Travis A. Jackson

Travis A. Jackson is Associate Professor of Music and the Humanities at the University of Chicago. In addition to Blowing the Blues Away, he is the author of articles on jazz's place in the African diaspora, jazz and poetry's intersections, and the interpretation of meaning in rock. His writing has appeared in a variety of journals, in edited books and in the popular press. Among his current projects are a book on British post-punk music, graphic design and racial/imperial anxiety from 1977 to 1984 and articles on a "permanent avant-garde" in rock; on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On as an exemplary concept album; on the question of punk's role in social protest; and on the contradictory position of blacks vis-a-vis the recording industry and music critics. He is a guitarist, amateur recordist and songwriter living on the South Side of Chicago.