Which jazz book are you reading right now?

[T.D.]

5 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Then you're ahead of me!  I ordered my first Yamashita album earlier this week: Clay (Enja, 1975) with Sakata & Moriyama.  Looking forward to hearing it in higher fidelity than YT.  

Which Yamashita albums do you have?  Koyama joined the trio after Moriyama, correct?

 

The 2 albums I have, which were both recommended on this forum, are Montreux Afterglow and Hot Menu.

Afraid I don't know the chronology of drummers...the 2 albums were recorded (as far as I can make out from the microscopic typeface on the Japanese CD art) in 1976 and 1979 respectively, a bit later than Clay. I auditioned both on YT. Sakata kills it on these recordings, and he's definitely a name I'll be searching for.

[John B Litweiler]

http://I'd love to read a bio of Kaoru Abe, the saxophonist.

Edited March 24, 2023 by John B Litweiler

[T.D.]

I'd also like to read about Akira Sakata. According to Allmusic,

Japan's vanguard saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader Akira Sakata is the very definition of a polymath. Though a musician by trade, he is also an actor, a talk show host, a popular essayist, and a trained marine biologist whose work on the mijinka (water flea) has been hailed by the Japanese government.

Will try to research...maybe there's something (even a chapter of a more general book) available.

 

 

[Big Beat Steve]

Not so much a case of what I am "reading right now" here but rather of what I will be "reading next" ...

Went to our #1 secondhand record store today after a 3-month hiatus, and found they semed to have scooped up one or two fairly large jazz collections recently (found some nice-to-have LPs), and as usual I took a look at their music book corner too. Which clearly showed one of these  recent additions came from a book and discography-minded collector/owner ...

So I guess I got carried away a little (again) ...

Top to bottom:

- JAZZ LIFE (by J.E. Berendt and W. Claxton, softcover, 1961 printing). The ORIGINAL edition of the book reprinted in a somewhat expanded version by Taschen a couple of years ago (some of these reprints at outrageously expensive "luxury" editions, and with faked author credits: It was J.E. Berendt, the German "jazz pope", who initiated the journey across the USA in 1961 and wrote the text, and William Claxton went along for the photography side but never was the main "author" as the Taschen cover layout would lead one to believe).
A steal at 5 Euros! And handy as bedside reading/browsing matter.
(I remember how overjoyed I was when I found an original hardbound copy of this - minus the dust jacket - at 50 Deutschmarks about 30 years ago ...) The internet has made it a lot easier finding items like this and copies of this book do come up here but prices generally are distinctly higher than today's find - sometimes FAR higher ...

- Michel Ruppli, PRESTIGE Records 1949-1969. 1972 printing so certainly outdated reissue-wise, but as a LABEL sessionography it should still be useful, and at 5 Euros who would NOT have picked it up? I'd say ANY Ruppli discography is excellent value for money at that price ...

- "Jazz in Deutschland" by Horst H. Lange (1966): A groundbreaking work on the history of (older) jazz im Germany. Lange was sort of a moldy fig taste-wise and his personal leanings were towards pre-war or even pre-big band era hot jazz, but it is an important work covering the era up to 1960. I've owned my copy since my latter high school days in the late 70s, but at 3.50 Euros I just could not let it sit there. I'll probably give it to a friend who is into pre-war "hot dance bands" (to point him beyond the UK which seems to be one of his main interests )

- "Vienna Blues" by Klaus Schulz (printed in 2010 - complete with CD, and only 3.50 Euros as well) - Biography of Fatty George (a cult figure of Austrian jazz - with a career and biography that in a way was the Austrian equivalent of Tubby Hayes).
BTW, @Gheorghe, in case you read this: Remember we talked about Klaus Schulz and his "Jazz in Österreich 1920-1960" book in another thread? This shop has a copy of that one at only 3.50 Euros too, IIRC. (My copy bought several years ago wasn't frighteningly expensive but quite a bit more than that ...) I don't know what the availability and typical price rate for this book would be in Austria and it's a pity that parcel shipping costs would probably make it less worthwhile shipping it abroad. But if a German forumist fancies getting it I can drop in again there next week to see if it is still there.

There also were loads of artist discographies of the "mimeograph-type printing" editions current in the 60s/70s - from Armstrong via Kenton to Miles Davis, Stan Getz et al. Not expensive either but I refrained because these have definitely been superseded by Bruyninckx etc.

Somehow this shop doesn't seem to trust in music collectors reading much on music, or else their printed matter prices would not be what they usually are 😄(though sometimes their pricing can be a bit erratically high too). I remember some years ago I bought the 1944 and 1945 hardcopy editions of the ESQUIRE Jazz Book there for 5 Euros each ... )

Edited March 24, 2023 by Big Beat Steve

[jazzbo]

I got Allen Lowe's latest in the mail yesterday. May take me a bit to get to it but it looks cool.

