Live now
Personalised Recommendations
Sign up or log in to MY NTS and get personalised recommendations
Unlock Live Tracklists
Support NTS for timestamps across live channels and the archive
Live on 1
No tracks found...
12 Oct 2026 · London
NTS Guide to: Langston Hughes History Of Jazz
"I can imagine no better guide through the history and variety of jazz than Langston Hughes, voice of the Harlem Renaissance and poetic interpreter of 20th century black American culture. Hughes’ 1955 First Book of Jazz is just that, a short primer with a surprisingly high degree of sophistication for a children’s book. I would, in fact, recommend it as an introduction to jazz for any reader.
Hughes thoroughly covers the musical context of jazz in brief chapters like “African Drums,” “Old New Orleans,” “Work Songs,” “The Blues,” and “Ragtime.” He then “discusses the mechanics of jazz,” writes author and blogger Ariel S. Winter, including “improvisation, syncopation, percussion, rhythm, blue notes, tone color, harmony, break, riff….” Through it all runs the life and career of Louis Armstrong, whose story, Hughes states “is almost the whole story of orchestral jazz in America.”
You Might Also Like
Tracklist
- Harold CourlanderRuanda - The Watutsi: Ceremonial Drums
- Dock ReeseGo Down Old Hannah
- LeadBellyIn New Orleans (House Of The Rising Sun)
- Mongo Santamaria's Cuban Drum BeatersChago
- King OliverJust Gone
- Jelly Roll MortonRandall's Rag, Maple Leaf Rag, (St. Louis)
- Louis Armstrong & His Hot FiveJazz Lips
- Sonny TerryHarmonica And Washboard Blues
- Ma RaineyTravelling Blues
- Woody HermanTenderly
- New Orleans WanderersPerdeagle Street Blues
- Charley Christian, Dizzy GillespieSwing To Bop
- Gil Evans, Tadd DameronChoose Now (Take 2)
- Benny Goodman QuintetI Cried For You
- Count BasieDon´t You Miss Your Baby
- Andy KirkFroggy Bottoms
- Mary Lou WilliamsSaint Martin De Porres
- Mead Lux LewisHonk Tonk
- Leroy CarrHow Long - How Long Blues
- Bix BeiderbeckeSomebody Stole My Gal
- Bunny Berigan's Blue BoysI'm Coming, Virginia
- Duke EllingtonSophisticated Lady
- Dizzy Gillespie And His SextetOop Bop Sh' Bam
- Lennie TristanoFreedom (Blues)
- Tony SchwartzRhythm Of Words
- Mary Lou WilliamsMili Jam Sessions