Displaying keen intellectual discernment and great passion, Robert Gottlieb, former president of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and former editor of The New Yorker, brings together more than 150 excerpts from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers, creating a monumental anthology of essays about jazz--the life and the music--and rescuing many an important but neglected writer from oblivion.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Anthologies of jazz writing tend to be mixed bags, combining reviews, profiles, and usually a couple of short stories in which the protagonist happens to play the tenor saxophone. This collection from former New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb is indeed such a miscellany, but it has been assembled with rare taste and discrimination. The emphasis on autobiographical writing is particularly welcome, reminding us that, in prose as in jazz, voice is the ultimate artistic thumbprint.
From Publishers Weekly
The former Knopf and New Yorker chief was a late but vastly enthusiastic convert to the joys of jazz, as he explains in his introduction, and this vast compendium is certainly a labor of great love. It is also, at this size, unwieldy and, it would seem, priced rather high for the market it deserves. There are more than 100 pieces here, most of them culled from out-of-print books, as well as magazines both prominent and obscure. The effort to pull together so large a collection of such pieces, on a subject that in general has defied analysis, has clearly been prodigious, and jazz buffs owe a great deal to Gottlieb for rescuing so much of this material from obscurity. There are plenty of dashing portraits, autobiographical and otherwise, of jazz greats ranging from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker (rightly seen as the twin pillars in jazz history to date), such curios as an early essay by the Swiss classical conductor Ernst Ansermet on the impact of jazz in Europe right after WWI and many fine accounts of memorable nights on the bandstands of the '30s and '40s. The reportage section reminds us again of how sterling a stylist the New Yorker's Whitney Balliett is, and there is a definitive piece on the essential differences between classical and jazz criticism by Winthrop Sargeant. Almost everything is worth its weight, including the reminders of the great debate that used to rage over the merits of bop versus classical New Orleans style, exemplified here in pieces by the French critic Hugues Pannassie and English poet Philip Larkin (himself a noted buff). It's a feast that also enshrines a great deal of American social history; but perhaps a Best of Reading Jazz selection, at a third of the size and about half the price, would be more realistic.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect gift for that jazz player's widow/widower,
By
This review is from: Reading Jazz: A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now (Paperback)
I bought this book for my uncle as an afterthought to the gift I bought his wife. She plays piano, and I'm trying to coax her into playing some jazz by providing her with Mark Levine's Jazz Piano book and a Fake Book.
My uncle doesn't play, but he loves jazz and reading. I gave them both their books and set to work playing piano with my aunt. Within an hour, my uncle was excitedly telling me what Miles Davis had to say about playing with Charlie Parker. He loved the fact that this book had some first hand accounts, and he appeared to enjoy the writing. This is definitely a weighty tome, but a great gift for those brainy folks who need to pass the hours whilst their loved ones bash away at the great standards!
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chock full o' stories!,
By Mr. and Mrs. Eckel (Kentucky) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reading Jazz: A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now (Paperback)
This book collects a vast range of articles, reviews and biographies covering jazz's most influential musicians. It's a wonderful compendium. I discovered great music from many artists I'd never heard of before. Well worth reading!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Worth Your Time,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Reading Jazz: A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now (Paperback)
This is a great book of short articles and stories about major personalities from the era of classic jazz. I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in traditional jazz.
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