George Gershwin: A New Biography [Hardcover] Review

I ordered this book because I've always liked Gershwin's music & happened to catch the last part of the film Rhapsody in Blue on Turner Movie Classics recently. The book does an adequate job of covering Gershwin's composing career, and indeed most of the chapters are titled according to the major composition discussed. If one is looking for in-depth information about Gershwin himself, his relationships, his family & his interests & activities outside music, the book is less satisfying. For example, one might assume from reading this book that his younger brother Arthur died in infancy as he is not mentioned except for his birthdate. Arthur actually lived to an old age, married, had kids & composed music himself. What relationship he & George had is unknown. Similarly, while Ira's wife Leonore had a part in George's life, she appears haphazardly throughout the book and little about her relationship with George is explored. George was also a painter but that is only tangentially mentioned. There is so much more that could fill out a broader, more in-depth picture of Gershwin. One could also wish for better editing to remove grammar errors & smooth out the repetitious use of some phrases as well as the jerky transitions from one subject to the next. The author's extensive research is evident & the endnotes at each chapter useful. For someone interested in Gershwin's growth as a composer, the book does a creditable job of documenting the major compositions & music events in the composer's life. For more about the man himself, readers must look elsewhere.

Click Here to see more reviews about: George Gershwin: A New Biography [Hardcover]



Buy cheap George Gershwin: A New Biography [Hardcover] now

In a Silent Way: A Portrait of Joe Zawinul [Illustrated] [Hardcover] Review

One of the things that makes this such an interesting book is that it is about the music as much as it is about the personality of Joe. It has details such as how two Drummers were used on one of the Black Market Tracks. I so enjoyed listening to the songs after reading about them.

Half the book is about the Weather Report years, the other half is pre and post Weather Report.

Click Here to see more reviews about: In a Silent Way: A Portrait of Joe Zawinul [Hardcover]

Product Description:
Joe Zawinul pioneered a seismic shift in American jazz, incorporating international rhythms and new electronic tonalities.

Buy cheap In a Silent Way: A Portrait of Joe Zawinul [Hardcover] now

George Gershwin: His Life and Work [Hardcover] Review

Gershwin buffs, run, don't walk to get this book. Pollack has written the definitive study of both "The Life" and "The Work," as per his two fat sections.

Pollack's book is, for one, the first Gershwin bio that takes advantage of the discovery of mountains of original orchestra parts for Golden Age musical theatre scores in a Secaucus warehouse in the early eighties. As such, Pollack analyzes Gershwin's theatre scores closely just as classical music scholars can attend to Mozart or Haydn's works.

Earlier bios could only address the scores largely on the basis of the songs from each score that happened to be published as sheet music, with only a handful of the scores then existing as full piano-vocal scores or as latter-day abridged and heavily adapted recordings. But over the past two decades, most of Gershwin's significant scores have been recorded in full from the discovered materials, such that via these recordings as well as examining the original materials himself, Pollack can address the work as it was presented when it was new, i.e. chorus numbers, character songs not published as sheets, incidental music, etc. Given that musicals constituted the bulk of Gershwin's output in his short life, this alone makes Pollack's book invaluable.

In addition, some Gershwin bios have been written by people focused on pulling him down, devoted to revealing him as an undereducated, boorish parvenu (i.e. the ones by Charles Schwartz and Joan Peyser). Pollack's sleuthing and interviews conclusively demonstrate that these evaluations were incorrect: Gershwin pursued serious musical training throughout his life, it shows in his work, and socially, he was a beloved, charming person who was deeply mourned at his death.

Pollack has truly done his homework, such that just about any question one might have about Gershwin is exhaustively answered. For each show he chronicles not only the score and its critical reception in New York, but also its London and even Australian versions if there were any, all of the revivals across the US, and its recordings -- and he does this even starting with the obscure early efforts. He is equally thorough re Gershwin's concert music.

It should be said that those seeking further engagement with the raison d'etre of Joan Peyser's THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT, the story that Gershwin fathered a love child with a chorus girl and paid him and his mother off to keep it quiet, will not be satisfied. Pollack briefly addresses objections to that thesis from some quarters since Peyser's book was published -- but, in my view, neglects the rather damning facts that 1) said love child looks exactly like Gershwin and 2)was supported in his claim to have made regular visits to Gershwin's apartment by none other than Gershwin's valet. As such, one must consult various sources pre- and post-Peyser to come to conclusions about that issue. One suspects that Pollack, having been granted interviews from surviving keepers of the Gershwin flame, opted on that particular subject to step around giving offense. He is not to be faulted for this.

