazz stretched to cities like Chicago where it evolved in harmony with the Windy City's character, singling out instruments more, such as the saxophone. In New Orleans, jazz remained collective, yet allowed for individuality. It's apt then that Skinner begins his great jazz performance with a collection of characters, each a distinct set of notes, warming up slowly, growing more complex with each measure.