Book Review: Jazz. New York in the Roaring Twenties by Robert Nippoldt and Hans-Jurgen Schaal

"A feast for the connoisseur, an appetizer for the novice" - so wrote DIE ZETT, Hamburg. This German book also won a European Design Award as The Most Beautiful Book in Germany and deservedly so.

A 144 pages 340 mm x 220 mm hardback, it lives up to the above descriptions and more.The text by Hans-Jurgen Schaal may not offer any startling new insights into New York's jazz scene in the "Roaring Twenties" but he writes attractively with lots of anecdotes that paint pictures of the 24 subjects not just as musicians but as persons - or should I say personalities because they certainly were!

Jelly Roll Morton - "He behaved like a million dollar gangster and scared the hell out of people".

Fats Waller: "Six hamburgers and twelve bottles of beer were what he considered a snack"

Original Dixieland Jazz Band: "They quickly changed the word 'jass' to 'jazz' because smart alecs always scratched the initial J off the record labels."

Coleman Hawkins: "On numerous occasions his style of driving cost him his licence!"

And many others....

But for once, this is a book where the words are almost secondary to the illustrations of  Robert Nippoldt.

Many, if not all of the sketches, originated as photographs of leading figures of the era as well as clubs, a phonograph, a 78rpm record label and a cornet.

A recording session by The Wolverines, the Cotton Club frontage with the gangster style vehicles outside, Chick Webb, Manhattan are just some of the drawings that enhance just about every page.

This is much more than a coffee table tome although no coffee table should be without it. It's a volume to read and reread whilst savouring the Art of Robert Nippoldt.
Oh yes, and if that isn't enough, there's a 20 track CD that comes with it giving audio reference to text and illustration. Some of the tracks are quite obscure and none the worse for that.
Get your order in to Santa Claus at once. On second thoughts don't - Xmas is too long to wait. Get it now!.
Lance.
Jazz. New York in the Roaring Twenties by Robert Nippoldt and Hans-Jurgen Schaal. Published by Taschen.