The record changer (Jan-Dec 1953)

14 book review (Continued from Page 6) author been consistent in its use. If influencing the course of jazz is a criterion for inclusion and just being influenced by jazz is not, it is difficult to justify discussion of, for example, the boogie woogie piano players. In the chapters not specifically cited in the discussion, much of the familiar and some pleasingly not too familiar material on the great jazzmen is given. Mr. Harris has done an excellent job at ferreting out, abstracting and organizing biographical and historical information. He contributes significantly to the uprooting of a number of myths concerning certain musicians and styles. In spite of his immense importance in the jazz revival, Bunk Johnson is shown as just one of many reasonably adequate trumpet players in old New Orleans. (It is strangely uncritical of Mr. Harris to reject most of Bunk's statements about his own early greatness while accepting many of his statements about the qualities of other early musicians.) Similarly King Oliver is shown as a mediocre trumpet player in his New Orleans days but it is implied that it was a sign of great respect for the young Louis Armstrong to have been chosen to replace Oliver in "Kid Ory's Brown Skinned Babies" band. On the unqualified credit side for the author is his development of the idea that Kansas City Style was not a "style" at all. Several important and interesting issues are brought up in discussing the effects of commercial music on jazz. In trying to distinguish between "real" jazz and misnomered jazz, confusion is created for the neophyte jazz fan by, for example, stating that the Ellington band did not play jazz and then referring to the Ellington musicians as "jazzmen." In stating that the current Louis Armstrong All Star group is a modern version of the Hot Five is not only misleading, it is probably an insult to everything and everybody concerned, most particularly to the original Hot Five. The author is often naive in matters concerning the personalities, specific and general, of jazz musicians. It would seem that he categorically rejects riffs and scored arrangements as having any value to jazzbands although this is probably not his intention. Except for its use in creating a colorful atmosphere, the use of dialect in printing quotations from the sayings of Jelly Roll Morton and others is, in the least, distracting. We are rapidly approaching the limit to what we can learn about jazz in nontechnical terms. What new communicable knowledge we may hope to achieve will of necessity be couched in the more technical language of musical analysis, sociology and psychology. In this respect, writers like Rex Harris will have to discontinue use of such terms as "creative instinct," ". . . instinctive aptitude and hereditary knowledge of rhythm . . .", ". . . carefree yet vital instincts . . .", ". . . inherent musical instinct . . .", etc. If such terms are not distinctly incorrect in view of our knowledge of biology and psychology, they are at best meaningless. Jazz is certainly recommended for entertaining and informative reading but not for uncritical acceptance. An index would be a much needed improvement for future printings. Rex Harris, Jazz, Penguine Books, 1952 RECORDS WANTED I AM INTERESTED IN BUYING OUTRIGHT small or large collections of Jazz, Sweet, Swing, Personality, Blues, Bop, or Pops. f will pay spot cash for such collections. If you have a collection you wish to dispose of, please write, giving full details of the collection, type, artists included, labels, and most important of all please describe the condition of the records carefully. Then set your lowest price for the lot. I do not buy piecemeal but will take all or none. It is important that you set the price because I do not have time for long correspondence or haggling. If the price looks right and the collection is large enough I will travel to your town to inspect the records and close the deal. If you are on the west coast I have an agent there who will contact you. I am also interested in acquiring dealers' stocks from before 1940 and after 1924. WRITE, WIRE, OR PHONE BILL GRAUER, Jr. 125 LA SALLE STREET, NEW YORK 27, N. Y. New Kefauet BLUE NOTE LP 7023 MEZZ MEZZROW AND HIS BAND (Featuring Lee Collins on Trumpet and Zutty Singleton on Drums Blues No One Dug, Mezzerola Blues, If I Could Be With You, Nobody's Sweetheart, Blues of the Twenties, Struttin' with Some Barbecue, Blues Jam Up, Gut Bucket Blues* * Mezz Mezzrow and Max Kaminsky BLUE NOTE LP 5010 NEW SOUNDS Featuring Max Roach, Kenny Durham, James Moody, Art Blakie BLUE NOTE LP 5011 MILT JACKSON WIZARD OF THE VIBES BLUE NOTE LP 5012 HOWARD McGHEE AND HIS ALL STARS BLUE NOTE LP 5014 ERROL GARNER OVERTURE TO DAWN, VOL 3 BLUE NOTE RECORDS 767 Lexington Ave. New York 21, N. Y.