Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians about Their Careers in Jazz - Softcover

Stokes, W. Royal

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195152492 ISBN 13: 9780195152494

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002

Synopsis

No music is as individual as jazz. And no writer is as deft at bringing out what is individual in each jazz artist as W. Royal Stokes. As a reviewer, feature writer, public radio host, and author, Stokes has spent three decades covering the jazz scene. Now he draws on that rich store of knowledge and friendship to introduce us to the jazz life.

In some forty interviews with saxophonists, pianists, singers, composers, and string, brass, and rhythm players, Stokes illuminates the lives of the artists and the sheer pleasure of the sounds they create. Stokes paints a vivid portrait of jazz musicians--bringing to life their influences, their careers, and their art. We hear firsthand how they became interested in jazz and how they emerged onto the jazz scene. Stokes ranges across the globe in his interviews, introducing us to vaudeville stars, blues musicians, and a dozen women instrumentalists--like the acclaimed violinist Regina Carter--from the many who now shine on a stage where they were once limited to vocals alone. From legendary veterans Jackie McLean and Louie Bellson to such rising stars as Diana Krall, Cyrus Chestnut, and Ingrid Jensen, Stokes gathers together the brightest lights in the jazz firmament, capturing not only the life of the musician, but how the musician gives life to jazz.

About this title

About the Author:

W. Royal Stokes has written about music for such publications as Down Beat, JazzTimes, and the Washington Post, and hosted the public radio shows "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say..." and Since Minton's. He is the former editor of the quarterly Jazz Notes and the author of The Jazz Scene and Swing Era New York.

From Booklist:

Are great jazz musicians made or born? It's hard to say, but Stokes, a longtime jazz writer based in Washington, D.C., looks closely at the question in his biographical interviews with established stars and rising young talents. The writing is purely biographical, and Stokes renounces at the beginning any claim to being a musical critic. The primary focus is on jazz musicians' early development, and Stokes has elicited some recurring themes. A musical family helps (he devotes an entire chapter to musicians who have come from such backgrounds). Prodigious talent is also a good indicator, as many of Stokes' artists had developed musical skills before adolescence. But most remarkable is an epiphany--hearing a legend in concert, listening to a remarkable recording, or the guidance of a brilliant teacher--that transformed their interest in classical, R&B, folk, rock, or whatever musical style into a lifetime pursuit of jazz. It's a worthwhile read for jazz fans hoping to emulate or simply adulate their musical heroes. Ted Leventhal
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About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0195152492
• ISBN 13: 9780195152494
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304