Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life [Paperback] Review

This biography of Louis Armstrong presents the rich mosaic that was the life of one of the greatest musicians and entertainers of the 20th Century.It uses his life story to describe the history of early jazz--from hischildhood on the streets of New Orleans, his move to Chicago where he madehis famous recordings with the Hot Five and Hot Seven, and on to New Yorkand Europe.I was surprized to learn that in many ways his charismaticstage persona was his real personality.But at the same time he was quitea complex character (four marriages, daily marijuana use, managers with mobconnections, laxative proselytizations).Aside from his musical genius, hewas a cultural icon--the first African American entertainer to cross overto broad popularity throughout America.The story is often told in Louis'sown words, making it easier to get to know him.I loved the story abouthis first trip back to New Orleans after he spent nearly a decade goingfrom being a local talent to an international star.When I got to the lastchapter I put the book aside for a little while--I didn't want the book orLouis's life to end.

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City Limits [Paperback] Review

I enjoyed Terry Teachout's book of autobiographical essays "City Limits". There is nothing terribly important in the book, but its tone and pace are leisurely & enjoyable and his stories reveal interesting details about an important cultural critic whose influence is rising each year through his books and articles in "Commentary", "The Wall Street Journal" and other influential conservative journals of opinion. Teachout's writing reminds me of my favorite writer, Joseph Epstein (it is probably no coincidence that you often find their pieces in the same issues of publications). Both writers are extremely culturally fluent with a lot of interesting things to say. Their writing is also very accessable to the average, educated person who is looking to learn more about literature, music, theater, art, and the good life in general.

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Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael [Paperback] Review

We owe Richard Sudhalter for preserving the often-forgotten history of America's early jazz pioneers and composers. His subjects are white musicians, but he doesn't write about them with a nasty political agenda. He just doesn't want their contributions to be forgotten. Along the way, he pays warm tribute to the black musicians who led the musical revolution. Unfortunately, politically-charged reviewers refuse to see this.
I especially love this Sudhalter work. Sadly, Hoagy is becoming a forgotten genius of American song. Duke Ellington once called him America's greatest songwriter, and Sudhalter goes a long way in providing the evidence to such a claim. I especially enjoyed the focus on Hoagy's home state of Indiana, which was an amazing hotbed for jazz in the 1920s. One should take this book and drive around Bloomington, Indiana, and find all of the haunts described in rich detail by Sudhalter. Then go to Indianapolis, and Richmond, Indiana. Sudhalter really did us all a huge favor in providing such a wonderful document.

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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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Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn [Hardcover] Review

There are not enough stars that can adequately rate this book. Van de Leur has given us the first truly thorough analysis of a composer of jazz (although Strayhorn was much more than a jazz composer). You do need some musical knowledge to understand what he is talking about, but his discussion and analyses of Strayhorn's music are clear, concise and well-reasoned. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book, where he lists every scrap of music currently known of Strayhorn's, where it is, when it was recorded, and what was played (in many cases, Ellington only used parts of Strayhorn's arrangements of pop tunes). The sheer amount of work it took to complete this project is startling and awe-inspriring.
For years we wondered what Strayhorn's real role was in the Ellington organization. Now we know without any doubt. Bravo Walter!!!!

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The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide [Paperback] Review

The prolific Yanow has outdone even himself with this book, which in many respects lives up to its title.But I would distrust any quick review claiming that it's the kind of book that can't be put down.It's above all a reference book, encyclopedic in its scope, jam packed with concise verbal portraits (the towering Bing Crosby gets almost a single page, or about as much as the somewhat less famous Ben Sidran).Often Yanow's judgments strike the reader as on the mark, and when they don't, he compensates with information that is nonetheless fascinating and useful.The book is also an invaluable source of quotations, since the author has included numerous interviews of the artists themselves.

Opinions about singers are perhaps held more strongly by more people than opinions about other musicians.Who hasn't taken a shower with Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee?Many of us who don't know better think of ourselves as singers.So an author of a book about jazz singers is bound to hit discordant notes with more than a few readers--why isn't a "pure" jazz mainstreamer like Etta Jones represented more fully (no, not Etta James)? Her recorded career extends from 1945 to October 2001, when she died on the day of the release of her Billie Holiday tribute. Why aren't Johnny Mandell and Shirley Horn, arguably the most memorable team since Sinatra and Riddle, afforded more space?Additionally, anyone who writes about singers is burdened with the task of sorting through not merely all of the candidates but, given the sometimes radical changes, over time, in vocal timbre and breath support, the numerous "personae" of any one of them (besides the controversy that a Billie Holiday can arouse, there's the other one about her Benny Goodman days vs. her Lady in Satin period).Then there's the question of the criteria that might disqualify an undeniably indelible voice such as Nancy LaMott's--for some of us there's enough jazz sensibility balancing the cabaret approach to justify if not require her inclusion.

Yanow ultimately invites readers to make their own calls, and hopefully his book will provoke them to do so.As often as I've challenged one of those CD anthologies--the Ultimate Art Tatum, etc.--it's led me to deeper and more concentrated explorations of an artist's work.And Yanow's book is practically guaranteed to confront the reader with the names of numerous heretofore unknown, unfamiliar performers while omitting a few along the way (I could easily list a dozen impressive female jazz vocalists whose CDs have arrived at my doorstep in the last several years--but apparently not at the author's).All the same, the author clearly has heard considerably more than most of us, and the book is guaranteed to motivate the reader to start listening more comprehensively and seriously.

Listeners looking for more of an "essay" on the subject may wish to check out Will Friedwald's "Jazz Singing," as noteworthy for the author's felicitous prose style as his occasionally acrimonious judgments (heaven help the singer who, above all, doesn't swing).Readers looking for a book similar to Yanow's but considerably less ultimate, or comprehensive, could get their feet wet (with no attendant damage) by picking up Max Morath's "NPR Listener's Guide to Pop Standards," in which the author includes emphasis on the messengers as well as the medium.One warning: if you're not a Sinatra fan, probably best to steer clear of all books on jazz singing, and the same holds true if, like some, you've become impatient with the ballad ever since Old Blue redefined it, leaving enough space between beats to allow the listener enough time to reflect upon the meaning of his entire existence.

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Product Description:
The Jazz Singers is an overview of the great vocalists who have sung jazz. By drawing on original interviews conducted exclusively for this book, along with Scott Yanow's extensive knowledge, The Jazz Singers offers fresh and insightful information in its 521 main entries. Other features include a historical overview, a section on jazz vocal groups, and a comprehensive survey of jazz in film.

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