Tropical Riffs: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz

Product description Review "A superb history of Latin American jazz's artistic and societal evolution." -- Kevin Canfield ― New York City Jazz Record“Tropical Riffs offers a wonderful introduction to jazz in Latin America in the early- to late mid-twentieth century, tracing and following jazz in Latin America, and Latin jazz in the U.S. as an evolving hybrid art of musical expressions." -- Moshe Morad ― EIAL"With Tropical Riffs, Borge has provided an extremely helpful survey that unites and expands upon scholarship that was, until now, largely contained in isolated country studies. The author convincingly shows how jazz figured prominently in the driving political and cultural debates of twentieth-century Latin America." -- Victoria Broadus ― The Latin Americanist"Perhaps the book’s most important contribution is the detailed look into emerging discourses of national identity and its entanglements with complex, and sometimes contradictory ideologies of racial inclusion. Throughout the entire book, Borge’s narrative brings to the fore the many connections between black musicians across the hemisphere that were made possible through jazz." -- Marcelo Boccato Kuyumjian ― Journal of the Society for American Music"Tropical Riffs offers a thought-provoking insight into the impact of jazz in Latin America, not only on musical styles and discussions but also on political and cultural debates throughout the region during the twentieth century. In examining how jazz music provided Latin American intellectuals with resources with which to negotiate changing attitudes toward race, sexuality, national identity, US influence, and mass con-sumption, Borge provides a well-written and informative study of a much-neglected topic." -- Hazel Marsh ― Bulletin of Latin American Research“Jason Borge has managed to synthesize large and diverse bodies of literature to produce a thoughtful, well-written monograph.... It is a pleasure to enthusiastically recommend it for any collection supporting research in ethnomusicology, jazz studies, or twentieth-century Latin American culture and history.” -- Carlos E. Peña ― Notes About the Author Jason Borge is Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of Latin American Writers and the Rise of Hollywood Cinema.