History of Jazz (book)

[garthsj]

I thought that Neil Leonard did write a later book on jazz; in fact, I think I have it!  JAZZ:  MYTH & RELIGION.  I recently mentioned it to Lon.  Still haven't read the 1962 book, though. 

I guess I should have expanded on this. I approached Leonard with a typical enthusiastic graduate student's demeanor .... I was a little older than the average grad student, and had several years of doing a jazz radio show in Toronto under my belt. I think he may have found my "enthusiasm" a little too much for him, too atheoretical, so he claimed to have moved on, and was much more focussed on dealing with the subject of his seminar, which was on qualitative research. I was very surprised when 17 years later he published his subsequent book on JAZZ: MYTH AND RELIGION (Oxford UP, 1987).

I should also add that this is a VERY provocative study, and deserves to be read by every thinking jazz fan. Let me quote from the jacket blurb:

"Examining music and religion in the broad sense, Neil Leonard uses the work of Max Weber and his followers to consider how listeners have regarded jazz as sacred or magical and created myths and rituals to implement and sustain this belief. In a time when conventional religions are in flux or decline, jazz has provided a focus for spiritul impulses tempered by the anomie, anxieties, and alienations of the twentieth century, Leoard maintains."

Now if only he had been willing to teach a seminar on jazz ....

BY THE WAY, I should have mentioned this earlier, but so many of these ground-breaking studies (see my scans above) were published by Oxford University Press, against the tide of the economics of the publishing industry, only because the Senior Editor, Sheldon Meyer was personally committed to publishing significant works on jazz. Every one of these books, and many others that Oxford published, make a point of thanking him for his strong support. He has now retired I believe, and there has been a definite decline in this publishing venture. Another blow for jazz!

[Simon Weil]

I was very surprised when 17 years later he published his subsequent book on JAZZ: MYTH AND RELIGION (Oxford UP, 1987).

I should also add that this is a VERY provocative study, and deserves to be read by every thinking jazz fan. Let me quote from the jacket blurb:

"Examining music and religion in the broad sense, Neil Leonard uses the work of Max Weber and his followers to consider how listeners have regarded jazz as sacred or magical and created myths and rituals to implement and sustain this belief. In a time when conventional religions are in flux or decline, jazz has provided a focus for spiritul impulses tempered by the anomie, anxieties, and alienations of the twentieth century, Leoard maintains."

I have this and have gone through most of it. There's lots there and it's definitely a worthwhile read. The trouble is he's imported a (I think from memory) particular sociological approach to religion and tries to make his (rich) source material fit that. It doesn't work for me. Perhaps because I prefer a different sociological approach to religion (by Gavin Langmuir).

I think his earlier book is better (from flicking through it).

Simon Weil

[Larry Kart]

Two unfortunately out-of-print works (obtainable through used book sites) from a pair of often brilliant British writers: Francis Newton's very shrewd and commonsensical "The Jazz Scene" (Newton is the pseudonym of well-known political and social historian Eric Hobsbawn, who chose "Francis Newton" [once knew why he thought a pseudonym was a good idea here, but I've forgotten; the book was later reprinted under H's own name] because he admired Frankie Newton as a trumpeter and because they were fellow members of the Communist Party--though I don't see that Hobsbawm's political slant intrudes much here) and Max Harrison's substantial segment of "The New Grove Gospel, Blues and Jazz (with Spirituals and Ragtime)." Harrison's co-authors are Paul Oliver (blues, gospel, and spirituals) and William Bolcolm (ragtime).

[garthsj]

Two unfortunately out-of-print works (obtainable through used book sites) from a pair of often brilliant British writers: Francis Newton's very shrewd and commonsensical "The Jazz Scene" (Newton is the pseudonym of well-known political and social historian Eric Hobsbawn, who chose "Francis Newton" [once knew why he thought a pseudonym was a good idea here, but I've forgotten; the book was later reprinted under H's own name] because he admired Frankie Newton as a trumpeter and because they were fellow members of the Communist Party--though I don't see that Hobsbawm's political slant intrudes much here) and Max Harrison's substantial segment of "The New Grove Gospel, Blues and Jazz (with Spirituals and Ragtime)." Harrison's co-authors are Paul Oliver (blues, gospel, and spirituals) and William Bolcolm (ragtime).

