Have a jazz fan in your holiday list—or perhaps want to drop a strong hint for your own list? You can’t go wrong with the latest compilation from Downbeat. The Great Jazz Interviews: A 75th Anniversary Anthology (Frank Alkyer & Ed Enright, Eds.; published by Hal Leonard). The 75th anniversary of Downbeat magazine marks more than the years of comprehensive coverage of jazz news and recordings, but also the publication of an enlightening, often entertaining, often controversial array of interviews with the artists who defined the music for much of its history. Organized by decade from the 1930s to the present 00s, this collection offers first-hand tales, strong opinions, and personal reflections while creating a living history from the beginning of swing to modern experimenters. This volume also offers a chance to examine the evolution of jazz journalism, from the 30s and 40s when writers were more pone to paraphrase to the 70s and beyond when an interview led to extensive quotes, even verbatim Q & A. Adding to the scope and often the charms of the interviews are the many conducted by fellow musicians and those presented as open letters, such as the intriguing if combative exchange between Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy, each claiming to be the father of jazz (1938). Other gems (among a full treasure chest): Bill Gottlieb with the elusive Thelonious Monk (1947); Gene Lees getting an earful of Oscar Peterson’s critique of a new generation of pianists (1959); views of Ornette Coleman from the divergent perspectives of Cannonball Adderley and Charles Mingus (1960); Wayne Shorter on art and critics (1968); Art Lange’s rare interview with Keith Jarrett (1984); Joe Lovano’s interview with hero and cohort, Hank Jones (2005).
And if you eliminated the text, leaving only the photographs, this would still be a collection worth owning!
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