* Originally released January 2018
Host Lissa Jones sits down with Dr. Damani Phillips. Dr. Phillips is an active performer, educator and composer. He currently serves as associate professor of jazz Studies and African-American studies at the University of Iowa, where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, directs jazz combos and teaches courses in African-American music, African-American Culture, jazz education and improvisation.
In 2009, Phillips completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, becoming one of the first African-Americans in the country to do so. Phillips recently published his first book titled “What is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Jazz and Black Culture.” To learn more about Dr. Phillips’s work, visit his website, damaniphillips.com
To purchase Dr. Phillips’s book can be purchased on Amazon
Listen:
Episode 27 – Dr. Damani Phillips
Host Lissa Jones sits down with Dr. Damani Phillips. Dr. Phillips is an active performer, educator and composer. He currently serves as associate professor of jazz Studies and African-American studies at the University of Iowa, where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, directs jazz combos and teaches courses in African-American music, African-American Culture, jazz education and improvisation.
Go Deeper: Additional Materials
Explore: Dr. Phillips has created a companion website for his book, offering context and additional resources for readers and tools for educators teaching the book
What Is This Thing Called Soul
About The Book How does academic jazz education impact the Black cultural value of soulfulness and esthetic standards in contemporary jazz music? Through candid conversations with nine of the country’s most highly respected jazz practitioners and teachers,What Is This Thing Called Soul explores the potential consequences of forcing the Black musical style of jazz into an academic pedagogical system that is specifically designed to facilitate the practice and pedagogy of European classical music.
Listen: ‘Woopin’ Blues’ by Nicholas Payton (interviewed in the Dr. Phillips’s book)
Listen: ‘Bolo Blues’ by Jimmy Forrest
Listen: ‘Unit 7’ by Cannonball Adderley
Listen: ‘Soul Station’ by Hank Mobley