I have long been an admirer of Max Harrison and his co-authors (Eric Thacker, and Stuart Nicholson)... their current volume "THE ESSENTIAL JAZZ RECORDS: Vol. 2 Modernism to Postmodernism (Mansell Publishing, 2000) is, for me, like a bible. I can always pick it up and find something worthwhile to read, and it is fun to see how many of these albums I have in my collection. While their evaluations are often idisyncratic, or very technical, they also force me to listen more closely to what I may have missed. In an earlier edition of this book, Max Harrison, et.al., MODERN JAZZ: THE ESSENTIAL RECORDS (AQUARIUS BOOKS, 1978), the authors listed 200 vinyl albums. I carefuly ticked off in red ink each of those albums that I acquired, reaching about 172 before I sold my entire vinyl collection. As I l look at that book now, I see that most of those of the gaps fall into the Cecil Taylor area ... I am NOT a great fan of Cecil's music ...

Garth.

[Larry Kart]

I greatly admire "Jazz on Record: A Critical Guide to the First 50 Years: 1917-1967" (Harrison with Albert McCarthy, Alun Morgan, Paul Oliver and others); "Modern Jazz: The Essential Records 1945-70" (Harrison with Alun Morgan, Michael James, Jack Cooke and Ronald Atkins) ; and "The Essential Jazz Records Volume 1, Ragtime to Swing (Harrison with Charles Fox and Eric Thacker), but I have a (regrettably) more or less negative review of "The Essential Jazz Records Volume 1" in the soon to emerge Annual of the Institute of Jazz Studies. Nicholson seems to me an essentially cheesy customer (close to a P.R. man at times), Thacker (who sadly died before the project was completed) is solid but not often illuminating (he probably was more at home with pre-modern jazz), while Harrison, always something of professional iconoclast, has become so cranky that it's difficult (at least it is for me) to separate his genuinely felt divergences from received opinion from his desire (so I feel) to cast himself as the only fellow around who's got his ears screwed on right. (A typical Harrison remark: "Though by no means its only sign of virtue, this [recording] is the kind of music that has never found much favour with jazz fans, still less with those who write for them.") Worse yet in a book of this scope ("Modernism to Postmodernism"), the so-called jazz avant-garde (Cecil Taylor et al.) is largely left to Nicholson, which means that it's hardly dealt with at all in serious musical terms. (Nicholson seems to think that the issue here are not really musical ones anyway: "...free jazz remained impaled on the barriers of sociopolitical issues, part rhetoric, part artifice…") Not that I'm calling for blanket praise, but while Harrison is surely well-equipped to declare what's what here and make you at least sit up and pay close attention to what he has to say, at this point in the book he basically retires from the fray (though he does, lest you think he's a late-blooming jazz neo-con, sing the praises of Albert Ayler). After that, though, not much more from Max. In fact, the book deals with three key figures of the jazz avant -garde -- guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and the late percussionist-bandleader John Stevens of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (and such related figures as bassist Barry Guy, trombonist Paul Rutherford and percussionist Paul Lytton) -- by, for the most part, not dealing with them at all. A strong case could be made that Max Harrison at his best is the best jazz critic we've ever had. But IMO this is one strange book.

[garthsj]

Larry ... do you know this little gem of a book, published in 1956? I acquired this copy as a teenager, and have dragged it around the world wth me since then. In far off Cape Town, this book with its obviously limited discographies, was the open window which first introduced me to the basic modern jazz repertoire. It is still a wonderful read, and takes on a new glow as the passing of the years give validity to some of their earlier judgements, e.g. "Gil Evans's real value sprang from his understanding of the orchestra rather than from the creation of original material."

