John Szwed

John Szwed was director of the Center for Jazz Studies and is a former professor of Music and Jazz Studies at Columbia University in New York; he is also the former John M. Musser Professor of Anthropology, African American Studies, and Film Studies at Yale University. He has authored or edited eighteen books and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,TheVillage Voice, and many other publications. He has received fellowships from the John M. Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has produced several recordings and has appeared in a number of documentaries and television specials; as a jazz musician, he played the bass and trombone professionally for over a decade.