Review

Reviewed Work(s): Visions of Jazz: The First Century by Gary Giddins

Review by: David Horn
Source: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Dec., 2000), pp. 352-355
Published by: Music Library Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/900226
Accessed: 01-03-2018 11:39 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Notes

This content downloaded from 206.253.207.235 on Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:39:44 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
352 NOTES, December 2000

Visions of Jazz: The First Century. By Gary Giddins. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998. [xi, 690 p. ISBN 0-19-507675-3. $35.]

Jazz literature has long had a soft spot for to the growth of a rather different kind of
the short essay, especially the variety thatjazz essay, one that has often made it its
profiles an individual musician. Indeed, itbusiness to question the accepted priorities
is probably true to say that the form occu-of a generation of professional jazz critics
pies a more central place here than in writ-with a living to earn and a public to keep
ing on any other music genre or style ofinterested.
the twentieth century. No doubt one rea- But what Giddins attempts here is some-
son for its popularity lies in the prolifera-thing no previous collection of essays-aca-
tion of serious-minded jazz magazines, withdemic or nonacademic-has ever contem-
their mission to reveal the diverse artistryplated: to conceive and group his profile
contained in the expression of individual so that they become component parts of
musicians; one thinks, for example, of Jazza historical framework. He denies that
Review, whose pages spawned the widely the book was ever thought of as a histor
read collection of essays edited by Martinin a conventional sense-and this is clearl
Williams (The Art ofJazz: Essays on the Naturethe case-but the eight-part structure, wit
and Development of Jazz [New York: Oxfordheadings like "Precursors" and "A Moder
University Press, 1959]). Another reason is Music," together with the (broadly)
the eventual penetration of the music (andchronological arrangement of performers,
of the same mission) into the columns of indicates a diachronic conception. What
cultural commentary featured by daily, Giddins is after is a kind of historically
weekly, and monthly press publications. organized portrait gallery; he himself calls
This is the tradition to which Gary it "a canvas of music over time," presented
Giddins belongs. In his twenty-five years as"in a tableau of innovators, journeymen,
jazz critic for the Village Voice, he has beenprecursors and sidesteppers" (p. 6).
perhaps the foremost jazz writer to use and It sounds like an idea requiring a sub-
develop the essay form, sometimes for anstantial number of profiles if it is to be im-
extended review, at other times with no plemented satisfactorily, and that is indeed
pretext other than his own observation of the a case: there are seventy-nine in all, rang-
ing in length from two to twenty pages.
phenomenon deserving of attention. As
Among the seventy-nine are many on musi-
with Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American
cians whom jazz history has, by mutual
Pop (New York: Oxford University Press,
agreement, honored with the status of
1981; reprint, New York: Da Capo Press,
greatness (Jelly Roll Morton, Louis
2000), the first collection to make his name
known beyond the readership of the Voice, Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday,
this new collection has its source in his Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious
work for that paper; but whereas Monk, RidingJohn Coltrane, to name but a few),
but equally, there are profiles of those who
consisted mostly of reprints of Voice articles,
much of the material in Visions of Jazz, often inreceive short shrift in straight histo-
Giddins's own words, "germinated or ries, if they make their way into them at
sim-
mered over time" in his column (p. 655), all: musicians
as like Pee Wee Russell, Budd
opposed to having been explicitlyJohnson,
devel- and Abbey Lincoln. There are
oped there. also some inclusions from outside the typi-
In a way, it is a tradition and form of cal generic boundary of the music, among
critical commentary that could seem old- them figures from the popular stage and
fashioned at the century's end: one of the Tin Pan Alley like Irving Berlin and Al
consequences of using a literary form that Jolson. It is noticeable, too, that Giddins
has an aura of respect for its subject matter aims for a balance of periods, so that
embedded within it is that it may appear to roughly the final third of the essays covers
smooth out the rough edges, organize the the time from the late seventies to the late
chaos. At the same time, the arrival of the nineties.

academic jazz article, although for the most One consequence of this approach is
part relatively modest in its impact, has led that Giddins is able to free himself to some

