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  • 2 weeks later...

Bumping this because I finally had time to finish this book and it was a great read. Very poetic, very "jazz feeling" stories-- and he pulled no punches. Makes me wonder where the lines of fact and fiction were drawn in each case. A very cogent and interesting essay afterwards too.

I'm off to see what else Goeff Dyer has written-- anyone know if he has other good jazz writing?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Phographs of Jazz musicians are used as an inspiration for stories about them, around these the journeys of Duke and Harry Carney, across the continental United States, are used as a framing device. No user of the board would be unmoved by this book.

Edited by Philip
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I'm off to see what else Goeff Dyer has written-- anyone know if he has other good jazz writing?

Just started reading Paris, Trance over the weekend: a funny, to the point account of a Londoner moving to Paris in summer when the city is almost deserted. If you've ever been in a similar situation you will recognize at least a part of yourself .... ;)

Edited by mikeweil
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I finished this last week and just remembered to come back to this thread.

I really enjoyed this book. As I mentioned before, I don't really enjoying reading for pleasure any more. But this book was worth my time.

The short stories are all a bit depressing. Too few of our jazz giants had happy endings. But there are enough light moments to keep it from being a Lifetime-movie-of-the-week-tear-jerker.

I too will check out some of Dyer's other work. He has good visual style of writing.

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  • 4 months later...

The short stories are all a bit depressing.  Too few of our jazz giants had happy endings.  But there are enough light moments to keep it from being a Lifetime-movie-of-the-week-tear-jerker.

There are many important jazz musicians that lead unspectacular lifes that will never inspire any storyteller ... or other whre we do not not have enough documentary material to write a story about them the way Dyer did.

I too will check out some of Dyer's other work.  He has good visual style of writing.

On a bottom line, I was a little disappointed by Paris Trance, in the end it did not lead anywhere too substantial. Complete Review has some fitting comments about his other works, it seems.

Edited by mikeweil
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I strongly advise German speaking board members to read the English original, which is available as paperback (amazon.de) for about the same money as the newly published Fischer pocketbook. Too many errors in the translation (obviously done with the aid of a translation software, without proofreading of someone knowing about jazz), including the seemingly inevitable "Thelonius" ... :rolleyes: . See the review in Die Zeit for some examples.

There is a much better German translation (by Dorothea Trottenberg) of part of the Lester Young chapter in the July 1998 issue of the Swiss magazine DU, featuring tenor saxophonists (Giant Steps. Album Tenor Sax).

Edited by mikeweil
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