Our guest for this episode of the podcast is Michael Heller, Associate Professor of Music for the Department of Music and editor of the journal Jazz and Culture published by University of Illinois Press. He’s the author of Loft Jazz: Improvising New York in the 1970s which chronicles an explosion of experimental venues that sprang up inside of the city’s crumbling industrial buildings.

Michael joins us today to talk about the newest issue of Jazz and Culture which is a tribute to the musical legacy of the late Geri Allen, Director of Jazz Studies at Pitt from 2013 until her death in 2017.  He’ll also preview his forthcoming second book titled Just Beyond Listening: Sound and Affect Outside of the Ear. The new book explores a range of human relationships with sound based on modalities other than listening.

Find out more about the Jazz and Culture journal.