“No writer has confronted the of-this-moment character of contemporary jazz with the clarity and authority that Nate Chinen has brought to it, first in his journalism and now in a daring and illuminating book” — David Hajdu, The Nation

Author Nate Chinen, who has been writing about jazz for more than twenty years (a dozen of them working as a critic for The New York Times), joins 23Arts to chart the origins of jazz historicism and contemplate the rise of an institutional framework for the music.

“Playing changes,” in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser’s resourceful path through a chord progression. Nate Chinen’s Playing Changes boldly expands on the idea, highlighting a host of real changes—ideological, technological, theoretical, and practical—that jazz musicians have learned to navigate since the turn of the century.

Chinen will be joined by special guest Patrick Bartley Jr. to demonstrate and punctuate the conversation with improvisational miniatures.

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