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Big Ears : Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies by Nichole T. Rustin and Sherrie Tucker, eds. Duke University Press, 460pp, 2008
I once heard Harry James say, "There's only two types of music: good and bad." While no one can truthfully claim to have originated that quip, it over-simplifies music in general and jazz in particular. Being a complex art, jazz lends itself to all sorts of analysis and this can often be more than whether we like the playing or not. If you've ever swapped gossip about a player then you must agree with me here. So this is a book for you, whether you think so or not.
Despite the nowhere title, this collection of writings has much to offer. A compendium, as with all various artist CDs, will not consistently delight. But if Stanley Dance and Helen Oakley were to produce another book today, it might be something like Big Ears, although they'd certainly call it something more appealing.
The writers pull back the curtains to reveal sexism in the jazz marketplace. This in itself isn't news but many of the details will be.
Jeffrey Taylor's research into Lovie Austin...