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is still readily available through abe, and at a reasonable price too... If you don't have a copy I would highly recommend that it should have a place in your library.

Question: Why do the British (and other Europeans) do this kind of thing so much better than American jazz critics?

Garth.

Edited March 24, 2004 by garthsj

[Michael Fitzgerald]

It's my understanding that Sheldon Meyer is back in one way or another and is still somewhat active in publishing. If I recall correctly, he's involved in the career retrospective book that Dan Morgenstern is compiling from his old files.

But unfortunately Meyer's name on a project isn't a 100% guarantee of quality. The P.O.S. biography of Clifford Brown was something he was (at least nominally) involved in and they don't come much worse than that. I would be surprised to learn that anyone with half a brain had edited or even diligently read that book before it went to press.

I have two favorites in the overall histories of jazz - first, I have a sentimental soft spot for The Jazz Book by Joachim Berendt, which just seems to include all the right people even if it only gives some of them a brief sentence, and second, Jazz: From Its Origins to The Present, a textbook by Lewis Porter (with Michael Ullman and Ed Hazell). It dispells myths, is written by a musician for musicians (though nonmusicians certainly can gain much from it), and is quite comprehensive despite the fact that it came out in 1992. Unfortunately it's very pricey as is often the case with college textbooks. As opposed to most people writing those histories, Porter is the self-described "street musician with a PhD". He's a friend and colleague for whom I have a lot of respect. He knows his stuff and tends not to parrot back received wisdom (though there are exceptions to this as I mentioned in the thread on the New Grove).

But mostly I have no use for those kind of books. I have a large library and find much more value in getting the monographs. I don't find the need to have Gioia or Shipton or whoever tell me about jazz - I'll get the records and learn for myself. Which is another principle espoused by Lewis Porter. Great interview here:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/coltrane2.html

and other parts here:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/coltrane.html

http://www.furious.com/perfect/coltrane3.html

Mike

[Chuck Nessa]

I don't find the need to have Gioia or Shipton or whoever tell me about jazz - I'll get the records and learn for myself

This might be an arrogant mistake. I don't say this lightly, but I learn something from most things I read - even if it makes me feel superior to the author.

Have not read Gioia, but Shipton told me about history I witnessed and missed.

[Larry Kart]

I don't have the Morgan-Horricks book, but I think I read it at one time, probably on loan from a library. The writers who appeared in Albert McCarthy's magazine Jazz Monthly (later Jazz and Blues Monthly) were a high quality crew by and large. Morgan had that earthy commonsensical streak (he knew what the life of a professional musician was like) but had high standards and made up his own mind (I believe he was the first critic to write insightfully and in detail about Warne Marsh). The late Michael James had similar virtues (with a bit more of an intellectual edge) and was a pioneer in writing about hard bop (terrific on Mobley, Jackie McLean, et al.). Ronald Atkins and Jack Cooke had their fingers on the pulse of that music too; Cooke also was first-rate on the avant-garde (haven't heard anything from or about him in some time though). In the 1960s Terry Martin came aboard (an Australian then resident in Britain, he wrote brilliantly about Ornette, Art Pepper, and Coleman Hawkins among others; he's long been Chicago-based, a microbiologist at the University of Chicago; some of the key early Roscoe Mitchell recordings were made in his basement). Max Harrison also was a Jazz Monthly figure and much of the work in his fine collection "A Jazz Retrospect" first appeared there.

[Brad]

Garth,

Do you have a suggestion as to where I can get the Morgan-Horricks book. I would like to read it.

[garthsj]

Garth,

Do you have a suggestion as to where I can get the Morgan-Horricks book. I would like to read it.

Brad:

As I said I was surprised to see that this book is readily available... try this link. If it does not show up the actual book, just insert the book title and author.. Alun Morgan... there is one "working copy" available for the less than $6.00 .... A really interesting addition to anyone's jazz library ..

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDe...sPL?bi=79328924

[kenny weir]

I have read some of these books, including the Gioia.

