A short sharp and brilliant novella written by Dorothy Baker in 1938. Often called the first jazz novel, it is loosely based off the life of Bix Beiderbecke, a white trumpeter who generally played with black bands, in this era of Jim Crow, and who died young of alcoholism. Baker nailed the 1920s era, where swing was still just starting to take root, and dance bands were emerging, but then there was jazz, for those who preferred to actually listen to the music.
Lady knows her stuff. Here is her presentation of the differing styles of jazz in the late 1920s – Memphis and New Orleans. Memphis style is sometimes called “take your turn” and New Orleans has everyone in at the same time. In Memphis, the theme is established in the first chorus, then each man gets a separate crack at a variation on it. This system has the advantage of encouraging completion in virtuosity.
With New Orleans, Here they all were in on it from start to finish. Each man went his own separate and uncharted way and first thing you knew you had two and two equaling at least five. They achieved, you could never say how, a highly involved counterpoint. No accident either, because they did it on tune after tune and never the same way twice. A good example of the Memphis style would be Benny Goodman’s Sing Sing Sing, while New Orleans would be Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting by Charles Mingus. I never heard the styles differentiated in this way, and found it fascinating.
The story is well written even though predictable, but the writing about the music is sublime. Baker only wrote a very few novellas, but curiously enough her last one was Cassandra at the Wedding.