It should also be said, however, that inevitably of a work so dazzlingly complete, this book is not one most people would want to read from front to back. It is, in its way, a reference book set in prose. There are times when Pollack seems almost obsessive -- such as bringing vast study to bear upon locating the purchase by Gershwin's parents of a piano in precisely late 1910, or letting us know (based on a chance message from abroad) that OH, KAY played in translation in Sweden, or informing us via close examination of the original arrangement of RHAPSODY IN BLUE -- not later arrangements, but the original one, mind you -- that one player doubled on bass and tuba.

But this degree of obsession is what real scholarship is, and though for most it will be a book to jump around in than to read page for page, Pollack has given us an authoritative masterpiece. I am in awe of the man, and happy to have this one on my shelves forever.

Click Here to see more reviews about: George Gershwin: His Life and Work [Hardcover]



Buy cheap George Gershwin: His Life and Work [Hardcover] now Get 24% OFF

The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty [Paperback] Review

This is a book about the composers of America's most popular popular music, the music that came into being from roughly 1920 to 1950. It is not a formal treatise or scholarly study but rather a kind of fan's notes ramble, an enthusiastic exuberant high- spirited riff. English- born novelist, essayist Sheed shows great love for , and tremendous knowledge of American popular song. He writes with worshipful insight of the two greatest of the founding fathers of this particular American genre, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Both of these children of Russian Jewish parents found in black Blues and American jazz a fundamental inspiration. Both inspired many others and Gershwin particularly was a magnanimous helpful friend to other composers. Sheed cares for the Music above all and gives preeminence to those who create it - the lyrics are significant but secondary. Sheed writes not only about the major figures, Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Cole Porter but also about fifty others. One special one for him is someone he knew personally , Harry Warren. Warren the composer of "I only have eyes for you' was a modest figure in the background but for Sheed a friend and great composer to whom he dedicates the book.
All the readers of this book I know of have spoken of whatgreat pleasure they had in reading it. The songs of these great composers entered Sheed's heart and his writing is his song of appreciation back to them.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty [Paperback]



Buy cheap The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty [Paperback] now Get 32% OFF

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.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation [Paperback]



Buy cheap Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation [Paperback] now

Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924 [Paperback] Review

This book was a real disappointment, particularly because it covers some important ground and has, occasionally, some flashes of insight. But it is plagued by such major flaws that I cannot recommend it. The basic premise is outrageously reductive and simplistic, and the author uses this flawed approach as a means to pass judgment sweepingly on all sorts of music and musicians. Underlying his entire argument is the notion that black music and musicians properly belong to the "Underworld," and that anytime they display associations with "Topworld" white mainstream America, it is some kind of artistic and cultural travesty. Like so many of the late 19th and early 20th century figures he derides, this author wants his black musicians to be musically "black," and denigrates anybody and anything else that stands in the way of his offensive viewpoint.

The book is also plagued by flat-out misinformation (William Shakespeare Hays was black, really??), faulty reasoning, shoddy research, cheap shots left and right, and the most annoying, smart-alecky, and off-putting writing style I think I've ever encountered in a non-fiction book. The author uses profanity as if he earns points for slipping it in at every opportunity. Clearly he thinks by doing so he connects himself to the "underworld" characters he so romanticizes. The result, though, is simply obnoxious. His desire to be smugly hip becomes downright offensive at times. After pointing out Irene Castle's frustration at having to work with the "Topworld" music direction of John Philip Sousa instead of her previous bandleader James Reese Europe, the author concludes that "once you've had black, you never go back."

If you want to read a freewheeling and irreverent dissertation on similar subject matter, check out Nick Tosches's "Where Dead Voices Gather," an infinitely better and more rewarding book. For a level-headed, scholarly, and brilliant account of this material, read Tim Brooks's excellent "Lost Sounds."

Click Here to see more reviews about: Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924 [Paperback]



Buy cheap Stomp and Swerve: American Music Gets Hot, 1843-1924 [Paperback] now Get 22% OFF

Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats (American Made Music Series) [Hardcover] Review

This is an excellent reference work which should be on the shelf of most serious jazz collectors and anyone who writes about jazz or does discographical work in this field. Dr. Spencer very clearly explains numerous medical conditions and provides death certificates and other pertinent illustrations. He also clears up a number of mistakes/misunderstandings which have appeared in the literature. The references are annoying (the superscripts are tiny for my ancient eyes) and you must look in the back of the book to find the reference. The illustrations could have been sharper. Lastly, I understand that Dr. Spencer submitted a 660 page manuscript and only then was told that 300 pages was the goal. Thus, a great deal has been cut. He did a remarkable job but no doubt a lot of information got left on the cutting room floor!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats (American Made Music Series) [Hardcover]



Buy cheap Jazz and Death: Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats (American Made Music Series) [Hardcover] now

Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians about Their Careers in Jazz [Paperback] Review

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians about Their Careers in Jazz [Paperback]



Buy cheap Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians about Their Careers in Jazz [Paperback] now