John F. Szwed (born 1936) is the John M. Musser Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, African American Studies and Film Studies at Yale University and an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar in the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, where he previously served as the Center’s Director and Professor of Music and Jazz Studies. Szwed is the author of many books on jazz and American music, including studies of Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Jelly Roll Morton, Alan Lomax, Billie Holiday, and Harry Everett Smith.
Books in order of publication:
Afro-American Anthropology: Contemporary Perspective on Theory and Research, ed. Norman Whitten & John Szwed, 1970
Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra, 2000
Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz, 2000
So What: The Life of Miles Davis, 2003
Doctor Jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, 2005, Rounder Records
Crossovers: Essays on Race, Music, and American Culture, 2006
Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World, 2010
Billie Holiday: The Musician & The Myth, 2015
Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith, 2023
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