Jazz is a music that underwent many stylistic changes in its early decades, from the swing of the 1930s and the bebop of the 1940s to the hardbop of the 1950s, the free jazz of the 1960s, and the fusion of the 1970s. In his book Why Jazz Happened, Jazzwax blogger and Wall Street music writer Marc Myers takes a look at some of the social, cultural, and other non-musical forces and events that helped shape the evolving sound of jazz. He joins Night Lights this week to discuss jazz changes, trends, and upheavals of the mid-20th century. We'll also hear music from Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, and the Tony Williams Lifetime.
