The last few years have witnessed an enormous resurgence in the popularity of jazz, after some lean times in the sixties when many potential jazz fans turned to rock. Now the pendulum is on the backswing, and vintage and modern jazz as well as "jazz rock" are attracting huge new audiences. One factor involved in the comeback of jazz among blacks and whites alike is the rise of black consciousness, with its search for roots in the American experience. Nat Hentoff's The Jazz Life explores the social, economic, and psychological elements that make up the context of modern jazz. Among the jazz greats whose lives and work are discussed are Count Basie, Charles Mingus, John Lewis, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, and Ornette Coleman. Written with intelligence, passion, and wit, this jazz classic is of immense importance to anyone wanting a better understanding of the jazz—or indeed our American life.
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About the Author
Nat Hentoff is the first Jazz critic every named a "Jazz Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Slice of history,
By Unutterable (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Jazz Life (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)
While inevitably much of this book is dated - it was written in 1961, as jazz was reaching a crest - that's also one of its strengths. Hentoff's account of the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival riots is fresh and indignant; his peek at recording dates by Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis (for Sketches of Spain!) are fascinating; and though his profiles of Mingus and Davis don't reveal any surprises, the ones for Count Basie, John Lewis, and Ornette Coleman are engrossing. It's too bad that the prediction he made in the new introduction from the 70s that rock n' roll fans would turn to jazz in disillusionment never came to happen.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The supremely commucative Nat Hentoff,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Jazz Life (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)
Nat Hentoff was by far the greatest jazz historian and writer. He combined a hip, insider's point of view with a sublime writing style to create paens to these great artists that are both informative and readable. And his expertise isnt limited to jazz - check out his homage to Merle Haggard!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
My own introduction to the jazz life began with a record of Artie Shaw's Nightmare. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
most jazzmen, many jazzmen, modern jazzmen, jazz life, jazz public, modem jazz, jazz audience, jazz writing, jazz writers, modern jazz quartet, taking heroin Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, New Orleans, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Five Spot, Los Angeles, John Lewis, Charles Mingus, Count Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Jim Crow, Cliff Walk, Dizzy Gillespie, Down Beat, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Mulligan, Philly Joe, Fort Worth, Francis Newton, Freebody Park, John Coltrane New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
My own introduction to the jazz life began with a record of Artie Shaw's Nightmare. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
most jazzmen, many jazzmen, modern jazzmen, jazz life, jazz public, modem jazz, jazz audience, jazz writing, jazz writers, modern jazz quartet, taking heroin Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, New Orleans, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Five Spot, Los Angeles, John Lewis, Charles Mingus, Count Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Jim Crow, Cliff Walk, Dizzy Gillespie, Down Beat, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Mulligan, Philly Joe, Fort Worth, Francis Newton, Freebody Park, John Coltrane New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
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40
books
cite this book:
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- White Negro by Norman Mailer on page 138, and page 139
- Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (Studies in Jazz) by Eddie Lambert on page 146
- Duke Ellington by G. W. Lambert on page 146
- Dictionary Of Music And Musicians (9 Volumes)) (Music Book Index) by Sir George Grove on page 70
- The Jazz Makers: Essays on the Greats of Jazz (A Da Capo paperback) by Nat Shapiro in Front Matter
See all 11 books this book cites
- Going for Jazz: Musical Practices and American Ideology by Nicholas Gebhardt on 9 pages
- Kind Of Blue: The Making Of The Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Race Men (W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures) by Hazel V. Carby in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Rise of a Jazz Art World by Paul Lopes on page 248, page 261, and Back Matter
- A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album by Ashley Kahn in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 40 books citing this book
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