Favorite authors of liner notes?

[Larry Kart]

Max Harrison, in his notes to Bix Beiderbecke and the Chicago Cornets, did call Martin Williams tin-eared, but not by name. He berated the "tin-eared commentator" who called Beiderbecke's solo on "Royal Garden Blues" "a kind of parade horn" - a quote which I recognized from Williams' chapter on Bix from The Jazz Tradition.

Good memory! And that is a double album.

BTW, does Max hate Martin and Gunther Schuller. See his contributions to "The Essential Jazz Records: Vol, 2, Modernism to Postmodernism," which he edited and that also includes contributions from Eric Thacker and Stuart Nicholson. The footnotes to Max's pieces there are littered with sneering digs at Martin and Gunther; as far as Max is concerned, it would seem, there is room for only one genuinely musically literate "jazz intellectual," and that is Max. OTOH, Max at his best is a genuinely musically literate jazz intellectual, and neither Martin nor Gunther are without flaws. But Max's sneering is not only fairly ugly in tone, but it also leads him to say disparaging things about Martin and Gunther's work that he almost certainly knows are not true.

For instance, dealing with Eddie Sauter's writing for strings on Stan Getz's "Focus," Max quotes Martin's statement that Sauter's work there is "derivative of Bartok." In fact, says Max, Sauter's work on "Focus" "bears no resemblance to Bartok at all," archly adding in footnote that "Bartok's influence here can be heard by those who do not know the composer's work yet not by those who do." But the first piece on "Focus," "I'm Late, I'm Late," is clearly based -- affectionately and effectively, I would say -- on the second movement of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, a fact that the first chair violist on the date, Jacob Glick of the Beaux Arts String Quartet, confirms (if confirmation is needed) in the liner notes to the CD reissue of "Focus." Weird, perhaps inexplicable stuff, but again Max at his best is brilliant.

Another favorite Maxism from that book, though it has nothing to do with Martin and Gunther but does exemplify how his need to sneer can lead him into cuckoo land. At one point he refers to the album "Mel Torme Swings Shubert Alley" and inserts a jeering "sic" after "Shubert." But "Shubert," of course, is the correct spelling for the theater-owning family for whom that portion of the Manhattan theater district is named. OK, so not everyone knows that; an Englishman in particular might think that it's a typo or worse for "Schubert Alley." But if I'm going to get all snotty about something, I'm damn well going to check first that I'm right.

[Larry Kart]

Every month in the dear, departed Jazz Review, Nat Hentoff wrote a review of jazz books and periodicals. It often was a valuable guide to publications. At least as often it was Hentoff sniping at fellow critics, some of whom at least seemed to deserve it, judging from his out-of-context quotes. I don't recall that he ever had a kind or generous word about Down Beat magazine or anyone who wrote for it. That was over half a century ago.

My unreliable memory says that many years later Hentoff published something nasty about either me or The Freedom Principle, then. So he must have continued to publish nasty things about other writers too.

I remember those Hentoff "Jazz In Print" columns and agree that Nat indulged in a good deal of sniping. Circling back to Dan Morgenstern, I recall that Dan wrote a letter to the Jazz Review complaining about how cavalierly several pre-modern musicians had been treated recently in its pages -- IIRC, he was especially ticked off by a review of a Stuff Smith album by no less than bassist Chuck Israels in which the humorless Mr. Israels referred to Smith's "out-of-tune schmaltz." For his temerity, again IIRC, Dan was taken to task in high-and-mighty, "We have critical standards to uphold here" responses from both Messrs. Hentoff and Williams. That letter may have been the first piece of Dan's I saw.

[colinmce]

FWIW I hate the sort of stuffy, classical-derived, hyper-technical, hyper-critical mode of jazz criticism, but I can take it from Schuller. Maybe it's just that I like him on a personal level.

[JSngry]

And maybe because he's speaking in his native tongue when he does that. Can't always agree with the "scope" of his conclusions, but dammit, it's generally not because he doesn't have his facts straight (recent busting on the Ellington thing notwithstanding).

[Fer Urbina]

Larry Kart, Max Harrison, Dan Morgenstern, would probably be at the top for me for making me listen harder. Ira Gitler for the first-hand accounts. I also enjoyed Ethan Iverson's liner notes for Brad Mehldau's Art of the Trio boxed set.

In the liner note writer and musician category, Bob Brookmeyer can be hilarious.

The worst ever for me is Stanley Crouch on Wynton Marsalis's records, especially the early ones. Some things should be done in private.

F

Edited December 1, 2013 by Fer Urbina

[colinmce]

Crouch also stinks up notes for better artists. On Jimmy Lyons' GIVE IT UP he praises Jimmy to high heaven-- mostly for his likeness to Parker-- while simultaneously writing off the rest of the avant grade as faker bullshit. He says not word one about the other musicians on the date.

[SMB1968]

I can only mention those I have engaged: Terry Martin, John Litweiler, Larry Kart, Jim Sangrey, Chris Sheridan, Bob Porter, Michael Cuscuna, Robert Palmer, Max Harrison, Neil Tesser John Corbett, some of the artists and some short supplimentary notes by myself.

