Blue: The Murder of Jazz. 1997. St. Martin's Press, New York, NY. 262 pp.

Nisenson, Eric. Blue: The Murder of Jazz. 1997. St. Martin's Press, New York, NY. 262 pp.

An interesting complement to Norman Lebrecht's Who Killed Classical Music?, Eric Nisenson's Blue: The Murder of Jazz not only focuses on a different musical genre, but it also comes at its subject from a different from a different perspective. While Lebrecht examines the problems in classical music in terms of the music business, Nisenson is more interested in what he takes to be a crisis in jazz as musical form. For Nisenson, jazz has lost its vitality, and is being choked to death by artists who are not moving the music forward, but rather stifling it and slowly choking it to death.

As jazz fans might guess after pondering that thesis, Nisenson is no big fan of Wynton Marsalis, but to his credit, Nisenson does not engage in mere Marsalis-bashing. Taking a much less gossipy tone than Lebrecht, Nisenson carefully lays out his case by taking a close look at the music and musicians themselves rather than at the managers and politics involved in the business of jazz.

Even if you are much more cheerful about the current state of jazz than is the author, you will doubtless find his book an informed and readable account of where jazz has come from and where it stands today. You may not find ourself agreeing with all of his opinions, but you will be impressed that he has attempted to support those opinions with argument and evidence, rather than merely making assertions. You will also be impressed by Nisenson's sheer love for the music; indeed, one of the great things about Blue is that reading it makes you want to listen to some good jazz. That's a good thing, I think, and it certainly makes this book recommendable to jazz lovers.-- KWN