Customer Reviews

Boundary 2 : Jazz as a Cultural Archive: An International Journal of Literature and Culture

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A couple years ago I was fourtunate enough to read this compilation of reviews for a class in American music. I say "fourtunate" because amidst all the text books and boring writing for this class was this jewel. Everything I had read hitherto had been stale. Jim Merod enables, with his provocative questions and instinctual love for jazz, the musician to tell the story. Being able to hear the musician tell his and her anecdotes at length is comprable to hearing them jam. Jazz is notorious not only as the sublime and most definitive art form of the 20th century but also for all the stories that go along with it. Merod captures the magical by-product of this musical art form--the bard, the art of storytelling.Along with the Cannon of great jazz story-telling comes photos. Almost as important as the story, the jazz photo has been a pivitol player on the scene ever since Roy DeCarava and Jeanloup Sieff. Micheal Oletta's photos are deep and soulful. In them we see the jazz musician who has perfected his art and the photographer who's mastered his craft. Most of his shots are as improbable as the music. When you look at them your immediate question is "how the hell did he get that picture?" This series of interviews and photos is a must read. It moves fast and takes you into a magical and very real world. Enjoy.