All of these folks are friends and have done fine work for my recordings.

Dan Morgenstern, another old friend, has agreed to do an essay for our Ira Sullivan issue but personal obligations might prevent this.

Otherwise I do enjoy Gitler's silly stuff and first person bop memories.

Yes, Robert Palmer. Wish he was still around.

I always cut Ira Gitler some slack because the guy was really there when it was all happening.

I've long been intrigued by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and her contributions to the annotations for MINGUS AH UM and MINGUS DYNASTY. They were romantically linked at the time?

Finally, anybody here own a copy of Tom Piazza's SETTING THE TEMPO (a liner notes anthology)? http://smile.amazon.com/Setting-Tempo-Tom-Piazza/dp/0385480008

I have Piazza's book and it is a nice quick read. 1500 word essays are perfect for bathroom reading

[paul secor]

I can only mention those I have engaged: Terry Martin, John Litweiler, Larry Kart, Jim Sangrey, Chris Sheridan, Bob Porter, Michael Cuscuna, Robert Palmer, Max Harrison, Neil Tesser John Corbett, some of the artists and some short supplimentary notes by myself.

All of these folks are friends and have done fine work for my recordings.

Dan Morgenstern, another old friend, has agreed to do an essay for our Ira Sullivan issue but personal obligations might prevent this.

Otherwise I do enjoy Gitler's silly stuff and first person bop memories.

Yes, Robert Palmer. Wish he was still around.

I always cut Ira Gitler some slack because the guy was really there when it was all happening.

I've long been intrigued by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and her contributions to the annotations for MINGUS AH UM and MINGUS DYNASTY. They were romantically linked at the time?

Finally, anybody here own a copy of Tom Piazza's SETTING THE TEMPO (a liner notes anthology)? http://smile.amazon.com/Setting-Tempo-Tom-Piazza/dp/0385480008

I have Piazza's book and it is a nice quick read. 1500 word essays are perfect for bathroom reading

A friend of mine passed a copy of Piazza's book to me. I passed it on to the local library sale.

[colinmce]

I haven't read Setting the Tempo but I have Piazza's jazz recordings guide. I keep it around because it's useful for ID'ing the contents of a lot of 80s/90s reissue packages of 20-50s jazz, but his snotty tone for anything that doesn't suit his tastes is a chore and a half. I recall a particularly ignorant passage against Cecil Taylor. It's always amazing that someone with so much knowledge and erudition can be so assured of their closemindedness.

[John Litweiler]

Larry or Lawrence Gushee has such an engaging style. He communicates very perceptive ideas and information in the most natural, graceful manner imaginable. There are a very few liner notes and a few Jazz Review pieces - there is also his book Pioneers Of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band, a marvelously detailed piece of research. He's apparently mainly interested in classical music - has anyone ever read anything he's written about classical music? I dearly wish I could write as well as he.

Figi's notes for Roscoe Mitchell's "Sound" are in Piazza's anthology of great liner notes.

Goldberg, that's a great description of Dzondria.

[Mark Stryker]

Larry or Lawrence Gushee has such an engaging style. He communicates very perceptive ideas and information in the most natural, graceful manner imaginable. There are a very few liner notes and a few Jazz Review pieces - there is also his book Pioneers Of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band, a marvelously detailed piece of research. He's apparently mainly interested in classical music - has anyone ever read anything he's written about classical music? I dearly wish I could write as well as he.

Figi's notes for Roscoe Mitchell's "Sound" are in Piazza's anthology of great liner notes.

Goldberg, that's a great description of Dzondria.

When I was an undergrad at the University of Illinois in the early '80s I took a graduate level jazz history seminar with Larry that all these years later remains one of the most profoundly influential classes in my education. Larry's classical music research was all centered on medieval music, mostly French as I recall. At one point I remember looking at a journal article or two that he had written in that field but don't recall anything specific and certainly at that point had no experience that would have allowed me to understand the context of that work, meaning or quality. But given his jazz work, I have no doubt that his other work is important. He's a terrific scholar.

[AllenLowe]

just saw Larry last month; one of the things I hope to do in the new year is help get a bibliography together of his work; he's not well and will be thrilled to know that people still remember his work.

[Teasing the Korean]

Leonard Feather always makes me laugh, especially when he tries to insert himself into the story. Very funny stuff.

[crisp]

Nomination for WORST WORST WORST- that British guy Bennie Green (I think that was his name) who did all the Pablos, I think it was. I hated those things then and I hate them now; it read like a high schooler writing a Masters Thesis after a bad motor vehicle accident that did real and recognizeable damage.

For my sins Benny Green was one of my intros to jazz. He had a very good long-running BBC radio show on the Great American Songbook and latterly a jazz show on Jazz FM. Even at the time I found him a bit prejudiced in his tastes, but he was an engaging broadcaster and could be funny as well. My preference for mainstream jazz and swing stems from his shows I expect.

