A review by zberblank
Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century by Nate Chinen

informative inspiring fast-paced

Nate Chinen’s survey of modern jazz is essential. Each chapter is a profile on a different scene, style, culture, or even specific artist in modern jazz music. With recommended listening for each chapter, you leave the book having a very good understanding of how jazz has developed in the current century so far. Chinen doesn’t pretend to know where the music is going, but he makes a strong argument that the music is more vibrant and varied than ever. To go a step further, the book makes a strong case that now is the most exciting time to be a jazz listener. To that end, I appreciated the diversity in styles presented. Chinen shows that there is really something for everyone in jazz music, and this book does a lot to destroy the stereotype of modern jazz music being esoteric inaccessible noise. 

Finally, in a male dominated genre of music, Chinen profiles some of the great female jazz artists currently in the scene. There are full length profiles of Esperanza Spaulding and Mary Halvorson, as well as segments on others. Sexism is a real problem in the jazz community, and it’s only passively addressed in this book, but it is refreshing to know that even in jazz the future is female.