[sidewinder]

Just arrived - for a busy afternoon’s reading.

[AllenLowe]

On 3/24/2023 at 10:40 AM, jazzbo said:

I got Allen Lowe's latest in the mail yesterday. May take me a bit to get to it but it looks cool.

thanks, good time for a self plug; soon to be a major motion picture:

[Rabshakeh]

On 3/24/2023 at 4:27 AM, John B Litweiler said:

http://I'd love to read a bio of Kaoru Abe, the saxophonist.

I was completely obsessed with Abe as a young man. 

On 3/24/2023 at 12:16 AM, HutchFan said:

Have you read it, Rab?  If so, what did you think of it?

Very useful, but flawed. It is very much a narrative of how the part of the scene of he was involved was built, so the focus is quite narrow.

I had two main issues with the book. First, that the translation is quite direct, which makes many of the descriptions of people and music sound quite samey: the inferences and ironies that are presumably in the original are missing.  Second, the scene was obviously very insular and clannish, and marked out by 70s student maoist / nationalist views that are a bit exhausting to read about, and hard to sympathise with.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Rabshakeh

[T.D.]

5 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

I was completely obsessed with Abe as a young man. 

Very useful, but flawed. It is very much a narrative of how the part of the scene of he was involved was built, so the focus is quite narrow.

I had two main issues with the book. First, that the translation is quite direct, which makes many of the descriptions of people and music sound quite samey: the inferences and ironies that are presumably in the original are missing.  Second, the scene was obviously very insular and clannish, and marked out by 70s student maoist / nationalist views that are a bit exhausting to read about, and hard to sympathise with.

Thanks. I think I'll pass given the $40 price and my lack of background knowledge.

I searched for other (English language) books on Japanese jazz, but all I could find was 2 apparently oop university press publications that appear scarce/costly. Will keep looking.

[clifford_thornton]

I think it's a very informative book but of course a lot to cram in to a fairly limited space. Certainly fascinating. I have and enjoy a lot of the records the volume references, but as I don't know the language, I was missing a lot of context.

@HutchFan yes, Moriyama preceded Koyama in the Yamashita Trio. And I'm not surprised Burning Ambulance messed up the credit. Par for the course for him...

[HutchFan]

7 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Very useful, but flawed. It is very much a narrative of how the part of the scene of he was involved was built, so the focus is quite narrow.

I had two main issues with the book. First, that the translation is quite direct, which makes many of the descriptions of people and music sound quite samey: the inferences and ironies that are presumably in the original are missing.  Second, the scene was obviously very insular and clannish, and marked out by 70s student maoist / nationalist views that are a bit exhausting to read about, and hard to sympathise with.

 

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

I think it's a very informative book but of course a lot to cram in to a fairly limited space. Certainly fascinating. I have and enjoy a lot of the records the volume references, but as I don't know the language, I was missing a lot of context.

Thanks for the feedback, amigos. 

My copy is due to arrive in a few days.  I'll adjust my expectations accordingly and glean from it whatever I can.

 

 

Yesterday, I pulled Kevin Whitehead's New Dutch Swing from my shelf and I'm re-reading bits from it.

 

[John B Litweiler]

17 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

I was completely obsessed with Abe as a young man. 

Very useful, but flawed. It is very much a narrative of how the part of the scene of he was involved was built, so the focus is quite narrow.

I had two main issues with the book. First, that the translation is quite direct, which makes many of the descriptions of people and music sound quite samey: the inferences and ironies that are presumably in the original are missing.  Second, the scene was obviously very insular and clannish, and marked out by 70s student maoist / nationalist views that are a bit exhausting to read about, and hard to sympathise with.

Rabshekah, looks like I missed something.   What book are you referring to?   No doubt the 1970s free-jazz scene in Japan really was insular.   (If it's really a $40 book, I'll only look for it in libraries.)

[John B Litweiler]

On 1/18/2023 at 3:04 PM, Larry Kart said:

Geez -- I don't remember that review. I hope it was positive. John L.  is an oracle, still going strong. Interesting that there were four of us back then in Chicago, all friends, almost always in agreement -- me, John, Terry Martin, and Chuck Nessa. Someone dubbed us "the Jazz Mafia." I remember the great good fortune we all no doubt felt that we were there in Hyde Park to respond to the first stirrings of the AEC and the AACM. Terry was recording the nascent AEC in the basement of his apartment building (later issued by Chuck on Nessa), Chuck likewise  in the studio for Delmark, Terry and I were writing liner notes, and we all retain memories of live performances that didn't get recorded. 

 

On 2/7/2023 at 9:38 AM, Ken Dryden said:

I am in the process of reading this book for a review. I've enjoyed it immensely!

