Customer Reviews

MAKING OF JAZZ

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

 

 

A fantastic detailed overview of Jazz from its origins to the mid-sixties. Combines historical, social, academic musical,literary, entertainment, and psychological perspectives in which all components 'swing'. One caveat-too much deference accorded to psychiatrists in explaining the human behavior of Jazz musicians!

In spite of being from 1978, it still stands as the best book on Jazz history. Collier is balanced, was a musician himself and, last but not least, is an apt researcher.

This is a fun book to read. Collier is a good writer, but unfortunately he's not so good as a historian. It's clear he did no first-hand interviews for the book, apparently getting his info from other sources, album covers, etc. Thus many urban legends and misstatements that have crept into jazz over the generations have been allowed another lease on life, perpetuated by someone who seems adverse to checking facts first-hand. In all fairness, there are some errors that were only discovered well after the book's publication--Louis Armstrong's real birthdate, for example--but many others were well-known at the time. And even with the Armstrong snafu, what's wrong with Collier hoisting his tush to New Orleans to uncover this himself? That's how the truth was discovered, by another writer, Tad Jones, working on a similar book, and what real scholarship, after all, is about. But throughout this and other books Collier would rather sit and analyze from a distance. So we get very bland Freudian interpretations of the behavior of John Coltrane ("the pacifier-like quality of the saxophone is almost too easy to miss"), Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman ("Here he is in the pose that earned him the nickname 'The Pied Piper of Swing.'" Huh? Google that term; nothing related to Goodman comes up.) Duke Ellington ("As he descended the staircase as a child he'd announce, 'Here comes Duke Ellington, the grand, the glorious Duke Ellington. Bow, bow'") and others. This could have been a great book, if Collier were willing to work a little harder and see if the many myths that make up jazz are really true.

The writing, as I said, is first-rate, and there are fascinating photos. But take this as nothing more than a collection of unverified anecdotes, talk at the end of the bar, and for heaven's sakes don't cite it as a source if you're doing any reference work.

I could not put his book down. It delivers a full spectrum panoramic, technicolor presentation. I welcomed very much the inside scope on musicians personal life's, dysfunction and creative process. (These patterns do not apply to Jazzers only, by the way.)can make you understand human nature, and also the pain make art can involve... A very moving, hugely informative, intimate yet far reaching work. It made me hear the music better as well. I will read it again.