Ah, New York . . .

Just wanted to save this somewhere where I could see it and share. (Dee Dee Bridgewater of course is one of the 37 musicians interviewed in my book!)

April 30 is Independent Bookstore Day!

April 30 is Independent Bookstore Day. Which means . . . your favorite independent bookstores will be (hopefully) packed with customers looking to stock up on new titles.

I am very pleased that my book Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz is available in several excellent independent bookstores here in Houston, TX as well as my former home, New York City. If you haven't picked up a copy, consider visiting one of these stores (see below). Most of them also offer online ordering, so if you prefer not to use Amazon, remember, you have other options!

My book on the shelves of McNally Jackson, New York City. (Third shelf from the bottom!)

Houston, TX:

You can pick up a copy of my book at Brazos Bookstore, the Jung Center of Houston Bookstore, and Casa Ramirez FOLKART Gallery.

New York City: 

My book is available at McNally Jackson Books (home of the Espresso Book Machine!) as well as Bluestockings, a 100% volunteer-powered and collectively-owned radical bookstore, fair trade cafe, and activist center in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Published in November 2015, Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz is a timely collection of inspiring and in-depth interviews with 37 women musicians of all ages, nationalities, and races, who represent nearly every style of jazz one can imagine. The interviewees include Carmen Lundy, Terri Lyne Carrington, Eliane Elias, Helen Sung, Anat Cohen, Diane Schuur, Sherrie Maricle, Sharel Cassity, Jane Monheit, Ellen Seeling, Cheryl Bentyne, Brandee Younger, Jane Ira Bloom, and many other incredible artists.

The 320-page book includes a 25-page history of jazz, as well as introductions to each interview, to provide helpful context for readers who are unaware of the contributions by women to the development of jazz.

Happy Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald! (b. 1917, d. 1996)

"Born just a few years after Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, known as the 'First Lady of Song,' turned scat singing into high art and enjoyed an extended career through the swing and later bebop years, and on into the 1970s and mid-1980s. She recorded over 200 albums, including several with trumpeter and fellow virtuoso of scat, Louis Armstrong, as well as several album-length programs of music by some of America's greatest composers, including Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Irvin Berlin, and Rogers and Hart."

Happy birthday, Ella!

(Excerpted from Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz by Chris Becker.)

Educators Discount for “Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz.”

Educators can now purchase one or several copies of Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz for $16.50 (25% off the $22.00 cover price) plus shipping and handling.

Published in November 2015, Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz is a timely collection of inspiring and in-depth interviews with 37 women musicians of all ages, nationalities, and races, who represent nearly every style of jazz one can imagine. The interviewees include Carmen Lundy, Terri Lyne Carrington, Eliane Elias, Helen Sung, Anat Cohen, Diane Schuur, Sherrie Maricle, Sharel Cassity, Jane Monheit, Ellen Seeling, Cheryl Bentyne, Brandee Younger, Jane Ira Bloom, and many other incredible artists.

The 320-page book includes a 25-page history of jazz, as well as introductions to each interview, to provide helpful context for readers who are unaware of the contributions by women to the development of jazz.

The interviews in the book can be used to help students develop and deepen their understanding of a wide range of classroom topics, including:

• Jazz 
• Improvisation
• Composition
• Music Education
• Pedagogy
• Music Business
• Women’s Studies
• Gender Studies
• Women’s Movement
• Sexism / Prejudice U.S. History
• World Music
• African American Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Latin American Studies

To place an order:

1.) Contact Chris Becker at beckeresque@gmail.com with the name of your institution and total number of books you’d like to order.
2.) We will then email you an order form to complete which will include the total cost of your order. Once you return the order form, we will place your order.

Educators can pay with a check or by using PayPal. We also accept purchase order numbers and will invoice you accordingly.

"At long last, an in-depth recognition of the female contributions to jazz.  As Dr. Billy Taylor said about the lack of awareness of female musicians: ‘If it isn't written down, it didn't happen.’ Now everyone will know that it did happen and continues to happen. What a great gift to the history of women and music." — Judy Chaikin, director of the award-winning documentary The Girls in the Band

“This is a truly welcomed work to be added to the annals of jazz’s oral histories. Chris Becker shows great care, respect and benevolence for women artists, too often ignored, who have contributed much to creation of this music and who continue to push the genre forward by all means necessary.” – Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, journalist and director-producer of But Can She Play?: Blowin’ The Roof Off Women Horn Players and Jazz

"Finally, a comprehensive HERstory of jazz music! Each of the women interviewed in this book have created strong musical identities while operating under the radar for far too many years. Thanks to Chris Becker, the world can discover the inner workings and creative lives of these fine, deserving jazzwomen. This book is a riveting read . . . an exciting journey into the mind of female genius." — Rachel Z., composer, keyboardist (Steps Ahead, Larry Coryell, Wayne Shorter, Peter Gabriel)

"Surrounding this almost clinically-sound distribution of talent, Becker has raised succinctly-stated perimeter in which to place these musicians, more brightly illuminating their individual, group, cultural contributions. He begins with a brief history of jazz before veering into the contribution of women, and with his Texas-sized literary lasso, wrangles issues like rock and roll, the women's liberation movement, the growth of jazz education, and global influences." — C. Michael Bailey, AllAboutJazz

Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz
The interviewees:

Mindi Abair	Saxophones
Cheryl Bentyne	Voice
Jane Ira Bloom	Soprano Saxophone
Samantha Boshnack	Trumpet
Dee Dee Bridgewater	Voice
Terri Lyne Carrington	Drums
Sharel Cassity	Saxophones
Anat Cohen	Clarinet, Saxophones
Jean Cook	Violin
Connie  Crothers	Piano
Eliane Elias	Piano, Voice
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb	Voice
Lenae Harris	Cello
Val Jenty	Electronics
Jan Leder	Flute
Jennifer Leitham	Double Bass
Carmen Lundy	Voice
Sherrie Maricle	Drums
Jane Monheit	Voice
Jacqui Naylor	Voice
Aurora Nealand	Saxophones, Clarinet
Iris Ornig	Double Bass
Alisha Pattillo	Tenor Saxophone
Roberta Piket	Piano
Cheryl Pyle	Flute
Nichole Rampersaud	Trumpet
Sofia Rei	Voice
Patrizia Scascitelli	Piano
Diane Schuur	Voice
Ellen Seeling	Trumpet
Helen Sung	Piano
Jacqui Sutton	Voice
Mazz Swift	Violin, Voice
Nioka Workman	Cello
Pamela York	Piano
Brandee Younger	Harp
Malika Zarra	Voice