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Title: Blue Note Records: A Biography by Richard Cook ISBN: 1-932112-10-3 Publisher: Justin, Charles & Co Pub. Date: May, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: cool jazz and hot licks
Comment: man this book sent me back to the age of the village gate and the 5 spot and uptown downtown scene when everybody wore a hat and smoked luckies. cool.
Rating: 5
Summary: A captivating look at the greatest jazz label of all time
Comment: I picked this book up after reading about it in Rolling Stone. They gave it a very positive review - one that I agree with. Richard Cook certainly has done a great deal of research. His dry wit brings the tale of Blue Note Records to life. This book is a must buy for anyone interested in jazz.
Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: Although this is an interesting read, it is unlikely to tell anyone with an interest in Blue Note Records anything much that they don't already know. Virtually all the material covered is available in previous books, films, sleeve notes, internet Bulletin Boards and so on that afficianados of the label would have already accessed.
In this sense it is a disappointing book. We have virtually no new information that most Blue note fans would have liked to have seen. The one area that is particularly lacking is any insight into the economics of the label. It may be that detailed copies of sales data might not exist (or do they?). Alas, Cook does not make any attempt to find out - or if he did, he doesn't report his efforts. As a result we have no idea as to what sort of sales constituted a good seller, what sort of sales led to a record ending up in the black, which artists made good sales and so on.
This is more than prurient interest to the collector (presumably a major chunk of the potential market for this book). Collectors are aware that re-releases from the catalogue, although not wholly dominated by sales potential, are nevertheless strongly influenced by them. Knowledge of historic sales data would allow the collector to judge just how rare some item is, and whether it is likely to be re-released in the future.
Another area which disappoints is knowledge of the sociology and politics of the label. It is widely touted that Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff had pretty progressive views on race and race relations during a turbulent period in US history in this respect. Personally, I would have liked to see this issue explored in much more depth. Is the propoganda of the label accurate? How did Blue Note stand in terms of race relations? Was there an artistic agenda to further the cause of civil rights in the 50s and 60s?
Lastly, many of the giants and the not-so-well known side men and journey men that produced the famous sound of Blue Note were at the time the book was being written still alive and well. Alas, those ranks are ever decreasing in number. It is a pity that we do not have more information from the musicians themselves about the label and its people. Cook had a remarkable opportunity to draw on these wonderful artists, probably the last chronicler of Blue Note to have the chance of doing so. That he failed to extensively draw on the insights of the Blue Note artists of the golden age of the label is a particular disappointment.
Having said this, the book is a good read and will certianly give someone new to Blue Note the flavour of the label behind the marvellous music. If they become a fan, however, their knowledge will quickly run ahead of this book and they will be seeking a more definitive account of Blue Note records.
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Title: Blue Note: Album Cover Art by Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham, Glyn Collingham ISBN: 0811836886 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on Cd (Penguin Guide to Jazz on Cd, 6th Ed) by Richard Cook, Brian Morton ISBN: 0140515216 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album by Ashley Kahn, Elvin Jones ISBN: 0670031364 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 24 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Cookin': Hard Bop and Soul Jazz, 1954-65 by Kenny Mathieson ISBN: 1841952397 Publisher: Canongate Books Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Blue Note : Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff by Michael Cuscuna, Charlie Lourie, Francis Wolff, Oscar Schnider ISBN: 0789304937 Publisher: Universe Books Pub. Date: 04 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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