“Jazz among the Discourses and Representing Jazz represent something of an academic turning point in the mainstreaming of jazz studies in American academic circles. . . . [In] Representing Jazz . . . Gabbard has collected [a] dozen papers that explore the cross-fertilization of jazz in other media. Central to the argument of this collection is a challenge to the evolutionary, chronological model of jazz criticism. Instead, these critics situate jazz in its cultural moment, examining the racist and colonialist, the literary and filmic, undertaking a gestalt jazz criticism. . . . [T]hese essays provide a new dimension, another history of jazz.” — , Antioch Review
“[A] consistent sharpness, and impressively deft adaptation of both Jazz and the discursive channels that have for decades made meaning of this temporal phenomenon. Theory . . . throttles these collections into revealing that Jazz and contemporary thought are indeed compatible and mutually illuminating. Aiding and abetting the critical listener and viewer/reader, Gabbard’s selection of articles alone is worth commendation. . . . Gabbard has done a skillful service for the reader interested in collecting contemporary writings on Jazz. Likewise, those working in film studies, performance theory, and literary study will do well to peruse Representing Jazz’s many facets and disciplinary hoppings.” — , Cadence
“[I]mportant for studying the interconnections between music, culture, and society. . . . [The contributors] share a commitment to understanding the complexity of the music they champion. Their efforts in opening up new perspectives for the analysis of music must be commended.” — , American Book Review
“[T]hese collections contain some real gems.” — Lee B. Brown , Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
“[T]hought-provoking, illuminating, and extremely valuable contributions reveal areas for further investigation and study. This is more than sufficient reason for these volumes to be in all academic libraries. Jazz scholarship is long overdue, and Gabbard’s collection deserves attention from those who are serious about this music because it demonstrates that there is another approach to the subject.” — , Choice
“Both anthologies will provide valuable material for the serious student of jazz. . . . And the average reader with an interest in jazz will find some stimulating reading here.” — Allegro
“Krin Gabbard, a specialist on jazz in cinema, has assembled two welcome volumes on jazz that include contributions from the fields of film, literature, dance, musicology, history, and art history. The collections share a commitment to developing an interdisciplinary vision for jazz studies that includes engagement with postmodern and poststructural critical theories. . . . Historians of American music are likely to find Jazz among the Discourses a particularly useful volume, since it emphasizes historiographic issues and collects several important previously published works.” — , American Music
“Specialists in Jazz studies will need to contend with many of the claims made in these volumes, and social historians and scholars interested in American popular culture will certainly find valuable scholarship here. . . . Reading the volumes is rather like listening to a many-layered musical call and response between contributors.” — , Journal of American History
“The essays in Representing Jazz and Jazz among the Discourses, companion anthologies edited by Krin Gabbard, seek to dismantle constricting definitions of jazz by exposing the music—as it has been played, imagined, and conceptualized—to interpretive methods in critical theory and cultural studies.” — , Voice Literary Supplement
"Bringing together all these pieces in one place is startling, and should jump-start the field of jazz studies by demonstrating, convincingly, that it need not be conducted as a bad imitation of 1950s musicology. Gabbard is to be commended not only for encouraging these diverse intellects to work on jazz, but also for gathering such an appealing and balanced collection. It works well as an overview of the possibilities of the field, while exploring idiosyncratic areas with great zeal." — Scott DeVeaux, University of Virginia
"If it is true that new knowledge always demands new tools, then we are surely on the way to a paradigm shift with the publication of Krin Gabbard’s two masterful anthologies of jazz. The wonderful introductions—in themselves masterpieces of preparation for a new discipline—are complemented in every way by a variety of absolutely first-rate writing. We may well be glancing with these anthologies through the telescope that will show us the future of jazz studies in the international academy. These are indispensable tools for anyone who wishes to understand sociology and philosophy of knowledge for our era." — Houston A. Baker, Jr.
"One of the strongest jazz anthologies I have seen. Its focus is original. Jazz in literature has been treated before to some extent, but not in the same fashion, and there is little elsewhere on jazz in dance or jazz and the visual arts."— of — Lewis Porter, author, with Michael Ullman, of Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present