“Big Ears . . . evaluates the long fetch of history that is jazz, and by contemplating and calling into question where that history came from, it helps us understand the past, present, and future of jazz more clearly.” — Kara A. Attrep, Critical Studies in Improvisation
“Big Ears uses a wide variety of methodologies and spans multiple eras, topics, and locations. The book is intended to be useful in a number of different scholarly contexts, and Rustin and Tucker are completely successful in that goal. It would make a wonderful core textbook for a gender and jazz course, but also contains gems that would be useful in subjects as diverse as German studies and African American studies. In addition to its value in the classroom, this collection is a significant addition to jazz and gender studies, as well as to feminist scholarship in general.” — Stephan Pennington, Feminist Formations,
“Big Ears, which is part of the Refiguring American Music series, goes to great lengths in the description of how women in general faced an uphill battle in receiving the spotlight and the accolades they deserved. It also digs into the core of jazz’s gender roots, when singing and piano-playing were considered feminine. So it is that men also faced gender discrimination when taking to the stage on a piano or for vocals.” — Elizabeth Amore, Popmatters
“[A] ground-breaking volume. . . . For scholars of popular music not directly associated with jazz, Big Ears will prove relevant due to the way in which the disparate essay topics demonstrate the widespread cultural impact of jazz from its earliest origins to the present day: jazz is represented as popular music and as a source of pop cultural aesthetics. . . . The authors in Big Ears represent a group of scholars willing to listen to jazz culture in ways which some of us might have missed or need to hear again.” — Rob Wallace, Journal of Popular Music Studies
“[I]f you want to be prompted to think in sociological and musicological terms about gender as well as race in jazz, you should add this book to your reading list or at least to your reference library. . . . It could be said that first public instance of gender analysis in jazz was in 1924. . . . Big Ears helps show how and why jazz music, and the men and women who play it, have evolved since then, as it paves the way for more analysis and discussion to come.” — Yvonne Ervin, Jazz Notes
“[M]ore jazz citizens do seem to be awakening to issues of gender. That process may be best observed in academia, thanks to scholars like Sherrie Tucker, Farah Jasmine Griffin and Lara Pellegrinelli, whose perceptive work can be sampled in Big Ears: Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies, a worthwhile new anthology edited by Tucker and Nichole T. Rustin.” — Nate Chinen, JazzTimes
“The pieces collected in this volume view women not necessarily as exceptional but as ‘common’ and vital in the history and culture of jazz. The editors . . . do a fine job of analyzing the role of women in jazz studies from all perspectives: as musicians, scholars, writers, critics, and listeners. They have also made these academic essays highly accessible; in turn their call for further exploration of gender dynamics as well as race and sexuality in jazz studies falls on receptive ears.” — Ivana Ng, All About Jazz
“These essays explore many issues of gender in jazz, covering a wide range from a variety of viewpoints, illuminating the past and looking at the present and possible future of jazz. . . . These essays should have a real impact on an area of jazz studies that deserves more attention. Highly recommended.” — C. M. Weisenberg, Choice
“Big Ears is a breath of fresh air in contemporary jazz studies. Whereas the field has exploded during the last several years, this is the first volume specifically devoted to new work on gender and jazz. The essays here are wide-ranging in form, content, and method. They pay admirable attention to jazz across media (in film, concerts, recordings) and in international, not just U.S., contexts.” — Gayle Wald, author of Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
“Opening new vistas upon the study of jazz in the humanities, Nichole T. Rustin and Sherrie Tucker guide a vibrant and profound conversation at the nexus of performance studies, film and literary studies, gender studies, and many other fields. The unprecedented range and scope of this essential new collection affirm the centrality of improvisation to our understanding of culture.” — George E. Lewis, author of A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music