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André Hodeir 1921-2011


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Renowned music critic, composer and musician André Hodeir died Tuesday evening in Paris. He was 90.

Obituary (in French) on the France-Musique radio site.

His book 'Hommes et Problèmes du Jazz' (1954) is an essential read of jazz criticism.

The English translation of that book, Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence, was extremely important to me as a young man learning about the music. His detailed analysis of "Concerto for Cootie" is brilliant music criticism. His second book, Toward Jazz is almost as good, although in hindsight his critical approach in these first two books is somewhat severe. (How can anyone not like Johnny Dodds and Benny Carter?) His third book, The Worlds of Jazz, is something else. It's one of the strangest jazz books ever written: a set of allegorical fiction (for lack of a better term) which revolves around and illuminates the jazz world. My favorite piece is "Outside the Capsule," in which archeologist/priests of the future find a battered copy of the Bag's Groove album and painstakingly analyze the bass part of the title cut.

I think Hodier's music is amazing. I spun the Philips LP of Anna Livia Plurabelle, his strange James Joyce cantata, recently, and will certainly play some of his music today. RIP to a great composer and thinker. Edited by jeffcrom
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Renowned music critic, composer and musician André Hodeir died Tuesday evening in Paris. He was 90.

Obituary (in French) on the France-Musique radio site.

His book 'Hommes et Problèmes du Jazz' (1954) is an essential read of jazz criticism.

The English translation of that book, Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence, was extremely important to me as a young man learning about the music. His detailed analysis of "Concerto for Cootie" is brilliant music criticism. His second book, Toward Jazz is almost as good, although in hindsight his critical approach in these first two books is somewhat severe. (How can anyone not like Johnny Dodds and Benny Carter?) His third book, The Worlds of Jazz, is something else. It's one of the strangest jazz books ever written: a set of allegorical fiction (for lack of a better term) which revolves around and illuminates the jazz world. My favorite piece is "Outside the Capsule," in which archeologist/priests of the future find a battered copy of the Bag's Groove album and painstakingly analyze the bass part of the title cut.

I think Hodier's music is amazing. I spun the Philips CD of Anna Livia Plurabelle, his strange James Joyce cantata, recently, and will certainly play some of his music today. RIP to a great composer and thinker.

I too read "Jazz: It's Evolution and Essence" when I was in high school and was awe-struck to see such intellectual firepower directed toward jazz. Despite its limitations it was a great book.

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I also read his first 2 books when they were first released. They made me think carefully about a number of things regarding jazz. Though some of his ideas were/are

controversial, his books were some of the first serious jazz criticism.

I didn't care for most of his recordings, but will pull the cd of the one I like the best - Kenny Clark's Sextet Plays Andre Hodier on Phillips.

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I like Hodeir, terrific arranger, composer, though I don't like the books that much.

Dickey Wells told me he was very hurt by Hodeir's piece on him. Dickey was a classic case of no second act, though he could still summon the fire on occasion. Hodeir's piece was smart but did not really take into account the whole life.

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I have heard some of his compositions and arrangments, but I mainly know him as a writer. He really is one of the most important writers on jazz. I am somewhat interested in the question of the theoretical modeling of jazz over time and AH is a stand-out figure in terms of that bibliography. For me, yes, since I am a professional and it is my business, I see these things in a fairly scientific way, so in endorsing Hodeir I am not really stating a preference for his arguments, though I think that the question of European reception of - or, I might better say, construction of - jazz is quite fascinating, and Hodeir's is a key voice.

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