RIP Stanley Crouch

[Hardbopjazz]

He was very active in the jazz world. Many times he would speak before concerts and give his opinion. 

RIP, Stanley. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913619163/stanley-crouch-towering-jazz-critic-dead-at-74

[Brad]

RIP. 

[Chuck Nessa]

Stanley used to call me in the '70s and early '80s. When I answered the phone and heard his voice I knew the next half hour or so would be filled.

[soulpope]

A colourful life indeed ... R.I.P ....

[CJ Shearn]

Was never a fan but RIP

[J.A.W.]

WaPo obit

[Matthew]

53 minutes ago, bresna said:

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913619163/stanley-crouch-towering-jazz-critic-dead-at-74

This is a very interesting article. Thanks for posting.

[GregK]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913619163/stanley-crouch-towering-jazz-critic-dead-at-74

 

a "blues duel". Wow, I must have missed that.

[BillF]

i enjoyed reading his biography of the younger Charlie Parker.

[Rooster_Ties]

28 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

When I answered the phone and heard his voice I knew the next half hour or so would be filled.

If this wasn’t an RIP thread, I’d be temped to ask “full of what?”. 

[danasgoodstuff]

Does anyone have a link to the passage in KC Lightening where he goes on about Bird and Chinese food and trains?  I think someone quoted it here once.

Edited September 16, 2020 by danasgoodstuff

[Joe]

The pugilist is now at rest.

[JSngry]

Well, that was something!

His good thoughts, where they existed, were quite delightful.

Rest In....whatever it is that he would want to rest in.

[HutchFan]

Iverson's obit is an excellent bit of writing.  The way Iverson recalls how Crouch made his interview transcript even more provocative and volatile than their actual discussion!  That tells the tale. Stanley Crouch, right there. 

It's Crouch's combative tone that almost always turned me off.  The way he put down people; it reminded me of a jazz version of Rush Limbaugh.  Not listening "in good faith," always trying to score some sort of point in an imaginary game.

... But I guess that was Stanley Crouch.  He loved to provoke people.

 

EDIT:
Am I speaking ill of the dead?  I guess so. ... But also maybe Crouch's temperament, his experience, and his circumstances were just so different than mine that I have difficulty bridging the gap.  ... How about this?  He loved what he loved. You can't take that away from him.

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by HutchFan

[Brad]

It looks like volume 2 of his Bird bio is supposed to be published early next year.

Just finished reading Ethan Iverson’s piece on him. Tremendous. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by Brad

[danasgoodstuff]

Nevermind, I found the bit I was looking for.  I still can't believe he even got paid to write at all.  And I don't usually speak ill of the dead either, but in this regard at least he was truly exceptional.

 

[Dan Gould]

39 minutes ago, Brad said:

It looks like volume 2 of his Bird bio is supposed to be published early next year.

 

My first thought was, will there be another volume?  I never actually picked up the first volume but always planned to do so ... do I recall correctly that in amidst the weird ramblings about trains that he did bring out new information, and that overall people were wanting to see what he writes about the post-KC Bird?  I thought that was the gist of what I read, and therefore I am excited if he was able to complete the book (or was there going to be a third volume that will probably next come out?).

As for Stanley in general, I encountered him first early in my listening, and he and Wynton speaking about 'blues and swing' rang true to me then, as it does today. The best jazz for me has those two elements.  So for all his verbosity and the contrast between his early attitudes and the later ones, I didn't find him contemptible like some do.

RIP. And I hope volume 2 takes us all the way thru to Nica's apartment in 1954.

[gmonahan]

Like him or hate him, he was deeply devoted to the music. Well, to the music he liked anyway. And he loved Bird and Duke. RIP.

 

 

gregmo

[Dave James]

2 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

If this wasn’t an RIP thread, I’d be temped to ask “full of what?”. 

I think you just did.  Look, I understand that Crouch was a polarizing figure.  Did he have strong opinions?  For sure.  Did lots of people disagree with him?  For sure.  But, the bottom line is this.  He loved and championed the music. 

[Mark Stryker]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

It looks like volume 2 of his Bird bio is supposed to be published early next year.

Just finished reading Ethan Iverson’s piece on him. Tremendous. 

Sadly, there is no Vol. 2 and will not be — the Amazon listing is the result of a technological and publisher glitch dating back to the publication of Vol 1. 

[Brad]

2 hours ago, Mark Stryker said:

Sadly, there is no Vol. 2 and will not be — the Amazon listing is the result of a technological and publisher glitch dating back to the publication of Vol 1. 

Thanks for the clarification Mark. Too bad.  Do you know how far he’d gotten?

[Mark Stryker]

22 hours ago, Brad said:

Thanks for the clarification Mark. Too bad.  Do you know how far he’d gotten?

I don't, but I'm afraid the answer would likely be not very far. I think it wasn't all that long after Vol. 1 came out that he was over taken by various maladies and eventually stopped working altogether. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Mark Stryker

[medjuck]

10 hours ago, bresna said:

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913619163/stanley-crouch-towering-jazz-critic-dead-at-74

This is a great piece of writing.  I was struck that  Crouch  toughened his conversation in editing it for print whereas most people would soften what they've said before publishing it.  Many years ago I did a radio show with the film critic Andrew Sarris who was was very opinionated in his writings but  I was surprised to find  him  very agreeable and open in conversation. 

[Gheorghe]

thats really sad News.