Riding On A Blue Note: Jazz And American Pop [Paperback] Review

When I was first getting seriously into jazz, this book (along with MartinWilliams's The Jazz Tradition) was the principal critical aid.Since thenI've reread it for pleasure countless times, for it's not only criticallyperspicacious but also has considerable literary merit.Da Capo isrighting a longstanding wrong by putting this book back into print, as theoriginal Oxford University Press edition has been unavailable forsometime.Not only new converts, but old sweats who happened to miss it thefirst time around should read this book, or just anyone who likeswell-written prose.One of the nice things about reprints is the chancefor an author to put in a contemporary word, and it's very nice to see thatthis book has a new preface by Giddins, written almost 20 years after theintroduction to the first edition.He comments with bemusement on theyounger writer represented in these pages, and gives valuble information onthe publishing history of Riding On A Blue Note, as well as updating theRed Rodney piece somewhat.
Though this is a book primarily about jazz, itlives up to it's subtitle (Jazz and American Pop) by including chapters onBing Crosby, Otis Blackwell, Bobby Blue Bland, the Dominoes, and FrankSinatra, though Giddins gives fair warning in the old intro that they arestudied from the viewpoint of a jazz critic.In fact, the chapter entitled"Just How Much Did Elvis Learn from Otis Blackwell?" is one ofthe most fascinating in the book as it attempts to uncover some of thetangled, subterranean back-and-forth influences between black and whitemusic.The chapter on Red Rodney ("Adventures of the Red Arrow")is funny as hell and functions as an entertaining short story even if it issomeday proved to be a Rodney-perpetrated hoax.I'm tempted to say thatGiddins is particularly sound on Ellington, Count Basie, and Dexter Gordon,but then I would have to add that he also does well by trombonist JackTeagarden, Irving Berlin, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie,and Charlie Parker... Though I hate to sound like a jacket blurb, the factis that this truly is one of those rare collections in which every essay isa gem, both informative on first reading and a delight to reread.The onlydrawback is that Da Capo charges top dollar for their paperback reprints,but it's worth it. Giddins has written several other fine books over theyears but there's something special about this one.

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Product Description:
"The most imposing figure in jazz writing today" (JazzTimes) on artists from Duke Ellington to Elvis Presley to Irving Berlin-all with that pervasive "blue note" of jazz in common
Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award, has a following that includes not only jazz enthusiasts but also pop music fans of every stripe. Writing here in a lyrical and celebratory style all his own, Giddins dazzlingly shows us-among many other things-how performers originally perceived as radical (Bing Crosby, Count Basie, Elvis Presley) became conservative institutions...how Charlie Parker created a masterpiece from the strain of an inane ditty...how the Dominoes helped combine church ritual with pop music...and how Irving Berlin translated a chiaroscuro of Lower East Side minorities into imperishable songs.
"Nobody writes with greater style and authority about American music than Gary Giddins. The great musicians are all here-from Professor Longhair to Charlie Parker-and it's a pleasure to enjoy their company with a fine writer." (Pete Hamill)

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