Rhythm, improvisation and conversational call-and-response provide the main themes for this joyful celebration of the jazz spirit, in an artistic jam session skillfully emceed by Columbia University scholar Robert O'Meally. Even a casual stroll through this lovely Smithsonian Institution assemblage of paintings, writings, sculptures and photographs—by artists from Matisse to Toni Morrison—bears out the truth of famed trumpeter Clark Terry's observation: "One splash of a Chagall can sound like Bird." (Chronicle, $22.95)
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