This content downloaded from 206.253.207.235 on Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:39:44 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Book Reviews 353

extent from the hierarchies that, whether detailed-on specific performances (by far
for reasons of space, narrative technique, the majority of which are recorded).
or opinion (or all three), are built into Although not a technical writer, he is not
most jazz historiography. Giving space to afraid to use technical language as he sees
each chosen musician allows him to assess fit, especially to describe matters of har-
his subjects on their own terms. In avoiding
mony. In the way he employs these devices
hierarchies, he does not dispute the -and gen-in the insights they enable him to in-
eral rankings established by jazz historio-troduce-Giddins reminds this reviewer
graphy (giving Ellington three separate most
es- of all of the late English critic and
says is hardly a sign of dispute), but hebroadcaster
does Benny Green, whose volume of
stake a stronger claim for the validity fiveofessay-profiles, The Reluctant Art: Fiv
each individual attempt at musicmaking Studies
as in the Growth of Jazz (London
part of the stream of jazz history thanMacGibbon
that & Kee, 1962; rev. ed., New
historiography has managed to do soYork: far. Da Capo Press, 1991) is one of the
One could substitute any other individuals unsung jewels of jazz literature. Both writ-
and the point would remain. ers also have an acerbic touch when they
This does not mean we should see wish to use it, both are steeped in a deep
Giddins as radical in any way. Although respect forhethe musicians and their music,
asserts, as he introduces his selection crite- and, perhaps above all, both look for the
ria, that his book includes "a number of wood in and beyond the trees.
suspicious characters who tend to be dis- For his essays on Charlie Parker and
counted, patronized, or relegated to Dizzy the Gillespie, Giddins takes the unusual
footnotes" (p. 6), he is no rebel in the step, jazz in this genre of writing, of integrating
history camp; he may well feel too secure notated
in examples from transcribed solos
his position to need rebellion. Thus the (taken cri- with acknowledgment from the
teria for the musicians he has selected are transcriptions of Thomas Owens and Jon
uncontroversially stated: each artist is some- Schapiro). In doing so, he may be staking a
one who "generates a distinct musical vi- first claim for moving at least some of his
sion" and who "embodies ... an idea that, own work nearer to academic analysis. But
in a critical or literary sense, evokes some- ultimately, what makes Giddins a pleasure
thing of the singularity and magic of the to read when he is describing individual
jazz phenomenon" (pp. 6-7). But whether pieces of music is something academic writ-
it manifests itself as rebellion or not, his is a ing tends to shy away from: he incorporates
very welcome approach. Equally welcome is into one short passage a modicum of tech-
Giddins's determination-again, without nical language, a hint of metaphor, a sug-
any sense of defiance-to take a certain as- gestion of meaning, an admittance of his
pect of an individual musician's achieve- own enthusiasm, and a stimulus to the
ment about which fellow critics, past and reader's own interpretive skills-almost
present, have frequently carped, and re- without the reader being aware of what is
assess it. For example, he stoutly and mem- happening. Here he is describing Miles
orably defends Billie Holiday's later record-Davis's album Cookin':
ings for Verve, recordings that in his view
"incarnate her indictment of the world as gorgeous sustained notes, surprise arpeg-
well as the spirit and dignity she sustained giated detours that uncover pining
through all its blows" (p. 376), while the melodies. The oddly elastic rhythm sec-
brickbat regularly thrown in Art Tatum'stion, speeding and retarding the tempo
direction for his "ornamentation" is shown with reflexive dispatch, suggests the unity
-briefly but effectively-to be entirely mis- of a chamber group-every note appar-
conceived (p. 42). ently preordained and every phrase
With each of his profiles, Giddins's main wasteless. (p. 345)
aim is the tried and tested one of enabling
greater appreciation on the part of the Another pleasure comes from Giddins's
reader. He goes about this with a judicious
ability to conjure memorable phrases that
seem appropriate as summations; thus, on
and highly accessible mixture of biography
and related background, general style de-Fats Waller: "Pop was his cross, swing his
scription, and commentary-often quite salvation" (p. 145), and on Charles Mingus:

This content downloaded from 206.253.207.235 on Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:39:44 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
354 NOTES, December 2000