I can see why someone just wanting jazz notes would be annoyed by his writing. He was a man of many interests (cricket, P.G. Wodehouse, stage musicals, George Bernard Shaw...) and would crowbar in references wherever possible. As he was a working-class Londoner with a strong Cockney accent I suspected he felt the need to prove his intelligence against the usual prejudices.

BTW he wrote the original notes for Kind of Blue (!) and actually had a tune of his recorded by Miles (!!): So Near, So Far on Seven Steps to Heaven.

My favourite liner note writers: Dan Morgenstern, Loren Schoenberg and Bob Blumenthal. I've learnt so much from their lucid, knowledgable writings.

[BillF]

Nomination for WORST WORST WORST- that British guy Bennie Green (I think that was his name) who did all the Pablos, I think it was. I hated those things then and I hate them now; it read like a high schooler writing a Masters Thesis after a bad motor vehicle accident that did real and recognizeable damage.

For my sins Benny Green was one of my intros to jazz. He had a very good long-running BBC radio show on the Great American Songbook and latterly a jazz show on Jazz FM. Even at the time I found him a bit prejudiced in his tastes, but he was an engaging broadcaster and could be funny as well. My preference for mainstream jazz and swing stems from his shows I expect.

I can see why someone just wanting jazz notes would be annoyed by his writing. He was a man of many interests (cricket, P.G. Wodehouse, stage musicals, George Bernard Shaw...) and would crowbar in references wherever possible. As he was a working-class Londoner with a strong Cockney accent I suspected he felt the need to prove his intelligence against the usual prejudices.

BTW he wrote the original notes for Kind of Blue (!) and actually had a tune of his recorded by Miles (!!): So Near, So Far on Seven Steps to Heaven.

My favourite liner note writers: Dan Morgenstern, Loren Schoenberg and Bob Blumenthal. I've learnt so much from their lucid, knowledgable writings.

I thought I'd seen "So Near, So Far" credited to the British drummer Tony Crombie, but I may be wrong. Anyway, it was obviously Victor Feldman who carried this British jazz message so far.

[crisp]

Yes, it was co-composed by Crombie and Green.

[JSngry]

I've always found Benny Green entertaining. Silly, often, but always entertaining.

I guess I'm in the minority, but Bob Blumenthal bores the H-E-Double-HELL out of me.

That Mark Gardner guy who wrote for Prestige in the late-60s/early-70s reissues (pre-Fantasy), he was another one who was always a good read. Quite often alarmist/reactionary/worried/borderline suicidal in his despair of how bad things had gotten for everybody and everything, but hell, that's entertainment right there!

[Fer Urbina]

...

That Mark Gardner guy who wrote for Prestige in the late-60s/early-70s reissues (pre-Fantasy), he was another one who was always a good read. Quite often alarmist/reactionary/worried/borderline suicidal in his despair of how bad things had gotten for everybody and everything, but hell, that's entertainment right there!

Gardner is still around, in England. He writes for Jazz Journal.

F

[fasstrack]

Leonard Feather always makes me laugh, especially when he tries to insert himself into the story. Very funny stuff.

Gene Lees made him look like an amateur when it came to that......

[Leeway]

Let me throw another name out that has not been mentioned: Scott Yanow.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Yanow has penned more than 600 liner notes for many record labels." Of course, he has done many of the reviews for the AMG.

[Larry Kart]

Speaking of Ira, I remember as a relative youngster being fascinated by his chart of influences on then-contemporary tenormen on the back of "Sonny Rollins Plus Four." I took it all as gospel, and it probably led me to check out some players that I didn't yet know that well. IIRC, Wardell Gray was one of them.

[Chuck Nessa]

Let me throw another name out that has not been mentioned: Scott Yanow.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Yanow has penned more than 600 liner notes for many record labels." Of course, he has done many of the reviews for the AMG.

Yanow was here for a minute and I think he felt insulted when I said he was a "reliable generalist". I wish he'd stayed around. He has interesting things to say about recordings for multiple decades.

[Leeway]

Let me throw another name out that has not been mentioned: Scott Yanow.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Yanow has penned more than 600 liner notes for many record labels." Of course, he has done many of the reviews for the AMG.

Yanow was here for a minute and I think he felt insulted when I said he was a "reliable generalist". I wish he'd stayed around. He has interesting things to say about recordings for multiple decades.

I think that description is quite accurate and not at all demeaning. In fact, it's a nice compliment.

[J.A.W.]

Let me throw another name out that has not been mentioned: Scott Yanow.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Yanow has penned more than 600 liner notes for many record labels." Of course, he has done many of the reviews for the AMG.

Yanow was here for a minute and I think he felt insulted when I said he was a "reliable generalist". I wish he'd stayed around. He has interesting things to say about recordings for multiple decades.

I think that description is quite accurate and not at all demeaning. In fact, it's a nice compliment.

Agreed.

[Big Beat Steve]

I like his guides on SWING and BEBOP published by Third Ear (even though I don't necessarily agree with ALL of his ratings - among those records I've heard).

Wonder why he never followed up with the others that were announced.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Big Beat Steve