Book review: Sam Emony (Neil Hughes) - The Old Familiar Places.

It's been said that the great jazz novel, like the great jazz movie, has yet to be written/made and that is probably true. However, The Old Familiar Places comes pretty close in the former category and would be a deserving contender in the latter if some movie maker picked up on it. It certainly equals, maybe surpasses, anything from this side of the Atlantic.

The story of Sonny Jackson, a Manchester based teenage pianist who meets and gets taken under the wing (and elsewhere!) of the rich widow of a trumpet playing one hit wonder songwriter, is one of those compelling can't put down books.

Sonny jams with Charlie Watts and Syd Lawrence  after the funeral and from there on in it's a roller-coaster ride of love, success, setbacks and tragedy in various permutations.

Sonny, named by his dysfunctional father after Sonny Clark's Blue Note album, Dial S For Sonny,  has a variety of relationships all of which relate in one way or another to his ever increasing ability.

It's funny, it's sad, it's a good thing, or it's bad to misquote a line from Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen's But Beautiful which also happens to be the title of one of the chapters. In fact, all of the 67 (short) chapters are song titled.

The timeline runs from 1975 to the present as our hero deals with his ups and downs. There are lots of tears, perhaps too many and the downs are overcome perhaps too quickly apart from the main one which I won't reveal.

Names such as Tommy Flanagan and Donald Byrd have cameo roles but the important thing is how well the author has created characters we love, or hate, but most importantly, understand.

I've got a feeling I'll be reading this over and over again even though I know the ending. Lance

The book will be launched upstairs at Ronnie's on Feb. 22. DETAILS.

Sam Emony: The Old Familiar Places. Brown Dog Books ISBN 978-1-83952-505-6.