Introduction

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Introduction | Oral History | The Journal of American History, 88.2 | The History Cooperative

Oral History

Michael Gordon and Lu Ann Jones

We lead off with an innovative essay on oral history and jazz by Burton W. Peretti of Western Connecticut State University. Peretti explains how the oral history of jazz has evolved from informal, autobiographical interviews with jazz musicians to scholarly studies that place the music and the musicians within their social and cultural contexts. While major archives of jazz oral histories already provide a wealth of research sources, Peretti suggests new avenues of inquiry that should enrich these collections—and insights on jazz—considerably. Finally, Peretti explores the relationship that is rooted in African American cultural traditions between jazz music and oral testimony. The theoretical discussion that concludes his essay links the oral history of jazz to larger methodological questions that concern all oral historians. Like a good musical riff, Peretti's essay can inspire fresh ideas for social and cultural historians of jazz that undoubtedly will also lead to many more revealing oral histories. . . .

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