Curious Listener's Guide
Loren Schoenberg
Grand Central Press
ISBN 0-399-52794-X
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The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz
By Jim Nelson
National Public Radio evokes a bounty of strong emotions in
the United States. Some loathe the idea of publicly funded media
while others champion NPR as the last bastion of sensational-free
news and culture. One thing is clear: NPR has been a radio safe
haven for jazz lovers. Unless you live in a major metropolitan
market (and even that's no guarantee), chances are you'll find
small potatoes searching the dial for great jazz—unless
you hit an NPR signal.
Thus, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz
receives an imprimatur of authenticity through association alone.
Even the title suggests this is a different introductory book,
not one for dummies but curious—and intelligent—readers.
Tenor saxophonist and instructor Loren Schoenberg attacks the
subject with economy and thoughtfulness, avoid the usual in-fighting and quagmires associated with jazz's narrative and meta-narrative. That's not to say it's not colored with his own
biases, such as the section titled "Con-fusion." And he does
slip into jargon on more than one occasion: "There is an
intersection between composition and improvisation that depends
on the soloist's ability to create within the construct designed
by the composer/arranger." Does this help a curious listener
comprehend jazz?
Still, Schoenberg's simplified history and deconstruction
(his word) of jazz will carry a curious listener far. Even
better are his chapters suggesting artists, tracks, and albums to
launch from. Every era and a player of every stripe is
represented. The explanatory notes are generally clearer than
the history chapters (although a novice will trip once or twice
here too). Sure, die-hard fans will think of some song, album,
or player not listed, but given space requirements, Schoenberg
can be forgiven. If anything, he should be commended for
stretching out and finding a starting point for every curious
listener out there. My only complaint: songs are listed
separately, and it would help if the songs could be associated
with an album or collection, just to push an excited reader off
in the right direction. It's a small consideration for an
otherwise modest—and handy—book.
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