Listen To The Stories: Nat Hentoff On Jazz And Country Music [Paperback]

Nat Hentoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2000

Here is Nat Hentoff's deeply felt exploration of jazz, blues, country, and gospel—and the musicians who bring the music to life. Hentoff has not only loved music all his life, he has lived it by being friends with many of the musicians he writes about in this collection. Hentoff poignantly describes the early days of Roy Eldridge and the last years of Billie Holiday and Bird. He tells amazing stories of the Count, Duke, and Dizzy. "Full of insightful behind-the-scenes encounters" (San Francisco Chronicle), Listen to the Stories covers new recordings and old legends, remarkable lives and unforgettable music.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hentoff, music critic for the Wall Street Journal and author of numerous books on jazz and other subjects, has had a virtual lifelong love affair with jazz and country music. In these short pieces, many of which are reprinted from the Journal, he celebrates some of the musicians he has admired over the years, including Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge and Merle Haggard, as well as lesser-known artists such as the members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, an all-woman band from the 1930s and '40s, and country music singer Ralph Stanley. Hentoff, who was friends with many of these musicians, characterizes them with affection and brings their music alive on the page. He also examines the state of jazz today, the qualities that inform authentic jazz singing (some Bing Crosby performances included), the bonds between musicians, black consciousness in jazz and the often amusing and imaginative ways these performers have countered racism, "being black and on the road when Jim Crow was glaring out the windows of just about every American town and city." A fitting tribute to jazz greats Hentoff regards as "classic American heroes."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hentoff has been an enthusiastic devotee of American music for over 60 years and has been writing about it nearly that long. This collection, his first book on music since 1976, finds him offering insights into legendary jazz musicians, critical commentary on new recordings, and interviews with an eclectic mix of the greats and near-greats of 20th-century music. The pieces are short, mostly between three and five pages, but Hentoff always manages to make his point and to pique our interest in the music. Although usually regarded as a jazz writer, Hentoff proves he is equally at home with such disparate subjects as the Stanley Brothers, Bob Wills, and Joan Baez. Here, as in his writings for Down Beat, the Village Voice, the Washington Post, and The New Yorker, he continues his lifelong theme of celebrating American music in all its many varieties. For most music collections.?Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809826
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809828
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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