In the illustrious and richly documented history of American jazz,
no figure has been more controversial than the jazz critic. Jazz
critics can be revered or reviled--often both--but they should not
be ignored. And while the tradition of jazz has been covered from
seemingly every angle, nobody has ever turned the pen back on
itself to chronicle the many writers who have helped define how we
listen to and how we understand jazz. That is, of course, until
now.
In "Blowin' Hot and Cool," John Gennari provides a definitive
history of jazz criticism from the 1920s to the present. The music
itself is prominent in his account, as are the musicians--from
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to Charlie Parker, John
Coltrane, Roscoe Mitchell, and beyond. But the work takes its shape
from fascinating stories of the tradition's key critics--Leonard
Feather, Martin Williams, Whitney Balliett, Dan Morgenstern, Gary
Giddins, John Hammond, and Stanley Crouch, among many others.
Gennari is the first to show the many ways these critics have
mediated the relationship between the musicians and the
audience--not merely as writers, but in many cases as producers,
broadcasters, concert organizers, and public intellectuals as well.
For Gennari, the jazz tradition is not so much a collection of
recordings and performances as it is a rancorous debate--the
dissonant noise clamoring in response to the sounds of jazz.
Against the backdrop of racial strife, class and gender issues,
war, and protest that has defined the past seventy-five years in
America, "Blowin' Hot and Cool" brings to the fore the most vital
critics of jazz and the role they have played not only in defining
the history of jazz but also inshaping its significance in American
culture and life.
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