Myself Among Others: A Life In Music [Paperback]

George Wein (Author), Nate Chinen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2004

No one has had a better seat in the house than George Wein. The legendary impresario has known the most celebrated figures of music in general and jazz in particular--from Duke Ellington to Ella Fitzgerald to Miles Davis to Frank Sinatra. As a founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, the Newport Folk Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Wein has brought a dazzling spectrum of musicians to millions of fans, forever changing the musical landscape.In this highly praised memoir, Wein looks back on his life and career, describing his unforgettable relationships--sometimes smooth, sometimes tempestuous--with the great musicians he has known. From what really happened when Charlie Mingus visited the White House...to how Miles Davis and the ensemble that would eventually record the greatest jazz album of all time--Kind of Blue--came together at Wein's Storyville nightclub...to the day at Newport when Bob Dylan first "went electric," here are the personalities and forces that have shaped the past half-century of popular music.

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"A fascinating personal memoir from the premier producer of jazz events throughout the world...a page turner." -- Jazz Notes March/April 2004

"A music lover's treasure trove." -- New Orleans Times-Picayune

"Wein is one of the two or three most important people in the history of jazz...Fascinating...Essential." -- Choice December 2003

"Wein preside[d] over hundreds of memorable performances, some of them-like Duke Ellington's career-reviving appearance in '56-now legendary." -- Jazziz April 2004

"Wein's prose is active, direct, and unflinchingly honest...A tale worth telling-and reading." -- Jazziz January 2004

"[A] charming, informative, conversational and opinionated memoir...filled with fine stories and colorful personalities...Heartfelt and highly readable." -- January Magazine December 2003

"[A] welcome addition to any jazz lover's bookshelf." -- Hartford Courant 12/07/03

"[This] autobiography has the musical pulse of a great concert. It's a literary festival, a feast of fascinating information." -- Variety 12/22/03

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306813521
• ISBN-13: 978-0306813528
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,286,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

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
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

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
(REAL NAME)   

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.