Customer Reviews

As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz (Five Star)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wilmer's As Serious as Your Life stands, along with her own earlier Jazz People and books by Amiri Baraka (Blues People) and Ben Sidran (Black Talk) as one of the most important books on the controversial avant-garde jazz of the 1960's and early 1970's. Originally published in 1977, it is a fascinating and highly informed study that benefits from the race and gender politics in the air at the time without ever laboring to use this theoretical baggage in the service of the author's ideological purposes-the music and, more importantly, the musicians are always carefully kept in the spotlight. Starting with individual chapters on important and influential figures such as John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and Albert Ayler, and including many other names both famous and unknown, the author draws on her first-hand knowledge of the musicians to construct insightful portraits of a people literally under siege by hostile critics and even by other less "political" musicians. She further develops her ideas in the thematic units which follow, including a section dedicated to percussionists like Sonny Murray and Ed Blackwell whose contributions to the music often went unacknowledged, and one dedicated to the women of the movement (most famously John Coltrane's wife Alice), both as sources of emotional support and, thankfully, as musicians in their own right. The result is a book which not only sheds light on the music but also illuminates its sociopolitical background. In the final unit, "The Conspiracy and Some Solutions," the author deals more directly with these problematic political issues, which are perhaps even more relevant today than when this book was first published: the place of jazz in the world of academia, the role of the media in the promotion of jazz, etc. Personal but professional, and humanized by a section of the author's photographs of the musicians, this book is an enjoyable "must" for the music of this period, and one of the rare books of jazz criticism that encourage the reader both to listen more and to read more. Although for this new edition a brief chapter bringing the book up to date would have been appreciated (or at least an updated bibliography), the list of musicians in the acknowledgements who have passed away since the last edition is a sad and sobering reminder of the of the lack of esteem afforded this generation of jazz even today.

I think that the previous reviewers have really missed the point of Wilmer's book. The fact that Wilmer is criticized by the reviewers for heralding free jazz above all other types of jazz seems ludicrous to me. After all, she did write an entire book on the subject because of her love for the music. She's not writing a book on ALL jazz, just one particular type. One should not expect her to be completely objective to the subject. To say that other music journalists write/wrote objectively about the music that they love is a completely silly notion. Did Lester Bangs write objectively about rock n' roll? NO! And there is really no reason that he should have. However, that being said, there is plenty of criticism of the music that Wilmer points out in "As Serious As Your Life." Criticism such as the weakness of later Albert Ayler recordings or the derivative style of Frank Lowe's tenor playing, etc. is pointed out throughout the book. Every writer has a slant and Wilmer definitely has one when it comes to "the great Black music." But this should not be held against her.
I think that what these other reviewers also have failed to understand, is that "As Serious As Your Life," is not just about the music, about free jazz...it is about the politics behind the music, hence the focus on black musicians playing "The Great Black Music." The focus here really is on the black musicians that played free jazz in the mid-60's through the late 70's. In Wilmer's eyes, this music corresponded directly with the Civil Rights movement of the time and was born out of black musician's search for "freedom" even if it was only through music. Wilmer paints a vivid picture of most of the major musician's ideals and philosophies and her words will have you wanting to run to the record store to hear the musical manifestations of these thoughts and feelings. Really, no stone is left unturned when dealing with The Great Black Music and that is one reason why this book is indispensable for fans of the avant-garde as it pertains to jazz music.
Finally, the reader must understand that this is NOT a definitive history of jazz, or even free jazz, for that matter. It is but one person's interpretation of the music. There are plenty of other sources on the subject and in order to fully understand the music these should also be consulted. But all in all "As Serious As Your Life" is a great read and very much worth your time. Just remember, it's not the ONLY thing out there.

Wilmer's "As Serious as Your Life" stands, along with her own earlier Jazz People and books by Amiri Baraka ("Blues People") and Ben Sidran ("Black Talk") as one of the most important books on the controversial avant-garde jazz of the 1960's and early 1970's. Originally published in 1977, it is a fascinating and highly informed study that benefits from the race and gender politics in the air at the time without ever laboring to use this theoretical baggage in the service of the author's ideological purposes-the music and, more importantly, the musicians are always carefully kept in the spotlight. Starting with individual chapters on important and influential figures such as John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and Albert Ayler, and including many other names both famous and unknown, the author draws on her first-hand knowledge of the musicians to construct insightful portraits of a people literally under siege by hostile critics and even by other less "political" musicians. She further develops her ideas in the thematic units which follow, including a section dedicated to percussionists like Sonny Murray and Ed Blackwell whose contributions to the music often went unacknowledged, and one dedicated to the women of the movement (most famously John Coltrane's wife Alice), both as sources of emotional support and, thankfully, as musicians in their own right. The result is a book which not only sheds light on the music but also illuminates its sociopolitical background. In the final unit, "The Conspiracy and Some Solutions," the author deals more directly with these problematic political issues, which are perhaps even more relevant today than when this book was first published: the place of jazz in the world of academia, the role of the media in the promotion of jazz, etc. Personal but professional, and humanized by a section of the author's photographs of the musicians, this book is an enjoyable "must" for the music of this period, and one of the rare books of jazz criticism that encourage the reader both to listen more and to read more. Although for this new edition a brief chapter bringing the book up to date would have been appreciated (or at least an updated bibliography), the list of musicians in the acknowledgements who have passed away since the last edition is a sad and sobering reminder of the of the lack of esteem afforded this generation of jazz even today.

