Like most of the songs on the radio these days, most of the books about music that land prime placement are pure fluff. This season’s most hyped tomes include Kurt Cobain’s Journals (an ethically questionable release) and Bill Wyman’s tales of life as a Rolling Stone. But there are books out that provide history, analysis, and cultural context. You just have to look.
(Times Books/Henry Holt)
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
But Ratliff’s use of the telling detail to convey a larger point is illuminating even if you disagree with his judgments: instead of writing generalized portraits of chosen artists and albums, he begins his discussion of each individual’s career with a close-up, then pulls back to reveal more–his essay on Count Basie’s The Complete Atomic Basie expands from a close analysis of the pianist’s style to describe how Basie inadvertently created a musical blueprint for high school and college big bands to come. Ratliff also excels at connecting the dots, tracing an unexpected common thread from Dave Brubeck to Cecil Taylor and uncovering stylistic affinities between the Mahavishnu Orchestra and current metal bands Candiria and the Dillinger Escape Plan. His musical analysis is smart yet accessible, and he writes with disarming directness. A good introduction for the jazz novice that will also inform and provoke connoisseurs.
Edited by Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor
Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade
Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia
