Is jazz a universal idiom or is it an art form belonging exclusively to African Americans? Although whites have been playing jazz almost since it first developed, the history of jazz has been forged by a series of African-American artists whose styles electrified their musical generation - masters such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker.

The issue of racial identity in jazz music is the focus of this personal look at the world of jazz music. It is examined in the context of nearly a century of African-American music, its unforgettably talented musicians, and the phenomena - from slavery, to black nationalism, to the Nation of Islam - that have shaped the African-American community as a whole.