"He is the best example we have of disci-stand alone, numerous musicians make
plined turmoil" (p. 455). Analysts wouldregular appearances, creating the impres-
doubtless be shocked by the juxtaposition sion of a network of links, relationships,
and historians by what they might deemand influences and acting as a kind of un-
catchy generalizations. But, provided the acknowledged binding mechanism be-
reader uses Giddins's writing as something tween the essays. But it is noticeable that
to think with (rather than something to the techniques traditionally available to
make thinking unnecessary), the intercon- writers of 'joined-up" history, of establish-
nections that are central to his approach asing, explaining, and developing running
a writer can only be of benefit. themes, are not used. One must assume
All of this is not to say that the book is this was a conscious choice on Giddins's
without its problems. First of all, there are part: such themes could have been accom
some sins of omission. It may seem churl- modated in the essay structure. But afte
ish, in the case of such a big book, to want reading the book for awhile, the reade
more, but it is precisely the fact that size may start to feel the need for a greate
does not seem to have been a problem, for sense of underlying continuities than
author or publisher, that makes one ques- provided at a personal and stylistic lev
tion the decision to omit all forms of biblio- alone. Instead, some possible themes mak
graphical and discographical information. separate, unconnected, or even isolated ap
No bibliographical details are provided, pearances-major
ei- issues such as the jazz
ther as notes or in a bibliography proper, audience, the opportunities and constraint
for those books referred to or quoted from of recording, the role of the record indus
in the text itself, and there is no indication try, the relationship with popular culture
of any suggested reading. This gives the im- Even three themes that emerged in th
pression-unwittingly, one hopes-of a cer- second half of the twentieth century to
tain arrogance on the part of the author- dominate so much thinking about Amer
can culture-gender, ethnicity, and race
publisher alliance: "Trust us, dear reader;
you need look no further." The absence of are no differently treated.
discographical information sits oddly with What seems to be missing is a sense of
the obvious source of so many of Giddins's the importance of what Scott DeVeaux r
ideas in recorded performances and with ferred to as "issues of historical particular
the very welcome tendency of his writing to ity" ("Constructing the Jazz Tradition: Jaz
make the reader want to turn to those Historiography," Black American Literatur
recordings, whether for the firstForum or the 25 [1991]: 553) and of the conjunc
umpteenth time. ture of these issues with broader ongoin
Another omission concerns the world histories. There is a sense in which Visions
outside the United States. Giddins defends
of Jazz represents a clear move away from
setting American jazz as his "parameter"what
on DeVeaux sees as jazz historiography's
established notion of a seamless, organic
the grounds that the inclusion of "a chap-
ter or two" on non-Americans "could not tradition (DeVeaux, 530). Its form and
method
help but suggest an egregious sort of to- tend to deny space and opportu-
nity
kenism" (p. 6). That in itself is open to de- to seamlessness, preferring to deal
bate; many non-American readers who withare the separate merits of each individual.
inclined to be deferential to the fountain- But seamlessness is not the same as con-
head of the music may still be likely to
nectedness, and the type of particularity w
encounter is partial and, in a way, free
think that just one non-American would
floating-disconnected from factors tha
have been nice. But more disappointing
than the failure to find a way to acknowl-
would help explain it, except for those that
edge the contribution of non-Americans canisbe heard coming off the surface of the
music.
the absence of any sense of jazz's diasporic
history as it became a worldwide phenome- This critical point could be judged inap-
non, with its subsets of disparate but propriate
con- in that it brings academic con-
nected experiences. cerns to bear on a book that does not ex-
Connectedness, and the lack of it, are plicitly claim academic status. But one of
the most interesting things about Giddins's
also at the heart of a second type of prob-
lem. In one respect, connectedness is writing here is that it seems at home in a
clearly present. Although all the essays space where three types of reader-the