I was thrilled to find this book. It was originally published in 1977. Articles on Free Jazz from the Sixties cover the original explosion and controversy, but this book was written after the flourishing of many resulting waves. It was interesting to read a book written at this time, since the 1970's was the decade in which free jazz really flourished into its own. The foundation had been laid by Coltrane, Ornette, Ayler, Sun Ra, Abrams, Cecil Taylor etc. This book covers all those people and more, and deals with their music as well as their influence on and positions in relation to the dominant culture.
I give it five stars just because it is a vintage document that is very in-depth and covers the spiritual and personal aspects of the music.
For a more musicological text (musical examples and all), see Ekkhart Jost's "Free Jazz."

This book is great! And you can't beat the price! I was able to order mine for around $12 bucks, and with Amazon's super saver shipping, I was able to have it shipped for that price too! Which is great compared to the $16.00 plus tax plus gas it would take to buy one in a store. Great condition, the pictures inside are invaluable to the information in the book.

Years ago (twice.)
It's a great book, and an inside look at the music.
I like the new cover, too.

This book is dense with the words of a particular class of jazz musicians of the 1970s. It is an enthusiastic, flattering, and almost worshipful look at the jazz avant-garde as it existed in America at the time of publication (1977, revised 1980). I don't recall a disapproving or critical remark by the author on the music anywhere in the book. Its focus is on the Black avant-garde jazz musician in America, to the exclusion of all others not Black, not American, or not both; and in accord with this exclusion, the music itself is called 'Black music', as if the non-Black jazz musician doesn't quite belong. The context of this music within jazz history, or its relation to the avant-garde in classical music, is not discussed. Much of other music is disparaged by the quoted musicians as mere entertainment.

The implicit agenda of the book is political, not musical (this becomes overt in the spelling of 'white' and 'Black' in every occurrence with the contrasting small w and capital B -- an editorial convention, perhaps, but glaring in its effect). The instruments and musical techniques of Africa are discussed as if superior to, rather than simply unlike and culturally independent of, those of Europe; and jazz is discussed, without explanation or qualification, as if it were entirely founded, advanced and expanded through the revolutionary insight and maverick efforts of Black musicians in America. The most prominent innovators certainly (according my limited understanding) have been Black Americans, but at its very core, jazz is an amalgam of cultures and musical influence, even if the early innovators themselves typically belonged to a relatively single, distinct subculture of America. By the 1960s, even the culture and music of India, which has nothing to do historically with the complex, pre-20th century cultural heritage of 20th century African Americans, was being included. The very instruments, and therefore the possible tonalities, timbres and sounds, through which jazz is expressed are of European invention (the drum being in some instances of design an exception), and the influence upon jazz of certain European "classical" composers is well known. Music evolves. It is not invented.

The book is not a cover-to-cover narrative, but rather a collection of chapter-length essays gathered together into thematic sections.

CONTENTS --

Introduction: A State of Mind

Part One: Innovators and Innovations
1. Great Black Music - From a Love Supreme to the Sex Machine
2. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
3. Cecil Taylor - Eighty-Eight Tuned Drums
4. Ornette Coleman - The Art of the Improvisor
5. Sun Ra - Pictures of Infinity
5. Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity

Part Two: Who are the New Musicians?
8. As Serious as Your Life

Part Three: Give the Drummer Some!
9. The Spirit Behind the Musicians
10. A Family of Rhythms

Part Four: Woman's Role
11. It Takes Two People to Confirm the Truth
12. "You Sound Good, for a Woman!"

Part Five: The Conspiracy and Some Solutions
13. Bill Dixon and the Jazz Composers Guild
14. Politics, the Media and Collectivism
15. Recording - Getting the Music Out There
16. Does the Music have a Future?

Biographies of the New Musicians
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index

Val Wilmer presents a complete ignorant and biased review of the life of many key figures in the jazz movement. Her writing is more akin to a groupie trying to "suck-up" to her favorite group. With her "band chick" approach and total lack of knowledge about music, Wilmer manages to string along several stories about these musicians, in which each experience becomes granite evidence of the validity of their approach to music as welll as proof of Wilmer's superior knowledge of Jazz and music in general.
PLease!!!! Wilmer loves this music because it dispenses with such unnnecessary items as Harmony, Melody, Time, and general ability on the given instrument..making it a music analyzed only in superlatives.
Some of the information on Ed Blackwell is informative - but she manages to contradict herself on many occasions. For example...Tony Williams, in Wilmer's opinion is no longer important because he still plays time which in her opinion is useless. However, five stars for Ed Blackwell...come on Wilmer, he played more traditionally than Tony Williams ever did.
For fans of Jazz and so-called free jazz - spare yourselves the Wilmer - "I am in love with these sexy Black Musicians" approach. Poor.