Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation [Paperback] Review

Eric Nisenson claims that this is not a definitive biography of Sonny Rollins.I would have to agree.Not only does this book tell us hardly anything about Sonny's personal life (his inpirations, his heartbreaks, his relationships with other jazz musicians), it has neither a discography nor an index. It's list of sources is only a page and a half, half of which seem to be previous books by Nisenson.After an inspired first chapter, Nisenson just seems to list through Sonny's albums and notable achievements, using generous quotes from Sonny describing events that were just described by the author himself.There were some good discriptions of some of the albums and some of Sonny's better solos, but most of it reads like a textbook.I would suggest that someone wait for either Sonny's autobiography (for which he's obviously saved a lot of info) or a "definitive" biography.

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Blue Note Records: The Biography [Paperback] Review

Richard Cook apologizes in his introduction for the limitations of his text, and well he should, for a reading of the book reveals a paucity of research, both in the available text materials and in the Blue Note Records catalog, both in print and out of print. There are numerous errors and omissions in the history, especially on interesting and revealing items such as how Frank Wolff got to the USA, what he did when he got here, how Alfred Lion met Sidney Bechet, Ike Quebec and Art Blakey and what their various relationships were, what Quebeec did for the label and when, Lion's and Blue Note's relationship with Miles Davis, Monk, Bud Powell, Duke Pearson, ... For a long time jazz enthusiast like myself, these omissions were maddening.
What's worse, it's obvious Cook has not listened to all the Blue Note Records! This is especially true of the out-of-print stuff, such as much of the swingtet material, the 10" stuff that hasn't been released on 12"/CD, etc. His critical judgements are therefore completly flawed-he really does not understand what Blue Note was about and what they produced. He seems to use minimal understanding of Lion's interests in jazz and trends in music (such as the craze arising from Olatunji/Drums of Passion) that explain Blue Note records like the early Dixieland stuff, Art Blakey and Sabu drum fests, Bossa Nova Baccanal (never mentioned), etc.
The great book on Blue Note Records has still to be written.

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Product Description:
Blue Note Records is the first full history of the most noted label in jazz. Cook lingers with record-collector zeal in analyzing everything from Sidney Bechet's 78s to Norah Jones' recent chart-topper. Insightful scenes abound.

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Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver [Paperback] Review

The LAST thing this book does is get to the nitty-gritty.Primarily a string of recollections and anecdotes, this light-as-a-feather book hardly constitutes a proper biography for such an important (and still breathing) figure in the pantheon of jazz.

Pastras' research seems to have consisted of going over to Horace's house every Sunday for bull sessions.And that's how the book reads.There are the expected misspellings and typos (Wilt Chamberlin, Carl Burnette, et al) and multiple repetitions of events.

The ARE some interesting tidbits buried here as Horace can be quite the raconteur.His story about Dizzy Gillespie's visit to his apartment is touching and his story about being unable to sit in for Otis Spann because he couldn't play the blues in Muddy's key signature was both amusing and alarming.Horace not able to play the blues???His multiple brushes with racism, drug enforcement and police power are chilling.

But mostly the book is a name-dropper's paradise, recounting all of the famous and semi-famous celebrities our boy has met over the past 50 years.He sure has a steel-trap memory!But why he would exhibit such excitement about a chance sighting of a has-been former actress walking her dog in Central Park and then need to recount it in his autobiography 40 years later is beyond me.

The curious reader will search in vain for clues to his musical talent (other than tea kettle whistles and the like).Very few of his compositions are even mentioned much less subjected to some sort of analysis.Other than Tyrone Washington, for whom he saves some choice invective, very few of his colleagues are discussed in detail, including incredibly Art Blakey.This relationship should have occupied a full chapter.What about Joe Henderson?Woody Shaw?Bob Berg?

The reader is left with a picture of a lonely and fearful man, evidently estranged from his family.(He sees his only son "once or twice a year"!!!)He's uneducated but yearns for deeper understanding.A fine jazz craftsman, Silver contends with eruptions of artism that apparently mystify and ultimately confound him.

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