by Ashley Kahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2006
Generally speaking, a swinging read.
The artistic and commercial vicissitudes of a seminal jazz label, reconsidered.
Journalist Kahn, who has written about Miles Davis (Kind of Blue) and John Coltrane (A Love Supreme), now examines the history of Impulse Records, that singular jazz incubator of the ’60s and ’70s. Initiated as an imprint of ABC-Paramount, the corporation encompassing the eponymous TV network and movie studio, Impulse blossomed quickly under the aegis of producer-executive Creed Taylor. It was Taylor who formulated the sleek look, striking logo and unique style of the label, which spawned early hits by Ray Charles (in a funky instrumental mode) and the exploratory saxophonist Coltrane, who (per Kahn’s title) became the company’s greatest star. The book’s true hero is Bob Thiele, who helmed the label from 1961–69, a period of explosive musical creativity amid violent social change. The firm’s “new wave of jazz” brought forth not only Coltrane’s daring avant-garde explorations, but also probing new works by jazz forefathers Pee Wee Russell and Earl Hines, swing era masters like Duke Ellington and Benny Carter, and Trane acolytes such as Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders. Those classy, stylistically diverse productions, Kahn notes, were also popular successes, despite debate about the value of jazz’s confrontational “new thing.” The book loses narrative steam after Thiele’s exit following a corporate clash in ’69, two years after Coltrane’s premature death. But the writer still tells some compelling tales about Impulse’s ’70s sojourn in Los Angeles; there, the label flourished for a time under Ed Michel, who issued classic records by such talents as saxophonist Gato Barbieri and pianist Keith Jarrett before its sale to MCA in 1977. Kahn covers all the aesthetic, business, social and historical bases with crisp economy. The book’s only shortcoming is one of design: Two- and three-page pieces interspersed through the text about significant or unusual Impulse releases, though informative, make for herky-jerky reading. Otherwise, this is a brisk account.
Generally speaking, a swinging read.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-393-05879-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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