Brad Posted April 12, 2003 Report Share Posted April 12, 2003 (edited) Has anyone heard of this book about the Massey Hall concert, which apparently contains mini bios of the participants. I was at the Jazz Record Center in New York yesterday and was about to leave when I saw this book, which said this was the only place in the US you could buy this book, so I did. It was issued by Aurum Press in England. I'm interested in any reviews of this book. Edited April 12, 2003 by Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted April 12, 2003 Report Share Posted April 12, 2003 I don't own it yet, but Haydon was in contact with me when he was writing it in 2000. He had some questions about Dizzy Gillespie. I was surprised that there would be another book after "Cool Blues: Charlie Parker in Canada 1953" by Mark Miller, which is a nice little book (115 pages), but everything that I have heard about the Haydon book (312 pages) has been good. Now that I know where it can be had, I'll try to pick it up. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted April 12, 2003 Report Share Posted April 12, 2003 I've seen this a lot around in the UK - I feel quietly privileged that we've got it and you guys don't! - It makes a change!!! I must admit, I haven't bought it yet; but having thumbed through it a couple of weeks back, I think the conceit is that Haydon traces the respective careers of the members of the quintet, making a focal point of the concert in Massey Hall, where the careers obviously intersected. In that sense, it's a short history of each of the participants, focussing (maybe for a chapter or two) only relatively briefly on the gig itself... Having said that, please do somebody contradict me if I'm wrong, because as I say, that's on the basis of a 2 minute look at the thing! Whatever the case, it certainly looks like a nicely produced book, and something that I'll pick up when I can drag myself away from buying the CDs themselves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 In looking at the book, Red appears to be right. The first five chapters are bios of each of the musicians up until the concert, the sixth examines the concert and the last five follow them after the concert. In that sense, it may be a little disappointing, not apparently an Ashley Kahn-like treatment. It's also available on amazon.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryan Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 (edited) I've seen this a lot around in the UK - I feel quietly privileged that we've got it and you guys don't! - It makes a change!!! I've seen this one at a couple of different places here too--I'm in Canada, eh. :rsmile: P.S. - Brad (or anyone), do you know of any reason why this book would have a limited distribution in the U.S., in terms of which stores carry it? Edited April 13, 2003 by pryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 No idea really. Perhaps the US online sellers didn't want to carry it (although amazon uk has it so that may not be the reason) or perhaps the publisher appointed Jazz Record Center as its US distributor because the owner, Fred Cohen, can get it into jazz stores, where it is more likely to be purchased than online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 Have seen this one too over here in the UK - many branches of 'Waterstones' seem to have it. First impulse was to buy it on the spot but then I checked out the chapters and was a bit disappointed with first impression that material on Parker, Gillespie, Powell, Mingus and Roach was fairly general and could be gleaned from other sources. Please take this viewpoint with caution - it was first impression and no doubt I will pop a copy of this in the shopping bag in due course. I terms of presentation it looks absolutely first rate and with nice photo sections too. Hope I'm proved wrong in my observations re content. ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 I think this book claiming a small bit of US jazz history for Canada might be ignored because the Star Spangled Banner was booed at a hockey game in Montreal. Take that, you wannabes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 27, 2003 Report Share Posted April 27, 2003 Is Don Brown around? He was actually AT the concert, and posted a most interesting series of recollections on the BN board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 (edited) Don did indeed post some very interesting recollections of the concert on the BNBB. I believe that he still lives in the Toronto area, hopefully he will post some more of his memories of the event here. Have just picked up a copy of the book and (almost simultaneously) landed a nice copy of the 'Quintet of the Year' LP on Vocalion (first UK 12 inch issue) that is featured in one of the figures (the one with the band shown as faces on the pack of cards, with Dizzy as Joker and Charlie Parker as 'Charlie Chan' with back turned. A very cool LP cover indeed .. First opinions are excellent. A series of very good precis of each band member, leading into the Massey Hall concert. The overviews on Parker and Bud Powell show real insight. The details of the very humble beginnings of Parker and Gillespie in particular (and the turbulent early life of Mingus) make their achievements monumental. Max Roach is also to be truly applauded for the way he handled his treatment in the hotels down South. Shear class ! Will post more thoughts on this one when I've read a bit further ! :rsmile: Edited April 30, 2003 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 ...and landed a nice copy of the 'Quintet of the Year' LP on Vocalion (first UK 12 inch issue) that is featured in one of the figures (the one with the band shown as faces on the pack of cards, with Dizzy as Joker and Charlie Parker as 'Charlie Chan' with back turned. A very cool LP cover indeed .. Can anyone post a picture of this cover to this thread?? I'd be curious to see it. Sounds cool, indeed!! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2003 I've read the first couple of chapters on Bird and Dizzy and while they're good summaries of their careers up till the concert, I've read a bit about Bird (I'm not professing to have anything close to semi-expertise) and there's nothing in there that I haven't gleaned from anywhere else. In fact, a lot of the stories and interesting anecdotes I've seen elsewhere. So, I think if you know a lot about these musicians already, there's nothing startling in there. I'm anticipating that the chapter on the concert will be very good though. Now, I don't know a lot about the other musicians so I found the chapter on Dizzy very good and the one on Bud good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted May 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) RT, Here's a photo of the album. Edited May 2, 2003 by Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted May 2, 2003 Report Share Posted May 2, 2003 Great ! I've been looking everywhere for an image of this one to post but without success ! The copy I picked up by the way cost £7 and it was in absolutely mint condition with the deep groove from 1957/58. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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