TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
When you think of the Beat Generation, you think of Jack Kerouac—and behind his writing, you’ll almost always find jazz. Kerouac loved the raw energy of bebop, especially the music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He described his writing style as “spontaneous prose,” borrowing the rhythms and improvisational flow of jazz solos.
In novels like "On the Road," Kerouac captured the spirit of freedom, restlessness, and discovery—qualities also at the heart of jazz. He even read his poetry aloud with jazz accompaniment, turning his words into a kind of musical performance.
For Kerouac and the Beats, jazz was a philosophy. It showed how creativity could break rules, push boundaries, and still hold together through rhythm and flow. That’s why Kerouac called jazz “the sound of America.”
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.