This content downloaded from 206.253.207.235 on Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:39:44 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Book Reviews 355

newly
newly initiated,
initiated,the
theexperienced
experiencedenthusiast,
enthusiast,
jazz performance.
performance. The
Thesecond
secondmay
maybe
bechal-
chal-
and the academic-have interests in com- lenged
lenged to
to think
think again
againabout
aboutold
oldargu-
argu-
mon, especially a need to continue devel-
ments-for
ments-for example,
example, about
aboutthe
theimportance
importance
oping appreciation skills (through close lis-
of singers
singers (a(a topic
topic on
onwhich
whichGiddins
Giddinsisispar-
par-
tening in particular) and to widenticularly
the
ticularly stimulating).
stimulating).The Thethird
thirdmay
maydodothe
the
horizons within which those skills are ap-and
same,
same, and may
may alsoalso find
findfood
foodfor
forfurther
further
plied. Each type's specific needs may be about
thought
thought about the
the nature
natureand
androle
roleof
ofjazz
jazz
served also. The first may often find the go-
historiography.
historiography.
ing tough amid the maze of names, but
many of the individual essays would make DAVID HORN
good starting points in what to look for in University of Liverpool

Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis. Edited by John Co

and Graeme M. Boone. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. [x
219 p. ISBN 0-19-510004-2 (cloth); 0-19-510005-0 (pbk.). $45 (clo
$19.95 (pbk.).]
The
The most
mostrecent
recentconference
conference program
programof of
community of popular-music studies-
the
the Musicological
MusicologicalSociety
SocietyofofAustralia
Australia
in- in- from musicology, sociology, cultural
people
cluded
cluded aa paper
paperwith
withthe
the
tart
tart
title
title
"Exposing
"Exposing
studies, ethnic studies, history, American
the Structure of a Work of Art and studies, and communications who have for
Accounting for Its Impact Are Not thebeen studying popular music and
decades
Same Thing." That declaration could serve its significance-for the work of
debating
just as well as the motto of this review,
such for
scholars and the concerns they ad-
Understanding Rock is a disappointing re-
dress go largely unmentioned.
treat from the state of the art in musicologi-
Why, then, were these essays written? The
cal study of popular music into an intellec-
editors tell us that they analyze rock be-
tually isolated formalism. The study oflike it," a vaguely defiant gesture
cause "we
rock-era popular music is and always has of the other contributors echo. It
that some
been dominated by writers who concen- is easy to understand this impulse, given
trate on lyrics, mediation, industry, technol-the marginalization of popular-music stud-
ogy, subcultures, videos-everything buties within the academy until quite recently.
the music-and music scholars who work There must be more to it than that, though,
on popular music have long had to argue or popular-music analysts would be merely
that analysis of musical practices and detailsheavily armed fans defending their individ-
is crucial. In the eighties and nineties,ual
thetastes, brandishing roman numerals
work of Philip Tagg, Charles Keil, Richardand Schenker graphs in place of lighters
Middleton, David Brackett, Christopher and devil signs. In fact, many of the con-
Small, Barry Shank, Susan McClary, Allan tributors to this volume share an intellec-
Moore, Sheila Whiteley, Stan Hawkins, tualmy-trajectory: as they have turned their at-
self, and others demonstrated how nonfor- tention from serialism to rock, they have
malist music analysis can illuminate the worked the new terrain with their old tools
workings and meanings of popular music. -something that anthropologists and com-
The significance of all of this work seems parative musicologists learned not to do
largely to have escaped John Covach, nearly a century ago. Judging from the es-
Graeme M. Boone, and their contributors, says themselves, these authors hope to con-
for they repeat the basic argument about firm the transhistorical and transcultural
the importance of analysis as though it utility of certain methods of analysis by col-
were new, and they do almost nothing that onizing new repertories with them, and
could be counted as building upon this they seek to prove the worthiness of rock
previous scholarship. These essays are not music by locating within at least some of it
aimed at musicians or fans, certainly, since a number of already prestigious traits, such
their discourse is unapologetically acade- as organic unity, formal complexity, and
mic. But it is clear that their authors alsoresemblance to European classical music.
are not trying to engage previous analysts The main purpose of this volume thus ap-
pears to be the reciprocal legitimation of
of rock music or the larger interdisciplinary

This content downloaded from 206.253.207.235 on Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:39:44 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms