"Uncompromising Expressions" - the Blue Note book

[felser]

Got it as a Christmas present. The album reviews are weak, but the history seems quite readable and interesting, and the pictures/graphics/layout are gorgeous. Well worth it if you are into the label (and who among us here wouldn't be?).

[Homefromtheforest]

Hey me too! My wife bought it for me after I gave her a not-so-subtle hint a month ago

I like it...I actually find it a bit more entertaining then the rather dry Richard Cook book...

[felser]

I actually find it a bit more entertaining then the rather dry Richard Cook book...

Me too. I agree with your assessment of the Cook book.

[Big Beat Steve]

The album reviews are weak

In what way?

Stating the obvious?

Written by the superficial for the clueless or newbies who may just have heard of Norah Jones?

Or ... ?

Just wondering (in an attempt to understand) ...

[felser]

At times very shallow, written as if you've never heard of the artist, and at times just seem "odd" to me. Writer says that some folks really like 'Blue Train' but others really don't but he really does. Okay. Writer claims that Cannonball Adderley's 'Somethin Else' was a dry run for 'Kind of Blue'. Hmmm. Not toally useless, but well below the reviews from Coda, Cadence, or prime time Down Beat.

[Rooster_Ties]

Is there much mention of any 60's names like Andrew Hill, Grachan Moncur, Sam Rivers, etc?

I remember a number of less well-known BN guys, to say nothing of the likes of Tyrone Washington and Eddie Gale, etc... -- getting short shrift in the Cook book.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Rooster_Ties

[felser]

Is there much mention of any 60's names like Andrew Hill, Grachan Moncur, Sam Rivers, etc?

I remember a number of less well-known BN guys, to say nothing of the likes of Tyrone Washington and Eddie Gale, etc... -- getting short shrift in the Cook book.

Hill. Moncur. and Rivers are discussed a good bit, especially Hill. Washington and Gale are not mentioned at all. The history seems very breezy - not a lot of background. The book is worth the $51 to me because of the artwork, not the text.

[Big Beat Steve]

At times very shallow, written as if you've never heard of the artist, and at times just seem "odd" to me. Writer says that some folks really like 'Blue Train' but others really don't but he really does. Okay. Writer claims that Cannonball Adderley's 'Somethin Else' was a dry run for 'Kind of Blue'. Hmmm. Not toally useless, but well below the reviews from Coda, Cadence, or prime time Down Beat.

Thanks for that explanation.

I wonder if this is a problem of the way Richard Havers does his books (that may actually be aimed at newcomers to some extent). A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to the "Verve - The Sound of America" book by the same Richard Havers and am also very much impressed by the pictures/graphics/facismiles/artwork. The texts do seem to sum up the history behind Norman Granz and the label nicely within the space confines available (though I am far from a JATP expert to be able to vouch for the accuray of the dates he rattles off). But some of the texts do strike me like being written to non-collectors too. Wonder what others who have both books would have to say by way of comparison ...

One related question: How about the photographic substance of the early years of BN (40s) in that book?

I hope Richard Havers does not AGAIN milk the Library of Congress source of William Gottlieb's c.1947 jazz photographs until it's about bone dry? These pictures ARE great and I have dug deeply into that LOC website some years ago and marveled at what there is but it can become tedious if you start seeing them everywhere instead of other source material (that MUST be out there). Havers seems to be fond of milking that Gottlieb LOC source (apart from the Verve book, see for ex. his "Jazz - The Golden Era" book which is OK for the price it usually retails at and obviously is intended as an introduction, but illustrating several decades of jazz with mainly 1947 "period" photographs does wear thin after a while).

[felser]

In the photo credits at the back, there are a lot of LOC credits for pages 53-88, so you may be correct. Others who have the book may be much more qualified to discuss the sources of the photos from that era.