Tonight's Book: Reading Jazz by Robert Gottlieb
"Anthologies of jazz writing tend to be mixed bags, combining reviews, profiles, and usually a couple of short stories in which the protagonist happens to play the tenor saxophone. This collection from former New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb is indeed such a miscellany, but it has been assembled with rare taste and discrimination. The emphasis on autobiographical writing is particularly welcome, reminding us that, in prose as in jazz, voice is the ultimate artistic thumbprint. The former Knopf and New Yorker chief was a late but vastly enthusiastic convert to the joys of jazz, as he explains in his introduction, and this vast compendium is certainly a labor of great love. There are more than 100 pieces here, most of them culled from out-of-print books, as well as magazines both prominent and obscure. The effort to pull together so large a collection of such pieces, on a subject that in general has defied analysis, has clearly been prodigious, and jazz buffs owe a great deal to Gottlieb for rescuing so much of this material from obscurity. There are plenty of dashing portraits, autobiographical and otherwise, of jazz greats ranging from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker (rightly seen as the twin pillars in jazz history to date), such curios as an early essay by the Swiss classical conductor Ernst Ansermet on the impact of jazz in Europe right after WW I and many fine accounts of memorable nights on the bandstands of the '30s and '40s. The reportage section reminds us again of how sterling a stylist the New Yorker's Whitney Balliett is, and there is a definitive piece on the essential differences between classical and jazz criticism by Winthrop Sargeant. Almost everything is worth its weight, including the reminders of the great debate that used to rage over the merits of bop versus classical New Orleans style, exemplified here in pieces by the French critic Hugues Pannassie and English poet Philip Larkin (himself a noted buff). It's a feast that also enshrines a great deal of American social history."
Tonight's Playlist
Note: I - click to buy from the iTunes store (Canada) (You must have iTunes installed on your computer in order to buy tracks from the iTunes store); A - click to buy from Amazon.ca (Canada) (All subject to availability)Theme - Oliver Nelson Big Band - "Stolen Moments" (excerpt) I A
Tadd Dameron - "On A Misty Night" A
Regina Carter - "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" I A
Sidney Bechet - "All Of Me" I A
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five - "Wild Man Blues" I A
Michael Occhipinti - "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" I A
Charles McPherson - "Variations On A Blues By Bird" A
Mose Allison - "You Can Count On Me To Do My Part" I A
Colleen Allen - "Slanty Planty" I A
Wynton Marsalis Septet - "Cherokee" I A
Gigi Gryce - "Boxer's Blues" A
Fats Navarro & Leo Parker - "Ice Freezes Red" I A
Oscar Peterson - "At Sundown" I A
Oscar Peterson - "Sweet Georgia Brown" I A
Art Pepper - "Straight Life" I A
Art Tatum - "Gone With The Wind" I A
Poncho Sanchez w/Freddie Hubbard - "Yesterdays" I A
Bud Powell - "Parisian Thoroughfare" I A
Wallis/Shrofel Quartet - "Plan B"
Tony Bennett & k d lang - "You Can Depend On Me" I A
Charles Mingus Big Band - "Opus Four" I A
Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald - "Mean To Me" I A
Miles Davis and John Coltrane - "Blue In Green" I A
Dave Frishberg - "Alligator Crawl" A
Gary Burton and Ralph Towner - "Icarus" I A
Roy Hargrove - "Devil Eye" I A
Hampton Hawes - "The More I See You"
Billie Holiday - "He's Funny That Way" I A
Keith Jarrett Trio - "Chelsea Bridge" I A
Bill Evans Trio - "Re: Person I Knew" I A
Howard Alden & Bucky Pizzarelli - "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me" I A
Theme - Oliver Nelson Big Band - "Stolen Moments" (excerpt) I A
Red Garland Trio - "One O'Clock Jump" A
No comments:
Post a Comment