But I've really appreciated and enjoyed the direction this thread has gone in and the contributions of Messrs Kart, Fitzgerald, Weill and others. I'm in no position to go out and order any of these titles but I'll pounce if and when I see 'em in the various secondhand bookshops I frequent.

[garthsj]

It's my understanding that Sheldon Meyer is back in one way or another and is still somewhat active in publishing. If I recall correctly, he's involved in the career retrospective book that Dan Morgenstern is compiling from his old files.

But unfortunately Meyer's name on a project isn't a 100% guarantee of quality. The P.O.S. biography of Clifford Brown was something he was (at least nominally) involved in and they don't come much worse than that. I would be surprised to learn that anyone with half a brain had edited or even diligently read that book before it went to press.

ml

Mike

Michael .... You of all people should know that SENIOR Editors do not actually edit.. they think of subjects they like which might make money (in most cases), and sign up authors ... The real editing work these days is mostly up to the authors. I am lucky in that Cambridge UP still believes in working the old way, with "real" editors making nasty comments in red or blue pencil all over one's manuscript ...

I must also agree .. I found the Clifford Brown book very disappointing ... There is still room for a great book on Clifford ... maybe your next project Mike?

Also, many thanks for the references to the interviews with Porter.. as a writer/researcher I found these "tales of the trade" to be very enlightening..

Edited March 24, 2004 by garthsj

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Chuck - What happened to "fewer books, more music"?

That's the sentiment I was trying to express. (Not that I haven't made, don't make, and won't make arrogant mistakes.....) I do agree that there is something to be learned from everything. However, I find that doing the listening (or the primary research, or the reading from more specialized sources) is more beneficial - to me. I certainly wouldn't want to push my way of doing things on anyone else. I have read neither the Shipton nor the Gioia histories, though I have read other books by them - Groovin' High and The Imperfect Art & West Coast Jazz. I wasn't so impressed with the Dizzy bio (though I did learn from it), but perhaps Shipton is better as a surveyor of the broad history. Eventually I will add both books to my collection, I'm sure.

Garth - No Clifford book for me - the plan is Henry Grimes next. After that, probably Lenox SOJ.

Mike

[Dr. Rat]

but I have a (regrettably) more or less negative review of "The Essential Jazz Records Volume 1" (2, I suppose you to mean here --dr. rat) in the soon to emerge Annual of the Institute of Jazz Studies. Nicholson seems to me an essentially cheesy customer (close to a P.R. man at times), Thacker (who sadly died before the project was completed) is solid but not often illuminating (he probably was more at home with pre-modern jazz), while Harrison, always something of professional iconoclast, has become so cranky that it's difficult (at least it is for me) to separate his genuinely felt divergences from received opinion from his desire (so I feel) to cast himself as the only fellow around who's got his ears screwed on right.

Larry-

The first volume of Essential Jazz Records probably had more influence on me as a listener than anything aside from listening.

While the book is critical, I found it had a way of filling me with curiosity about records I didn't have and sending me off with fresh ears to records I did have.

I find this not to be the case with Volume 2, though I still find it valuable (the spine's pretty bowed on my copy!).

On Nicholson: I find him more interetsing than you do. I don't like a lot of his reviews, either, but I don't think I'd call him a "cheesy customer" or a PR man. Something else seems to be wrong. I don't get a sense of discovery in most of his reviews--they seem obligatory.

This may be Harrison's trick: rtaher than being a pose, his iconoclasm is a way of coming at a record in a way that gives him a new way into it and soemthing more or less new to say about it (discovery!). The resulting reviews may not be exactly fair, but they may provide new and useful insight (as well as being more interesting to read).

--eric

[Simon Weil]

On Nicholson: I find him more interetsing than you do. I don't like a lot of his reviews, either, but I don't think I'd call him a "cheesy customer" or a PR man. Something else seems to be wrong. I don't get a sense of discovery in most of his reviews--they seem obligatory.

