Jazz

Throughout American literature, jazz has been a storytelling tool. Writers like Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison didn’t merely write about jazz — they wrote with it.

Ralph Ellison, author of "Invisible Man," grew up playing the trumpet and carried jazz in his bones.

Allen Ginsberg, a powerful voice of the Beat Generation, drew deep inspiration from jazz.

When you think of the Beat Generation, you think of Jack Kerouac—and behind his writing, you’ll almost always find jazz.

Langston Hughes, the celebrated poet of the Harlem Renaissance, was deeply inspired by the music of Duke Ellington.

Langston Hughes, one of the leading voices of the Harlem Renaissance, often described his poetry as “jazz written on the page.” He was deeply inspired by the rhythms, improvisation, and spirit of African American music.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" is as much a story of jazz as it is of love and ambition.

In jazz, the bassline is the heartbeat of the music. The bassist provides the harmonic foundation, outlining the chord changes while keeping the rhythm moving.

One of the defining sounds of jazz is the blue note—a pitch slightly lowered from the standard scale. These notes give jazz its characteristic tension, color, and emotional depth.

When we talk about jazz standards, we’re really talking about a shared songbook—a common language that musicians use to connect. Most standards follow a structure borrowed from popular songs of the 1920s through the 1950s.