---
product_id: 100295276
title: "Why Jazz Happened Hardcover – December 10, 2012"
brand: "marc myers"
price: "¥10712"
currency: JPY
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/100295276-why-jazz-happened-hardcover-december-10-2012
store_origin: JP
region: Japan
---

# Why Jazz Happened Hardcover – December 10, 2012

**Brand:** marc myers
**Price:** ¥10712
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Why Jazz Happened Hardcover – December 10, 2012 by marc myers
- **How much does it cost?** ¥10712 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    An externalist look at the development of jazz
  

*by B***N on Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2018*

I have read the columns of Marc Myers in "The Wall Street Journal" and enjoyed them, so I went on to read his recent book "The Anatomy of a Song," the songs of which were mostly familiar and absolutely rang true for me.  Having enjoyed his columns and recent book, I purchased and read his earlier work "Why Jazz Happened."  I was not disappointed.  I admit to be innocent of the deep knowledge that many jazz afficionados have.  Still, it didn't seem necessary for this externalist account of the development on jazz, i.e., a look at how jazz developed by looking at large social events and developments that were taking place outside the world of jazz.  This book is amazingly successful at what it set out to do, which was to provide a social history of jazz.  No doubt it should be supplemented by an internal account of the development of jazz and I, for one, would be eager to learn of a book that does it well.  There an be no doubt, however, that this book is essential for understanding "Why Jazz Happened."

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Why The Music Industry Happened!
  

*by B***N on Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2013*

Marc Myers is the kind of Jazz writer who never rests for a minute. He writes a daily blog called jazzwax (dot com) which is full of engaging interviews, opinions and recommendations about the music he so clearly knows and loves.I believe the true audience for this book is much wider than just those interested in the history of Jazz. The book actually covers social and economic topics such as the advent of the LP and 45rpm records and the business rivalries that led to the emergence of pop, rock and even classical music as an at-home-entertainment industry. This book is probably just as important as an MBA case study as it is to the history of Jazz. Myers' coverage of the GI Bill and how it led to a generation of "schooled" musicians is another interesting social and political phenomenon that is of general interest, and helps explain why there is such a proliferation of music majors even today.I don't mean in any way to diminish the importance of this book as a history of Jazz. My point is that it is much wider in scope. Myers set out to explain why Jazz happened, and he ended up explaining why the music industry as a whole happened, and the central role America has played in its evolution. A must-read for all music lovers.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Cultural History of Jazz (or How Jazz Didn't Occur in a Vacuum)
  

*by K***T on Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013*

Why Jazz Happened is not your typical history of jazz. You won't get long biographies of Coltrane, Davis, and Monk. You won't get in-depth analyses of great songs, albums, or soloists. What you will get is the story of how cultural, social, and historical variables all helped to create jazz. Coltrane's extended solos, after all, are as much a product of the civil rights struggle and invention of the long play (LP) record as they were about Coltrane's upbringing and his legendary quartet. Bebop owes as much to the musician's union's strike (barring members from recording for two years in order to petition for royalties for recorded music) as it does to the pioneering vision of artists like Dizzy Gillespie.So, Why Jazz Happened is a history of jazz, yes; but it is as much a history about American culture told through the story of jazz. West Coast jazz (a favorite of mine), for instance, is largely 'explained' (though Marc Myers is no reductionist) by the housing boom in post-WWII West Coast and the fact that many touring musicians decided to settle there, developing a laid back sound to match the laid back weather and atmosphere. Spiritual jazz (from Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" to Rollins's "Freedom Suite") is argued to be largely an outgrowth of black musicians' disappointment with legal and cultural segregation, and the lack of progress toward equality; many black artists increasingly wrote spiritual-influenced jazz expressing their anger at the present and hope toward the future. Soul jazz (from Lou Donaldson to Grant Green) is seen as jazz musicians' and record labels' attempts to get R&B record buyers to come back and buy jazz records. I hope I am not making Myers's explanations sound too simplistic; his story makes use of an impressive array of primary and secondary sources including interviews with the musicians (and 'behind the secenes' folks like record executives) working at the times in question.If I have one complaint, it is that the book goes off in many different directions, sometimes, feeling a bit long winded. The chapter on West Coast jazz, for instance, gokes on for 20 or so pages on the ins and outs of Los Angeles's post-WWII booming housing market and the urban planning involved in dealing with the sprawl. Sections like these (another is an in-depth story of the creation of the LP record) are interesting for 10 or so pages, but the reader can get a bit bogged down in these details. (I suspect that during these times, most readers will be saying "let's get to the jazz part." I know I was.)But all in all, I kept reading. The book was very interesting, particularly because it was both about jazz and the cultural surroundings that advertently and inadvertently shaped it. I know I will never listen to some of my favorites the same way again. Now, these favorites will come a bit more to life. And I think that is a good thing.

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*Store origin: JP*
*Last updated: 2026-02-14*