Having no access to high culture at all and being from a lower middle class household from India, I knew nothing about the gentleman. Then, I came across this article. Surely if any article deserves the award, it is this, it is this, it is this.
Thank you for what you do Ted. Since the pandemic affected all of us, most music reviewers have been laid off in India also, but you dear sir, are literally forcing one of them to get back to work.
Like you, I adore Balliett, and have spent much of the last 30 years reading and re-reading him. I have come to believe over time that the second half of his profiles, when he would step back and the reader would get long paragraphs of the musician's thoughts, were more Balliett than the musician. At the very least, they're what the musician had to say as filtered through Balliett's sensibility. So in the long run, I think he less discovered and investigated a world, and more built one.
Wonderful. My teenage library experience must have been identical to yours. Yes, I read all the jazz books, but as I also love literature, Balliett was special.
By all means, Kate, read Balliett's profile of Dave McKenna, which has numerous references to the Cape. It's in American Musicians.
Ted, thanks for your deep and knowing appreciation of Whitney. I met him a couple of times and shot the breeze with him at a McKenna gig at Bradley's in 1977.
Truly an essay worthy of its subject, infused with your affection and regard for Balliett's work. Wonderful to see the well-deserved recognition by the ASCAP Foundation with the Virgil Thomson award. Congratulations!
Ted, very interesting, insightful piece. Cheers. I, too, grew up on Whitney, as my father was a die-hard New Yorker reader, and I later tried to copy his poetic style when 'learning on the job' at the Los Angeles Times. But when the great Bill Holman, himself a New Yorker reader, told me he didn't understand what I meant when I wrote that some chords he had written for his band "were like Monet's sunsets," I stopped that approach. Leave that for Whitney. I met him once, at the Ojai Festivals, where his pal Gene Lees had encouraged his attendance. I sat behind him, told him I was huge fan, that I wanted to write like him, and, as I recall, he merely nodded. I went on my way properly subdued. Thanks again.
This is excellent! I feel so many connections to it. I recall interviewing Dorothy Donegan. Etc etc. Can’t praise this enough. So deserving. Bravissimo !
Having no access to high culture at all and being from a lower middle class household from India, I knew nothing about the gentleman. Then, I came across this article. Surely if any article deserves the award, it is this, it is this, it is this.
Thank you for what you do Ted. Since the pandemic affected all of us, most music reviewers have been laid off in India also, but you dear sir, are literally forcing one of them to get back to work.
Thank you.
Like you, I adore Balliett, and have spent much of the last 30 years reading and re-reading him. I have come to believe over time that the second half of his profiles, when he would step back and the reader would get long paragraphs of the musician's thoughts, were more Balliett than the musician. At the very least, they're what the musician had to say as filtered through Balliett's sensibility. So in the long run, I think he less discovered and investigated a world, and more built one.
Timely piece, considering the homage to New Yorker writers that is now playing in theatres. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful. My teenage library experience must have been identical to yours. Yes, I read all the jazz books, but as I also love literature, Balliett was special.
By all means, Kate, read Balliett's profile of Dave McKenna, which has numerous references to the Cape. It's in American Musicians.
Ted, thanks for your deep and knowing appreciation of Whitney. I met him a couple of times and shot the breeze with him at a McKenna gig at Bradley's in 1977.
Truly an essay worthy of its subject, infused with your affection and regard for Balliett's work. Wonderful to see the well-deserved recognition by the ASCAP Foundation with the Virgil Thomson award. Congratulations!
Gratifying read. Which book would you recommend for a Balliet newbie? Are his New Yorker essays compiled anywhere?
Ted, very interesting, insightful piece. Cheers. I, too, grew up on Whitney, as my father was a die-hard New Yorker reader, and I later tried to copy his poetic style when 'learning on the job' at the Los Angeles Times. But when the great Bill Holman, himself a New Yorker reader, told me he didn't understand what I meant when I wrote that some chords he had written for his band "were like Monet's sunsets," I stopped that approach. Leave that for Whitney. I met him once, at the Ojai Festivals, where his pal Gene Lees had encouraged his attendance. I sat behind him, told him I was huge fan, that I wanted to write like him, and, as I recall, he merely nodded. I went on my way properly subdued. Thanks again.
This is excellent! I feel so many connections to it. I recall interviewing Dorothy Donegan. Etc etc. Can’t praise this enough. So deserving. Bravissimo !
Congrats, Ted. This is my favorite post.
Well done, a great read!