John F. Szwed, professor of music and jazz studies at
Columbia University, has been appointed director of the Center for Jazz
Studies at Columbia. An anthropologist and jazz scholar, Szwed is the author of the recent
biography, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World. His publications range from
anthropological studies of Newfoundland and the West Indies to record liner
notes and jazz journalism.
Szwed has written or edited 15 books, includingSpace is the Place:
The Lives and Times of Sun Raand Jazz 101. Doctor Jazz,
a book included with the CD set, Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete
Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, was awarded a Grammy in 2005.
In addition, he has written for The New York Times, The
Washington Post, Wire, and other publications in the U.S. and
Europe. He is currently general editor of the Jazz Perspectives book series
published by The University of Michigan Press.
Szwed takes over the director role from George E. Lewis, Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia, who has run the
Center since 2007.
“I’m very excited to see John Szwed become the new director of the Center,”
said Lewis. “New leadership means new possibilities, and John’s vast
academic experience, his love of jazz, and his deep understanding of the
national and international impact of improvisation in culture and community all
promise a bright future for research and teaching in music at Columbia.”
Szwed is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Jazz Studies Online (JSO),
one of the most widely-referenced portals on the Web for jazz research. JSO
recently began a two-year project to build and test a powerful database tool
for research on the history of jazz with the participation of a network of
noted jazz scholars. The project has received generous support from the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation. Szwed has also received fellowships from the John Simon
Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Read more on: http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/2494
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