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THE JAZZ SCENE

Name: THE JAZZ SCENE
Author: Eric Hobsbawm
ISBN: 0-679-40633-6

by Eric Hobsbawm ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1993

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Intelligently written and updated study of American jazz first published in Britain 30 years ago (under the pseudonym Francis Newton) by Marxist social historian Hobsbawm (Nations and Nationalism Since 1780, etc.). Though Hobsbawm has not changed his basic text in this first American edition—a history of jazz and then discursions on the jazz scene in the early 60's—he has added much new material, and the new text is often more spirited than the earlier. The new material first appeared in The New York Review of Books and The New Statesman, for which Hobsbawm is something of a jazz journalist or jazz historian. He begins with the prehistory of jazz, about which he is knowledgeable without being dense—although his slow start may cost him readers. It's hard to imagine a jazz player today reading this material, but it's not hard to pin down Hobsbawm's ideal readers: finger-snapping literati. The author exposes his likes and dislikes in his liveliest passages, and 30 years ago foresaw the spiritual ossification of Miles Davis, long before the musician buried his talent in fusion jazz. All the greats are covered in passing (Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday), while further space is given to Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Mahalia Jackson, and Sidney Bechet. Gunther Schuller's magnum opus, The Swing Era (1988), comes under fire for not swinging enough, despite its many pleasures (``some like it hot,'' Hobsbawm says, though a cool kettle himself). Perhaps Hosbawm's tastiest comments are about the business side and work ethics, where his historian's eye strips the jazz scene down to its commercial spine as the music moves from the countryside to the city and becomes professional. Without fail, the author shows, each new musical wave hardens into show biz. Podium chat backed by a snare drum's whispering percipience.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-679-40633-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
FRACTURED TIMES
by Eric Hobsbawm

- BOOK REVIEW
ON EMPIRE
by Eric Hobsbawm

- BOOK REVIEW
INTERESTING TIMES
by Eric Hobsbawm

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.