I just thought there wasn't any point in Nicholson's reviews. It's like there was nothing there. My personal feeling, reading them, is that he just doesn't really have proper, deep critical faculties - I mean wasn't able to hear anything new for himself in the music and put it out there. But I think he's not the only "modern" critic like that. There's an awful lot of writing which is just rewriting received opinion. That's what I think Nicholson does.

He may be a better biographical writer.

Simon Weil

[Larry Kart]

Eric --

Sorry, I did mean Vol. 2. To amplify a bit, or maybe just repeat myself, the main problem I had with "Essential Jazz Records Vol. 2: Modernism to Postmodernism" is that it's a book, given its subtitle, that has to take us as close to the present as publishing schedules permit, but the elephant that's been in the room since at least 1959, the avant-garde, is just not dealt with adequately. For Nicholson, the avant-garde is essentially a socio-political phenomenon, a bunch of rebellious-sounding noises but nothing that involved or involves much musical choice or thought and whose main role in the course of jazz has been to alienate whatever was left of jazz's mass audience. (I have no interest in trying to convince anyone who doesn't respond to Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Ornette, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, et al. that they're wrong, but any approach to this music that says or implies that it's just rebellious sounding noise is a non-starter for me.) Harrison, on the other hand, seems to have a change of heart about certain aspects of the avant-garde -- I recall a letter from him extolling a Jack Cooke Jazz Monthly essay "Late Trane," and Harrison himself wrote about the Spontaneous Music Ensemble with great enthusiasm in the mid-1970s. Of course he's entitled to change his mind, but I think that in a book like this he (or at least someone other than Nicholson) has to step up at some point and tell us why the jazz avant-garde has been an aesthetic misadventure (if, in fact, that what Harrison now feels). But in "Essential Jazz Records Vol. 2" we only get whisps of Harrison's current take on this music; and I can't understand how, as the primary figure in this book, he could think that was enough.

[Dr. Rat]

I deifnitely share your sense that Harrison has had the sort of change of heart you describe (which may be wishful thinking, because it would mean he'd be closer to agreeing with me, and I like the idea of having Max on my side of an issue!).

And I agree that that being the case, and it also being the case that Nicholson seems to be coming from "avant-garde as sociological phenomenon"-land (also my home country) . . .

This being the case it does seem silly for them to try to pick and describe and enhance our appreciation of the "essential" AG records.

Maybe they should have left off at 1960, just like Ken Burns!

--eric

[Chuck Nessa]

Chuck - What happened to "fewer books, more music"?

That's the sentiment I was trying to express. (Not that I haven't made, don't make, and won't make arrogant mistakes.....) I do agree that there is something to be learned from everything. However, I find that doing the listening (or the primary research, or the reading from more specialized sources) is more beneficial - to me

Mike, I anguished over the word "arrogant" and could not find a suitable substitute. I hoped to defuse it a bit by my statement about "learning" from Shipton.

I think "unified" visions of the whole history are helpful.

[Brad]

Garth,

Do you have a suggestion as to where I can get the Morgan-Horricks book.  I would like to read it.

Brad:

As I said I was surprised to see that this book is readily available... try this link. If it does not show up the actual book, just insert the book title and author.. Alun Morgan... there is one "working copy" available for the less than $6.00 .... A really interesting addition to anyone's jazz library ..

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDe...sPL?bi=79328924

Garth,

Thank you for that. I have also ordered the Marshall Stearns book as well. Thanks again.

[wesbed]

Thanks for the opinions regarding the Gioia book. I purchased the History of Jazz and started reading it last night. I finished the first chapter. I appreciated the information about African rhythms, the influence of the blues, New Orleans culture, and Scott Joplin.

I'll be moving ahead to the New Orleans Jazz chapter this evening. Things worked just right that I'll be able to read the New Orleans chapter while listening to the newly-arrived New Orleans Jazz Mosaic box. Does life get any better?

Here is last night's view from my bed:

Edited March 25, 2004 by wesbed

[Brad]

That's one bad looking bed