Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words: Selected Writings [Paperback] Review

Of the 21 books I have collected which are either by or about Louis Armstrong, this is definitely the one I would choose if I was allowed to keep only one. Basically a collection of autobiographical pieces, interviews, letters and so on, it reveals more of Armstrong as a man than all the other books put together. It also proves that, just as Armstrong had his own unique voice as a musician, so he has virtually invented his own language when doing his "typing" as he modestly called it. Grammar and punctation have been used this way nowhere else. Particularly moving are Armstrong's lengthy reminiscences of his early life in New Orleans, Chicago and elsewhere. Yes, his childhood was severely deprived but he recalls it not just without self-pity but with a kind of joy - joy in his family, in the friends who helped him along the way and, of course, his discovery of his own innate talent for both playing and singing. The book is filled with affectionate pen-portraits, as well as sharp social comment and, at times, with indignation at the injustices of life, whether suffered by himself or others. Equally moving are the pieces written when his life was nearing its end yet still exuding that same extraordinary open-ness and generosity of spirit which are humbling to experience. If anyone wants to know what Louis was like, and if they can take a little time to tune in to his vivid and utterly unself-conscious style, this is the book they should read.

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Tonight At Noon: A Love Story [Paperback] Review

I purchased this book because I have loved the music of Charles Mingus since I first purchased Ah Um. What I expected was a breezily written collection of Mingus stories, colorful anecdotes involving gigs and musicians and glimpses of the magic of creation. And certainly there is some of that in this book - Mingus' diet foibles and paranoid fears and erratic public behaviors elicit laughter and disbelief in the reader. Mingus opinions are never tepid - Miles' voice gets lost in his later fusion era, and Coltrane became a musical preacher that never changed his sermon. Those who played completely free (Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, for instance) were participating in a shuck and trying to trick both a white audience and themselves while neglecting the fact that any music has to come from an historical common place.
For a man as massive in stature and appetites as Mingus, his fragility is touching.He is demanding, mercurial, and larger than life; all qualities that get clearly demonstrated by the author. There is also some material that covers Sue's upbringing in an undemonstrative household that initially seems distracting but eventually becomes appropriate to the narrative. The tense switches from past to present on occasions, as though journal entries have been inserted.
However, the book is really, as advertised, a love story. Detailed at length is the Mingus household's battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, from the initial diagnosis to the increasingly desperate attempts to obtain a cure, to the heart attack that eventually takes Mingus' life. Underlying all the voodoo and the iguana blood cocktails and the wildly exploratory midnight rides through the Mexican countryside is a testament to the power of human love and kindness.

The reason I hoped this book would be a lightly written witness to Mingus is because I purchased it as something to read during the nights I am spending at the bedside of my dying father. Instead there is much that is grimly familiar here - after weeks of caregiving you find yourself not knowing what day it might be, idly speculating of ways to end a loved one's life that might look perfectly natural, wrestling with your own spiritual loneliness. Nevertheless, this is a great book for music fans in general, and Mingus fans in particular.

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