Weird Music That Goes on Forever
A Punk’s Guide to Loving Jazz
Bob Suren, Illustrated by Brian Walsby
Microcosm Publishing
I was a punk before you were a punk. My introduction to punk was from 1970s college radio and pre-MTV late-night weird TV video shows like Peter Ivers’ New Wave Theatre. In my insular world, jazz was for chain-smoking old guys with dark glasses and shiny suits. Punks rarely bathed, and most could barely play, or so it sounded. But time heals all, and now both punk and jazz are remnants of a bygone century, replaced by hip hop and pretty female vocalists. This rather condensed book (250 pages of 4” x 6” newsprint) does a lot to reveal the similarities in punk and jazz. Besides the obvious dislike by various layers of adult authority, both genres rely upon tricky drumming, prefer dissonance to harmony, and are a force pushing against social norms.
After reading a mere 50 well-written pages, I now see more clearly between these apparently dissonant styles. The term “jazz” likely derived from the West African slang for sex, while “punk,” for all its bluster, comes from a term for a prostitute (Simon The Olde Kinge, ~1575). But beyond this handy etymology, this is a book aimed at over-30 artists from both genres. It looks at the musicians’ dynamics, reception, and impact. Each band offers a quiet “thank you for your complete indifference.” Each artist’s writeup includes a list of critical tunes and a few pithy quotes and a cartoonish sketch of each of the musicians, mostly male.
I’m still not a jazz fan, but I do understand my tastes are not yours. Perhaps I’ll come around. About ten or fifteen years ago I agreed to review a ten-disc collection of top RCA jazz artists. I accepted the gig because, while I was not a jazz fan, I needed to understand WHY I was not a fan. While that question was never cleared up in my mind, I did get a reputation as “the guy that reviews jazz.” It took a few emails to clear this us, but it did make me force myself to be more intersectional. I talked to many of the musicians and publicists, they thanked me for at least giving the music a fair listen.
I feel this book might make me re-revise my earlier material, if I can find it. But even if you’re not a fan of either genre, this book is an informative and fun read. The stories are fun and peppy, and maybe, just maybe, I should spend more time on a jazz channel. After all, the tiny house videos are getting repetitive.
