Myself Among Others: A Memoir [Hardcover]

George Wein (Author), Nate Chenin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2003

George Wein, who pioneered the idea of bringing jazz to people beyond the club circuit, looks back on his long career and unforgettably describes his relationships --sometimes smooth, sometimes tempestuous--with the great figures he's known: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis, among many, many others.Beginning in 1950 with the opening of his legendary Boston club Storyville, Wein presented jazz in a setting that respected both the musicians and the audience while still earning a profit. Since its founding in 1954, the Newport Jazz Festival has always reflected Wein's vision and grit. Wein opened up a whole new venue to musicians, attracting music immortals as well as aspiring young artists to his outdoor stage. Over the years, Newport became synonymous with jazz festivals in the United States, and it has become the model for similar events worldwide.Through his work, George Wein has expanded the audience for jazz more than anyone else living today, and has received France's Legion d'Honneur and numerous other awards. Myself Among Others illuminates the personalities, legends and performances of jazz's greatest era.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seventy-eight-year-old pianist, vocalist and jazz impresario Wein is one of the key figures responsible for polishing jazz's image, as he charted new directions and gained respect for the music by creating such vibrant venues as the Newport Jazz Festival. While doing so, Wein, who is white, also confronted and helped change the face of racist America. Wein and Chinen present the story of a 50-year career with smooth transitions, mellow flow and continuity. From his Boston beginnings as a teenage professional pianist and his WWII experiences, Wein segues into his postwar nightly gigs and college graduation. In 1950, he opened a Boston jazz club, Storyville, and soon launched a record label. But why jazz amid Newport's bygone Gilded Age architecture? It began with wealthy Elaine Lorillard's 1953 comment to Wein, "Oh, it's terribly boring in the summer. There's just nothing to do." Wein recalls, "I didn't even know what a jazz festival would consist of.... I had no rule book to go by." He juxtaposes his memories of early Newport triumphs, conflicts, disasters and riots with source material. These recollections bring the central core of the book to a crescendo, along with backward glances at other festivals, including New Orleans's JazzFest, where the "long-lost career" of Professor Longhair, a forgotten founding father of Big Easy R&B, skyrocketed after Wein brought him back from total obscurity in 1971. Wein's experiences with musicians, from Miles to Mingus, make this an important, valuable addition to the jazz history shelf. It's a fact-filled, melodic memoir, swinging with emotion and energy. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A beautifully produced book...a wonderful read...will be of value as a reference for years to come." -- Jazzbeat Spring, 2003

"A big, sprawling, detailed epic of jazz, jam-packed with anecdotes about the artistic and economic aspects of American music." -- Washington Times 7/6/03

"A grand book...Teem[s] with episodes about legendary figures in the music." -- New Orleans Magazine August, 2003

"A hugely enjoyable memoir." -- Wall Street Journal 5/23/03

"A sprawling mix of biography, anecdote, philosophy, hard-won lessons and musical history." -- Providence Journal 5/15/03

"Fascinating reading." -- Jazziz September 2003

"Quite a collection of tales...Wein's breezy attitude...works well in illustrating the events of his wild life." -- The Boston Globe 7/14/03

"The book is irresistible...For jazz fans, there's one behind-the-scenes anecdote after another." -- Boston Phoenix 8/1/03

"Wein's story is a fascinating one...[it] is the story of jazz, and well worth celebrating." -- All About Jazz New York June 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition edition (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306811146
• ISBN-13: 978-0306811142
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,702,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jazzy Trip Down Memory Lane, May 21, 2003

By 

V. Bishop (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Myself Among Others: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I'm only up to page 128 in this wonderful book but am already completely enthralled. As Nat Hentoff said, "He has known more musicians-some very well indeed-than any writer on jazz, and he certainly knows the business end." To read personal accounts of his relationships and experiences with almost every jazz legend I've ever heard of (and some from before my time as well) is mesmerizing. And George Wein's personal life outside of jazz is not exactly "chopped liver" either!! The book is written with a wealth of knowledge, intelligence, insight, warmth, humor and humility. The only criticism I have is that the book is only a little over 500 pages!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the "cat houses" of Storyville, to Newport society,, September 20, 2003

By 

Stuart Hoffman "jazzman" (cheery hill, nj) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Myself Among Others: A Memoir (Hardcover)

George Wein's wonderful memoir, "Myself Among Others", might just as well have been titled, "Payback Time". Although he chided Alberta Hunter for using the expression, as she mounted the stage, after many years in obscurity, followed by renewed stardom in the eighties, I can't help feeling that George is muttering that phrase to himself, as he rollcalls those sometime irresponsible, sometime neurotic, sometime drug addicted children the world knows as "jazz artists".
George knows the territory very well. As a teenage fan, very competent pianist and singer , jazz night club entreprenuer, and promoter of the "daddy" of the outdoor music festivals, "The Newport Jazz Festival", and oh yes, lecturer at Harvard, in his custom designed jazz course, dare anyone tell George anything about jazz, and the wonderful lunatics that people the jazz world?
Here is what it's like to do business with artists worshipped the world over, like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus. Space precludes naming them all. In addition to dealing with these "darlings", were the torrential rains at outdoor perfomances, political opposition from irrate townspeople, and the piece de resistance of booking concerts, other promoters dissapearing with George's money.
Maybe the presence of a natural built in Prozac machine kept George sane through this craziness, but I have another theory. His passion for the music. When you are hearing a Louis Armstrong, or a Charlie Parker and you truly "get it", there is something that goes beyond mere entertainment, or an expert improvisor. I can't even find adequate words to describe it, but when these men improvise on a popular song, it becomes like a classic solution to a philosophic, or mathematical theorum. It's hard to state the "problem" to be solved, but the true jazz fan knows that Louis, and Bird, and the other masters, came up with incredibly beautiful solutions night after night, year after year.
If you love jazz, and the artists, this book is a must.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read, May 20, 2003

By 

Penny Reads (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myself Among Others: A Memoir (Hardcover)

A "must read" for anyone interested in jazz, music, nostalgia, or a great real life story. It's worth buying just for the photos. Wein is a major cultural icon of our age.