Nate Hentoff's Liner Notes: Hentoff on Mingus, by Steve Siegel (Jazz Profiles)

[Elmo]

Nat Hentoff had many interests as a writer—both within and outside the music industry. He authored over 30 books as well as a myriad of articles for various magazines, newspapers and online sources. However, his 50+ year career as a writer of liner notes for records and CDs is one area of his distinguished career that, as a body of work, has been somewhat overlooked, though his over 600 sets of liner notes, written for not only jazz but for rock, blues, folk and classical albums were, collectively, among the best written and most informative of the liner note genre.

https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2021/01/hentoff-on-mingus-nat-hentoffs-liner.html?m=1

[felser]

Hentoff was an interesting guy.  Thankful for his efforts in Candid Records, who put out some gems in their small catalog, including some of my favorite Cecil Taylor and Charles Mingus and that really good Booker Ervin album.  And that's just off the top of my head.

[Ken Dryden]

I remember attending a Nat Hentoff interview one year at IAJE and it was enjoyable.

[medjuck]

3 hours ago, felser said:

Hentoff was an interesting guy.  Thankful for his efforts in Candid Records, who put out some gems in their small catalog, including some of my favorite Cecil Taylor and Charles Mingus and that really good Booker Ervin album.  And that's just off the top of my head.

Also the great record with Coleman Hawkins and Pee Wee Russell.  And he was partly responsible for "The Sound of Jazz" the greatest jazz tv show ever.  But I do remember some of his liner notes reading like they were just tossed off for the money. 

[felser]

29 minutes ago, medjuck said:

But I do remember some of his liner notes reading like they were just tossed off for the money. 

Yeah, I don't read liner notes that were written for initial contemporary releases, as they by definition lack any critical perspective (they're meant to sell albums).  I do read liner notes of historical reissues sometimes.

[Stompin at the Savoy]

1 hour ago, felser said:

Yeah, I don't read liner notes that were written for initial contemporary releases, as they by definition lack any critical perspective (they're meant to sell albums).  I do read liner notes of historical reissues sometimes.

Most contemporary releases are CDs or downloads, which by the nature of the packaging means you are unable to read the liner notes until you purchase the item (and in the case of downloads there are typically no liner notes).  If their purpose is to sell albums I'm not sure how that's supposed to work.

Oops, I guess by contemporary you meant liner notes on the original older albums.  Even then I find it hard to agree.  Liner notes are often interesting, imo.  

Edited 19 hours ago by Stompin at the Savoy

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, medjuck said:

But I do remember some of his liner notes reading like they were just tossed off for the money. 

My gut reaction is that those began to occur more frequently in the late 1960s and beyond?

[medjuck]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

My gut reaction is that those began to occur more frequently in the late 1960s and beyond?

Agreed.

[Bill Nelson]

By the late 60's, Hentoff's liners were quite Byzantine.  Not as LSD saturated as Ralph J. Gleason's.  

[felser]

4 hours ago, Stompin at the Savoy said:

 I guess by contemporary you meant liner notes on the original older albums.  

Correct.

[Big Beat Steve]

Talking about liner notes (those that were not just obvious sales blurb for a brand-new release), I think most people would he hard pressed to decide whose body of work overall was on a higher level - Nat Hentoff or Ira Gitler. 

One fact that also came to mind (without wanting to slight the achievements of Nat Hentoff in ANY waY) - I seem to have read somewhere that Hentoff probably would not have been too keen on seeing some of his early record reviews for Down Beat from the 50s being recirculated in later decades. Becauses his assessments had changed. And though I cannot name precise examples right now (I would have to re-read in detail) I remember having felt similarly when reading the early volumes of those Down Beat Record Reviews books. There were instances that left you wondering what his judgment would have been, say, 10 year later.

[jlhoots]

15 hours ago, Bill Nelson said:

By the late 60's, Hentoff's liners were quite Byzantine.  Not as LSD saturated as Ralph J. Gleason's.  

I liked both of them. 😎