"Engagingly written, [Jazz Matters] is replete with keen, sometimes provocative, insights that will set many readers’ minds a-whirring."
"Ake has made another vibrant contribution to contemporary jazz studies, one that sets very high standards of scholarly rigor and intellectual versatility, and that will continually spur readers of many disciplinary persuasions to question what they think they know."
"Ake offers an engaging and eclectic alternative to much jazz studies fare by examining seldom-considered subjects and reading familiar ones through unconventional means. I came away from Jazz Matters knowing that I had learned something new regarding the practices of writing about, listening to, and playing jazz."—Eric Porter, author of What Is This Thing Called Jazz?
"Smart, interesting, engaging, thoughtful, and stimulating, this book opens up a lot of what we often take for granted about jazz. A fitting sequel to Jazz Cultures, Jazz Matters will no doubt be just as important to jazz scholarship."—Gabriel Solis, author of Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk and Jazz History in the Making
"Jazz Matters is intellectually stimulating as much as emotionally involving. It deals with sides of the acts of creating jazz and listening to it that were hitherto little or no discussed, and does it with first-hand knowledge, empathy, and a wide range of references to literature, philosophy and art, adding something deeply valuable at the vast literature on jazz currently available."—Francesco Martinelli, Director of Centro Studi sul Jazz "Arrigo Polillo" - Fondazione Siena Jazz
