Now reading...

[medjuck]

19 hours ago, jazzbo said:

Joe, I totally agree with your assessment. His previous books are also excellent in both scholarship and writing. And then there's that rare thing. . . you feel good reading them.

Ricky has now put up a chronological Spotify playlist of all the recordings mentioned in the book. A great idea.  

[mjazzg]

On 2/26/2025 at 6:51 PM, medjuck said:

I think Ricky's jocular persona hides a serious scholar.  (I say that as a former academic.)  This is a work of scholarship and a great read.

 

 

@medjuckor @jazzbo

Would this be a good entry read for someone woefully ignorant of the subject or is there a better intro bio of Armstrong?

Edited February 27 by mjazzg

[jazzbo]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

@medjuckor @jazzbo

Would this be a good entry read for someone woefully ignorant of the subject or is there a better intro bio of Armstrong?

I'm not an expert on Armstrong bios, but I think this is likely the best one and is well-written indeed. 

3 hours ago, medjuck said:

Ricky has now put up a chronological Spotify playlist of all the recordings mentioned in the book. A great idea.  

Probably a good idea--I don't stream so it matters not to me, but I have been listening to Oliver and Armstrong as I read. I'm going through this book very slowly, savoring it and also reading other things.

[medjuck]

2 hours ago, mjazzg said:

@medjuckor @jazzbo

Would this be a good entry read for someone woefully ignorant of the subject or is there a better intro bio of Armstrong?

His 3 books are easily the best bio of Pops-- including the supposed autobiography.    There is  some repetition from book to book but I expect that someday the 3 will be combined, edited, and updated into the  authoritative  biography. 

BTW This should lead you to the playlists as well as some commentary on the music:  https://www.facebook.com/dippermouth/posts/pfbid02H1hHdhscWRMqZmX77ejLKG3J1JWNPbkV4FBSp2Rw6eFWvAZUAMPU38mZr44jqULal?rdid=QeQ6nlJmq6JaWiWH#

Edited February 27 by medjuck

[mjazzg]

10 minutes ago, medjuck said:

His 3 books are easily the best bio of Pops-- including the supposed autobiography.    There is  some repetition from book to book but I expect that someday the 3 will be combined, edited, and updated into the  authoritative  biography. 

BTW This should lead you to the playlists as well as some commentary on the music:  https://www.facebook.com/dippermouth/posts/pfbid02H1hHdhscWRMqZmX77ejLKG3J1JWNPbkV4FBSp2Rw6eFWvAZUAMPU38mZr44jqULal?rdid=QeQ6nlJmq6JaWiWH#

Thank you

21 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

I'm not an expert on Armstrong bios, but I think this is likely the best one and is well-written indeed. 

Thank you

[Brad]

 

One of the first books to explore Dylan’s Minnesota roots. 

[rostasi]

[Holy Ghost]

Martin Heidegger and his student Karl Löwith had such a tumultuous relationship, yet still admired each other. Nicely rehearsed by a great historian of 19th-20th century Continental thinking.

 

[Pim]

[Referentzhunter]

[EKE BBB]

as well as...

[jlhoots]

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Dream Count

[Holy Ghost]

On 3/10/2025 at 9:58 AM, Pim said:

Reading about trees? How is it?

[Pim]

5 hours ago, Holy Ghost said:

Reading about trees? How is it?

Sorry I don’t understand what you mean?

[rostasi]

Anthony Braxton on his six decades in music: ‘It’s about the hope of the future’

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, rostasi said:

Anthony Braxton on his six decades in music: ‘It’s about the hope of the future’

Excellent!!!

[JSngry]

On 3/13/2025 at 12:23 PM, rostasi said:

Anthony Braxton on his six decades in music: ‘It’s about the hope of the future’

This is deep, imo:

I think since the middle of the 1960s moving into the 70s, certainly there was a complexity where political men and women, African Americans in this case, would begin to push this way of thinking that improvisation is more important than composition, is more important than symbolic languages.  And more and more, the African-American community, especially the artists, would come to a point of stall. That is to say, it would stop evolving. And to this day, in my opinion, the African-American community, especially the artists, have stalled, and as the result of stalling, suddenly this idea of “improvisation is more important than anything else” would emerge. But I have never agreed with this idea. In fact, I wouldn’t say I’m against it, but I would say, when applied to my own work, this idea of runaway improvisation was never what I was interested in. I was interested in being the best student of music that I could be. And how can you be the best [if] you reject notation? After all, notation is just a record of how you built something — the foundation of how you built something; the foundation that can help you discover the meta-reality of creative music.

There's a lot more...

[rostasi]

I'm often buoyed by Braxton's words - even if they conflict some with my ideas and work.