Customer Reviews

Fascinating Rhythm: Reading Jazz in American Writing

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David Yaffe seems to be a Master of the Jazz Universe. He has a keen ear when it comes to the music, understanding its complexity on its own and the musicianship required to make the structured seem spontaneous. He also understands how authors and poets, some with musical backgrounds and some with none, have attempted to incorporate jazz into their writings, some successful, some not. He reminds us of "the dangerousness" of the music, the seeming lines of transgression crossed in both directions.

For Jazz fans, it is a great read. For everyone else (people like me), it is serves as a great reminder how great American Music and Musicians have been misread. I look forward to Mr. Yaffe's books on Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan as he does his magic.

By which I don't mean to suggest that he should assault Dale Peck.

He shouldn't.

But Yaffe has the finest attributes of both men: from Crouch, a breadth of knowledge of the subjects, and a general linguistic fearlessness. From Hajdu, the rare ability to make every sentence count -- no fat here! -- and a willingness to take the reader to intellectual areas he or she had not imagined.

If "Fascinating Rhythm" isn't on at least two or three syllabi by the year's end, I should be quite surprised.

And disappointed.