Unzipped Souls - A Jazz Journey Through the Soviet union - Hardcover

Minor, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1566393248 ISBN 13: 9781566393249

Publisher: Temple University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Across nine thousand kilometers and six republics of the Soviet Union, William Minor embarked on a "jazz journey" to observe the development of contemporary Russian jazz, as it responded to an abundance of cultural changes. A jazz writer and musician himself, Minor sat in on private performances and went backstage at several major festivals, witnessing firsthand the artistic release and creativity of Russian musicians.
Throughout his travels, Minor interviewed musicians, critics, and fans and reproduces in his book an intimate sense of their aspirations, struggles, successes - they tell of shared resources, networks, and inventive forums for playing and exchanging information. At the same time, this narrative bespeaks the hard realities of life: the difficulty of getting equipment, the scant number of clubs, and the limited information about the music scene in other parts of the world.

About this title

About the Author

William Minor is an instructor in the Humanities at Monterey Peninsula College, California.

Reviews

A combination of travelogue and musicology, Unzipped Souls chronicles jazz in the Soviet Union just as glasnost began and the nation began to break apart. Minor's odyssey took him to destinations that included the First Moscow International Jazz Festival and such comparatively remote places as the Georgian city of Tbilisi. Valuable for Minor's interviews with some of the region's most important players and entertaining because of its warm-hearted descriptions of his often humorous adventures, the book also shows that Minor is a respectful critic who does not let his enthusiasm about new musical territory cloud his judgments. Since he keenly understands Russian culture, too, he continually makes astute cultural connections, for example in comparing modern Russia's avant-garde jazz players of the 1980s to its 1920s absurdist authors. Regardless of whether American readers are familiar with some of Minor's favorites, such as pianists Sergei Kurokhin and Igor Bril, they will benefit from reading these musicians and their colleagues' insights into their unique musical landscape. Aaron Cohen

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1566393248
• ISBN 13: 9781566393249
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226