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THE BIRTH OF BEBOP

Name: THE BIRTH OF BEBOP
Author: Scott DeVeaux
ISBN: 0-520-20579-0

A SOCIAL AND MUSICAL HISTORY

by Scott DeVeaux ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1997

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DeVeaux (Music/Univ. of Virginia) puts bop into a historical, social, and economic context, using oral histories and musical analyses as well as period materials to examine an epochal shift in the jazz paradigm. Bebop, DeVeaux argues, is the the fulcrum on which jazz history turns. More than that, he adds, it is the ``shadowy juncture at which the lived experience of music becomes transformed into cultural memory,'' as the last witnesses to the changes in the music die off. Did bebop represent an evolutionary stage in jazz history or a revolutionary rupture? For the author the answer is not so clear-cut as the question implies. He constructs a richly researched and densely constructed history that tries to understand the development of bebop as the result of musical decisions, economic pressures, and the uniquely American nexus of cash and race. He begins by tracing the career of Coleman Hawkins, an astute choice, because Hawkins was one of the first jazz musicians to expatriate himself to Europe for a significant period, the first great tenor sax soloist jazz produced—an innovator and one of the first to embrace the new sounds. Equally important, at the height of the big-band period, Hawkins thrived as a freelancer, thereby pointing the way for the young rebels to come. Of course, it is Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie who are most closely identified with the rise of bop, and DeVeaux gives them full treatment, but one of the strengths of this excellent book is the attention it devotes to the life of the working musician, to the exigencies of the road and the economics of making music as they impacted the less-fabled players. At a time when shrill controversy is raging throughout jazz criticism and historiography, this measured, thoughtful, and exceptionally well-documented volume is a welcome antidote. Although there are extensive and highly technical musical analyses, the less sophisticated jazz fan will find much here to prize as well.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-520-20579-0

Page Count: 664

Publisher: Univ. of California

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.