1996 shades of blue a modern jazz essay
In eight poetically charged vignettes, Geoff Dyer skillfully evokes the music and the men who shaped modern jazz. Drawing on photos, anecdotes, and, most important, the way he hears the music, Dyer imaginatively reconstructs scenes from the embattled lives of some of the greats: Lester Young fading away in a hotel room; Charles Mingus storming down the streets of New York on a too-small bicycle; Thelonious Monk creating his own private language on the piano. However, music is the driving force of But Beautiful, and wildly metaphoric prose that mirrors the quirks, eccentricity, and brilliance of each musician's style. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World
In eight poetically charged vignettes, Geoff Dyer skillfully evokes the music and the men who shaped modern jazz. Drawing on photos, anecdotes, and, most important, the way he hears the music, Dyer imaginatively reconstructs scenes from the embattled lives of some of the greats: Lester Young fading away in a hotel room; Charles Mingus storming down the streets of New York on a too-small bicycle; Thelonious Monk creating his own private language on the piano.
However, music is the driving force of But Beautiful, and wildly metaphoric prose that mirrors the quirks, eccentricity, and brilliance of each musician's style. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. It is a little gem. Few will be unmoved by his passion and eloquence and the harrowing portraits of jazz's haunted geniuses.
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One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details. Ships from and sold by Amazon. Customers who viewed this item also viewed these digital items. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. The Ongoing Moment. Geoff Dyer. White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World. Don't have a Kindle? New and free. Meditate with Jesse Israel. Listen free. Customer reviews. How does Amazon calculate star ratings? The model takes into account factors including the age of a rating, whether the ratings are from verified purchasers, and factors that establish reviewer trustworthiness.
Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Verified Purchase. Dyer can string creative and interesting sentences together and held my interest in spurts, but he chose to write almost exclusively about jazz musicians whose careers were dramatically affected and shortened by alcoholism and drug addiction.
The only musician in the book who was not an addict is Duke Ellington and he gives Duke relatively short shrift. In the final section the author asks an interesting question about the role of art criticism as related to jazz; but this does not justify reading the book.
To me it did jazz a disservice. I read this book years ago and purchased it recently to read it again, it sort of haunted me. I'm glad I reread it because there were parts in there that over powered me on my first reading. The lives of the artists were so difficult, violent, and short -- most of them died so young. The elegance of Duke Ellington and the struggles of Monk to bring his genius to fruition jump out, but there are many other facets shown in this lovely, thin book.
One person found this helpful. This book is a tour-de-force of imagination. The author places his imaginative consciousness into the lives of numerous reknown jazz greats and brings the era and the force of their creativity onto the page.
A feat of unusual power. A book to savor for jazz lovers and lovers of lyrical, expressive prose. This work, along with James Baldwin's short story, "Sonny's Blues," is as good as any I've read about the jazz life, its creators and innovators, and the high cost of such terrible beauty. I had the advantage of being present while Lester was lost on stage in an alcoholic stupor; Monk was dancing around the piano, knocking over cymbals, rather than playing the instrument; Chet Baker, unable to stand, was expending his last breaths on "The Thrill Is Gone"; and Duke was waiting for Harry Carney to swing by with the car to chauffeur him through the wintry night from Kenosha, Wisconsin to Kansas City.
But how a young writer like Dyer managed to capture these moments before his time, freezing them unforgettably in a literary living moment, I can't imagine. Dyer knows that the foremost responsibility of a music critic is not to critique but to verbalize his non-verbal subject, bringing it to life for the reader. He does so admirably, creating believable, recognizable, fascinating portraits in unlabored, unpretentious prose.
His portraits of the artist ring completely true to the ears of this fellow observer--penetrating glimpses of the creative child trapped in a man's body now reduced to fighting a losing battle against physical and mental entropy. Yet his faith in the living tradition of jazz is refreshing, as is his characterization of the jazz musician's struggle as a valiant contest with the precursor, not unlike that of the strong poet's. Though there's an elegaic tone throughout the book, it's never ponderous or depressing.
In fact, its human portraits are more likely to interest newcomers than the many text books that catalog styles and names. This is not to say the book is without shortcomings. The author is much better at capturing the musicians for us than their music. And his appreciation and understanding of Duke Ellington's music seems somewhat limited.
Too bad he didn't give at least as much attention to the colorful cast of characters on the band bus as to the private conveyance preferred by Duke. Yet any listener who has the slightest interest in jazz and its makers simply cannot afford to pass this one up. And it goes a long way toward fleshing out some of the caricatures served up on the Ken Burns' television series.
See all reviews from the United States. Top international reviews. This is a book every fan of jazz should have in their jacket pocket. It's a clever book and well written. The descriptions paint many pictures. The difficult attempt to define jazz and explain it's draw and appeal is added at the end of the book and it's a great referenced attempt. The author, Geoff Dyer, sure knows his stuff! It would have been even better if more photographs were included, as the words were apparently built around observing those classic black and white jazz images.
And an album containing the various artists would make a good release! Or at least a Spotify playlist to provide some decent music to enhance what is a good read! Overall, an entertaining read which reinforced my love of the music called JAZZ. Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again.
This book was written more than twenty years ago; I discovered it by chance many years ago and have read it at least three times. It takes a quite unique approach and is what it says it is "a book about jazz".
It is written in two sections; the first part a series of essays; short pieces of fiction based on fact in the style of a prose narrative. The second part an extended essay on the state of jazz "today" For the first part we have a series of scenes: firstly detailing the close relationship between Duke Ellington and Harry Carney.
Then there are chapters on aspects in the lives of some great musicians e. I have read tens of books on jazz and this approach is absolutely unique. Some of the "factual" events may be imagined but Geoff Dyer captures absolutely the misery of Lester Young's ordeal during his conscription into the Army, and other ordeals encountered by the other musicians named above.
The writing is beautiful but the subject matter isn't. It shows in full detail the squalid, lonely, unhappy lives of so many of our heroes. The second section is an observation of the outcome of the rapid evolution of jazz in less than years. An interesting conclusion that I am in sympathy with. Thoroughly recommended and of such quality that it improves on second and subsequent readings.
Certainly a MUST for any follower of the music and an insight into the lives of musicians, especially jazz musicians who find themselves improvising in public new music every night; no other art form makes such demands.
Not so sure about this 'novel'. Based on some research on a jazz musicians but heavily based on descriptions of photos in story form it doesn't hold together particularly well.
So very little of the book features any live performances or any of the musicians either at the beginning of their careers or at the height of their powers.
This is focused mostly at the end of their days. Therefore incredibly depressing. Especially Bud Powell, Monk and Pres. Of those featured I found art pepper's story the most engaging though not ever been a fan of his music and Mingus was well represented. This was about 50 pages out of The rest was difficult reading.
The book features both an essay on the history of jazz and a select discography.
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