During the key years between 1939 and 1966, Blue Note records was at the forefront of quality jazz recording. An independent label founded in '39 by German expatriates Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, Blue Note hit its stride in the mid-1950s and, until it was sold to Liberty Records in 1966, was the home of countless important musicians and a unique sound, thanks in no small part to head engineer Rudy Van Gelder. Blue Note disks also had a unique look, the product of a collaboration between designer Reid Miles and Wolff, a photographer by vocation. This book, handsomely designed by Oscar Schnider, offers jazz fans 195 of Wolff's photographs of such luminaries as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and Ornette Coleman. Wolff's striking black-and- white photos capture the musicians with remarkable candor, whether in repose or while playing, and the gleam of his careful lighting burnishes everything it touches with a warm glow, not unlike the sound of Blue Note's recordings. The book is aided immeasurably by thoughtful texts by jazz recording veterans Cuscuna and Lourie.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1995
ISBN: 0-8478-1912-4
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Rizzoli
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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