But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.30 (749 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00KP86AJM |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 261 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-06-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
. Through this collection of essays, Geoff Dyer recounts some of the more vivid episodes and events these personalities engaged in and illuminates unique aspects of their character that contributed to their music. He also sheds light on the oppression of working within an atmosphere of race-alienation, a hardship that led many to abuse alcohol and drugs, and find solace only in their incredible music. Besides colorful and expressive music, jazz greats such as Lester Young, Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington led equally colorful, albeit self-destructive, lives
"The unreliable narrator" according to Morgan. This is an usual book in that it is written as something best described as journalistic but is explicitly not bound by fact.It aims at the essence of a jazz world and has been applauded by a number of jazz luminaries as giving the clearest account of the jazz life aroun. Marty Babits said Improvisational Prose that Illuminates and Evokes the Jazz Ethos. This book is a tour-de-force of imagination. The author places his imaginative consciousness into the lives of numerous reknown jazz greats and brings the era and the force of their creativity onto the page. A feat of unusual power. A book to savor for jazz lovers and l. planosue said Lovely gift for a Jazzman. I bought this book (digital) intending to gift it to a friend who is a Jazzman. It is quite a lovely and interesting book for that purpose & I subsequently purchased the book in hard cover for my friend. I think he will enjoy it as well.
Drawing on photos, anecdotes, and, most important, the way he hears the music, Dyer imaginatively reconstructs scenes from the embattled lives of some of the greats: Lester Young fading away in a hotel room; Charles Mingus storming down the streets of New York on a too-small bicycle; Thelonious Monk creating his own private language on the piano. "May be the best book ever written about jazz."—David Thomson, Los Angeles TimesIn eight poetically charged vignettes, Geoff Dyer skillfully evokes the music and the men who shaped modern jazz. However, music is the driving force of But Beautiful, and wildly metaphoric prose that mirrors the quirks, eccentricity, and brilliance of each musician's style.