The latest words on jazz, evaluated by critics who understand the power of jazz writing.
The first part of this autobiography is unusually valuable for information on the early jazz scene in Los Angeles, particularly the part played by such … Read More “Marshal Royal: Jazz Survivor by Marshal Royal & Claire R. Gordon”
Gene Santoro is a fine writer who digs deep to demonstrate how artists’ lives and beliefs have shaped their work. His subjects here range from … Read More “Stir It Up: Musical Stews from Roots to Jazz by Gene Santoro”
This translated and updated edition of Fitterling’s 1987 study makes a welcome addition to the slight body of English-language writing available on Monk. It represents … Read More “Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music by Thomas Fitterling”
Subtitled “A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas,” this slim but proud volume successfully bridges the gap between the coffee table and academic library shelf. … Read More “Our Own Sweet Sounds by Robert Cochran”
Composer Alec Wilder called Irving Berlin “the best all-around, over-all song writer America has ever had.” Berlin was certainly prolific and successful, dedicating himself ferociously … Read More “Irving Berlin Songs from the Melting Pot: The Formative Years, 1907-14 by Charles Hamm”
Mike Lankford might be dubbed a thinking man’s drummer. As a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop his prose is a cut above the usual … Read More “Life in Double Time: Confessions of an American Drummer by Mike Lankford”
By now Whitney Balliett’s tenure as jazz critic at The New Yorker has lasted nearly 40 years, and in all that time he has hardly … Read More “American Musicians II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz by Whitney Balliett”
Though these three books center on players whose lives and music are interconnected in various ways, they are dramatically different in focus and style. The … Read More “John Coltrane: A Discography and Musical Biography by Yasuhiro Fujioka, with Lewis Porter and Yoh-ichi Hamada”
Although Teddy Wilson’s book was written between 1976 and 1978, its publication was unfortunately delayed by circumstances described in Alyn Shipton’s prefatory note. But better … Read More “Teddy Wilson Talks Jazz by Teddy Wilson with Arie Lithgart & Humphrey van Loo”