Books by John Szwed

Lovers (For Philadelphia). Mark Christman and John Szwed, editors. Philadelphia: Ars Nova
Workshop, 2018
Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth NY: Viking; UK: William Heinemann, 2015
Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World NY: Viking; UK: William Heinemann, 2011
Blues for New Orleans: Mardi Gras and America’s Creole Soul (with Robert Farris Thompson, Nick Spitzer, and Roger Abrahams) Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006
Crossovers: Essays on Race, Music, and American Culture Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005
Doctor Jazz, a book included with Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, an 8-CD box set from Rounder Records, 2005
Jazz: An American Story (principal author of the text for Jazz in the Schools, the American history curriculum for the National Endowment for the Arts/Jazz at Lincoln Center project, Jazz in the Schools, 2006)
So What: The Life of Miles Davis NY: Simon & Schuster; UK: William Heinemann (print & Braille editions), 2002, Arrow Books, 2003; translations: Japan: Shinko Music, 2004; Korea: Eukyoo Printing, 2004; Hungary: Cartaphilus Kiado, forthcoming; Nanjing University Press, forthcoming
The Future of Jazz (with Greg Tate, et al.) Chicago: a capella, 2002
Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz NY: Hyperion, 2000. Other editions: Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2003; translations: Tokyo: Sedosha Press, 2004; Jakarta: Gramedia, 2008; Torino: Fondazione Siena Jazz/EDT, Jazz! Una guida completa per ascoltare e amare la musica jazz, 2009.
Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra New edition: Duke University Press, 2020. First edition: New York: Pantheon, 1997; paperback edition, (chosen as a New York Public Library “Book to Remember, 1997”; Certificate of Merit, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 1997.)Da Capo, 1998; Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1997 Japan: Kawade Shobo Shinsa, 2004.
New Music America Journal ’89: On the Next Wave Brooklyn: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1989, editor [program for the 10th Anniversary of New Music America]
After Africa: Slave Culture in 17th, 18th, and 19th Century British West Indies (with Roger D. Abrahams) New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983
Afro-American Folk Culture: An Annotated Bibliography of Materials from North, Central and South America (with Roger D. Abrahams) 2 vols. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society, Bibliographical and Special Series, and ISHI Publications, 1978
Discovering Afro-America Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974 (with Roger D. Abrahams) (also published as a special issue of the Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 9, Nos. 3-4, 1974)
Folksongs and Their Makers (with Henry Glassie and Edward D. Ives) University Popular Press, Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green, 1970
Black America New York: Basic Books, 1970
Afro-American Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives (with Norman E. Whitten, Jr.). New York: Free Press, 1970
Private Cultures and Public Imagery: Interpersonal Relations in a Newfoundland Peasant Society Newfoundland Social and Economics Studies No. 2, St. John’s Newfoundland, 1966 (reprinted, 1974)