I got a review copy when it came out and Milt Hinton signed mine during a Jazz Party.

$10.70 is a huge bargain, as I think it is long out of print and listed for around $30 to $40 when it was published.

 

On 1/18/2023 at 3:04 PM, Larry Kart said:

Geez -- I don't remember that review. I hope it was positive. John L.  is an oracle, still going strong. Interesting that there were four of us back then in Chicago, all friends, almost always in agreement -- me, John, Terry Martin, and Chuck Nessa. Someone dubbed us "the Jazz Mafia." I remember the great good fortune we all no doubt felt that we were there in Hyde Park to respond to the first stirrings of the AEC and the AACM. Terry was recording the nascent AEC in the basement of his apartment building (later issued by Chuck on Nessa), Chuck likewise  in the studio for Delmark, Terry and I were writing liner notes, and we all retain memories of live performances that didn't get recorded. 

IIRC Jerry Figi, who was one of the most original people I've ever known, introduced all 4 of us young Chicago jass lovers to the AACM ca. 1966 when it was still new.   Larry's roommate Doug MItchell was Joseph Jarman's drummer in one of the first AACM-men concerts (Dec. 1965) and Pete Welding reviewed it in Down Beat.

[Rabshakeh]

1 hour ago, John B Litweiler said:

Rabshekah, looks like I missed something.   What book are you referring to?   No doubt the 1970s free-jazz scene in Japan really was insular.   (If it's really a $40 book, I'll only look for it in libraries.)

Free Jazz in Japan by Teruto Soejima.

[Niko]

very much agree with Rab re the Soejima book... the language is really a bit stiff, and while the focus has a lot of overlap with what I find interesting (so, for instance, there will be a passage about many of the great Togashi and Sato albums from the 70s) it really is a bit narrow (especially in later decades). It's a bit as if (e.g.) Chuck Nessa would have written his autobiography, deleted the childhood chapter, autotranslated the whole thing into Chinese and back into English and then called it "Free Jazz in Chicago". Of course, anyone seriously interested in Free Jazz from Chicago would want to read that book (especially in an alternative universe where the only other book about Chicago Jazz covers everything from Bix Beiderbecke to Roscoe Mitchell on its 300 pages)... But still, it would be a bit frustrating... 

I also have Blue Nippon by E Taylor Atkins. As a book, it's much better. It did win its author a PhD in history but I would say that really doesn't show too much in the writing... The book covers 1920-1980 - which means that the time from 1960 onwards gets relatively little coverage... You do learn a few things about Togashi and others - but don't expect the book to say something about a particular album. As the child of two social anthropologists, I can totally understand why one would be fascinated with how Jazz came to Japan, became part of Japanese culture and all those things that happened from the 1920s to the 1950s (including, obviously, some political developments as well)... but for me as a music fan the Soejima book is still more useful...

Edited March 27, 2023 by Niko

[Big Beat Steve]

5 hours ago, Niko said:

I also have Blue Nippon by E Taylor Atkins. As a book, it's much better. It did win its author a PhD in history but I would say that really doesn't show too much in the writing... The book covers 1920-1980 - which means that the time from 1960 onwards gets relatively little coverage... You do learn a few things about Togashi and others - but don't expect the book to say something about a particular album. As the child of two social anthropologists, I can totally understand why one would be fascinated with how Jazz came to Japan, became part of Japanese culture and all those things that happened from the 1920s to the 1950s (including, obviously, some political developments as well)... but for me as a music fan the Soejima book is still more useful...

Thanks Niko. So this would be the one ...
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nippon-Authenticating-Jazz-Japan/dp/082232721X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QKM02PZ7ZC2B&keywords=Blue+Nippon&qid=1679922303&sprefix=blue+nippon%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1

As for your expectations, for me it's the other way round. It would be part of my interest in the "history of jazz outside the USA". (I have books covering several countries - including regional histories within the country in some cases - on my shelves so this one would fit in well) And given my stylistic preferences a book that does not put the primary emphasis all that much on the avantgarde of relatively recent decades would suit me fine (yes, I realize this is where a lot of Japanese jazz came into its own, but anyway ... )

I would not expect this book to dwell only on Fumio Nanri in the chapter(s) on "early Japanese jazz", and I realize I'll be confronted with loads of names I've never heard of. But that's part of the process of looking into history (and learning).

