Joe McPhee

American jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer (born 1939), prominent in free jazz and avant-garde improvisation; known for playing saxophones and brass instruments (trumpet, pocket trumpet) and for recordings such as Nation Time.

Books

Ranked Books All Books

This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

  1. 1. Now Jazz Now

    100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings 1960–80
    Cover of 'Now Jazz Now' by Neneh Cherry, Thurston Moore, Joe McPhee, Byron Coley, Mats Gustafsson

    A provocative, wide-ranging collection of essays, interviews and firsthand reflections that captures the restless energy of contemporary and experimental jazz, tracing its collisions with punk, free improvisation and global music traditions. Contributors move between intimate performance recollections, critical analysis and playful manifestos to map how improvisation, DIY ethics and cultural politics reshape sound and community. The result is an urgent, impressionistic portrait of a music in flux — committed to risk, hybridity and radical listening.

    The 12902nd Greatest Book of All Time