This a strangely beautiful book. Genre-defying gem of fiction. The only way one can describe this book is to say that it is the jazz version of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. It is a beautiful gem.
In eight poetically charged vignettes, the author skillfully interweaves fiction and non-fictional tales about some of the greatest fathers of jazz. Using photos, anecdotes and previously published articles, he delves into the music that captured the lives of these great artists.
The book is a great reawakening as it reminds you of some of the poignant sounds of these artists. No way is your playlist going to remain the same after you read this gem of a book. Long before I finished the book, Almost Blue and Round Midnight were high on rotation in my devices.
My favourite chapters were those on Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus but all eight chapters were beautifully written. It is impossible to escape the toll that racial discrimination, drugs and alcohol took on these men.
It paints a beautifully tragic landscape. The damage wrought on jazz musicians was such that you wonder if there is something else, something in the art form itself which exerts a terrible toll from those who create it. Highly recommended read.
4/5