So I trust it wil not be too overly (and overtly) "scholarly". This often gets into the way of presenting the MUSIC in the first place.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Big Beat Steve

[Niko]

8 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Thanks Niko. So this would be the one ...
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nippon-Authenticating-Jazz-Japan/dp/082232721X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QKM02PZ7ZC2B&keywords=Blue+Nippon&qid=1679922303&sprefix=blue+nippon%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1

As for your expectations, for me it's the other way round. It would be part of my interest in the "history of jazz outside the USA". (I have books covering several countries - including regional histories within the country in some cases - on my shelves so this one would fit in well) And given my stylistic preferences a book that does not put the primary emphasis all that much on the avantgarde of relatively recent decades would suit me fine (yes, I realize this is where a lot of Japanese jazz came into its own, but anyway ... )

I would not expect this book to dwell only on Fumio Nanri in the chapter(s) on "early Japanese jazz", and I realize I'll be confronted with loads of names I've never heard of. But that's part of the process of looking into history (and learning).

So I trust it wil not be too overly (and overtly) "scholarly". This often gets into the way of presenting the MUSIC in the first place.

just had another look, I paid quite a bit less at the time... Fumio Nanri is mentioned 20 times in the index, of the other leaders on your LP from the other thread, Koji Fujika and Eiji Kitamura are both mentioned once, the others not at all... I find myself comparing this book to Scott deVeaux's Bebop book, regarding how much I like it, regarding the level of scholarliness, and regarding the fact that it doesn't try to cover different musicians in "representative" proportions when bringing its message across... the biggest difference to the deVeaux book is that the occasional scholarliness is social science, not musicology... by and large, I think you might indeed like it.

[T.D.]

27 minutes ago, Niko said:

just had another look, I paid quite a bit less at the time... Fumio Nanri is mentioned 20 times in the index, of the other leaders on your LP from the other thread, Koji Fujika and Eiji Kitamura are both mentioned once, the others not at all... I find myself comparing this book to Scott deVeaux's Bebop book, regarding how much I like it, regarding the level of scholarliness, and regarding the fact that it doesn't try to cover different musicians in "representative" proportions when bringing its message across... the biggest difference to the deVeaux book is that the occasional scholarliness is social science, not musicology... by and large, I think you might indeed like it.

Many thanks, great info on both books. Blue Nippon is one of the university press books I alluded to earlier. Interesting question: should I go for that, or the Soejima? Can't say right now...I'm more interested in the freer music, but Blue Nippon might be the better read. Granted one can't expect stylish prose from a Ph.D. thesis. 😉

[Niko]

It's a close call, for BigBeatSteve I'd clearly recommend Blue Nippon, but i guess for most Western fans of "JJazz", Soejima is more suitable I'd say, despite its flaws... In a way, those flaws actually give you an additional perspective on where that music is coming from...

[Big Beat Steve]

Thanks Niko. Anyway ... a copy is on its way. (Cost me some 27 Euros which I find fairly reasonable)
I don't mind some degree of scholarliness (in the sense of a really thorough approach that leaves no stone unturned in the way you double-check the facts you present, i.e. as a safeguard against sloppiness) and I don't mind a sideways look at social science, for example, either (when the context and the historical facts call for it). But as you will probably know, some manifestations of scholarliness can end up in stylistic and linguistic navel gazing that clouds the facts (and their presentation) for all its self-referencing showing-off of "erudition".
In fact I am on the fence about another book of jazz history that clearly has heavy overtones of social science (but the subject calls for it) but it's kinda pricey ... (and no, it's not on Scarecrow Press 😄).

Re- the Scott DeVeaux Bebop book you mention, it may be musicologically scholarly in places (but as a non-musician, who am I to complain, objectively speaking?), but not enough to put me off. And looking at the facts presented, what is in it is really good IMO, but still I find it distinctly lopsided with its excessive emphasis on Coleman Hawkins. And this should be taken into account - not that the reader should take the contents of the book as "The Gospel" on Bebop. "Non-representativeness" should only go so far IMO. Or he ought to have called the book something like "Coleman Hawkins, the Midwife of Bebop".
 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Big Beat Steve

[Peter Friedman]

Finished this book earlier today. The parts where Jane related her experiences with Pony Poindexter, Charlie Mingus, Stan Getz, Booker Ervin and other jazz musicians were highly interesting. However her discussion of leaving the jazz world and becoming involved with the Rock scene was not something I cared about.

It does seem that many years  later, Jane returned to jazz, but the book ended prior to her  sharing that part of her life with the reader.

[felser]

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

her discussion of leaving the jazz world and becoming involved with the Rock scene was not something I cared about.

But she played with the Bee Gee's!

[BillF]

B G

[sidewinder]

21 minutes ago, BillF said:

B G

And there’s me thinking it stood for Bernie Grundman !

[GA Russell]

I've just finished Ben Yagoda's The B Side.  Very informative for me.

For small examples, I did not know that the first artist to record an album of only one composer's work was Lee Wiley.  And the first album to use the term "Greatest Hits" in its title was Johnny Mathis' Johnny's Greatest Hits in 1958.

https://www.hamiltonbook.com/the-b-side-the-death-of-tin-pan-alley-and-the-rebirth-of-the-great-american-song-hardbound