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Rating: 
Summary: Essential !
Review: Kofsky has filled a serious gap in Jazz criticism with this exciting book. This book helps understand some of the processes that took place in Jazz since the 40's, with an emphasis on the sixties. The book never pretends to be "purely objective", as if there is such a thing. Kofsky holds Marxist views and is not ashamed to express them. He does not say that the musicians he discusses necessarily share his views, but he does try to prove that their condition validates his theories. Kofsky is furious at those who control the business of jazz for preventing some the most creative artists from getting the exposure they deserve. He believes that the creative forces in jazz have always responded to the oppression blacks, and especially black musicians, have had to endure. He criticizing jazz critics for ignoring the social aspects of the music and for being unable to understand some of the basic processes in Jazz. He credits Amiri Baraka for his valuable contribution to the understanding of the music. The book is never a substitute for the music itself - no book ever is. Still, I am now reading it for the second time, appreciating it even more, and finding new insights into the art of some of my favorite musicians.
Rating: 
Summary: Skewed perspective on the avante garde
Review: Let's give Kofsky some credit for writing this book. There were then (mid-'60s) and are now precious few serious analyses of avant garde jazz. Kofsky's book is nothing if not serious, and therein lies one of its many flaws. Its overbearing, scholarly tone draws all the passion out of the music, thereby defeating its presumed purpose: to draw attention to great American music. A more serious defect is its avowedly Marxist analysis. Kofsky is so intent on advancing his thesis -- that black musicians and their music were being strangled in the '60s by a capitalist economy -- that he neglects to listen to his own sources, most notably John Coltrane, who refuse to confirm his thesis, no matter how many leading questions Kofsky asks. Speaking of Coltrane, Kofsky's adamant love for the great musician permeates nearly every sentence in the book. Unfortunately, in focusing so intently on Coltrane's contributions -- which were undeniable -- he slights egregiously numerous other major contributors to the music of the era. For example, Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman get rather short shrift from Kofsky. This shortcoming is worsened by Kofsky's corresponding attention to lesser lights such as Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler: good musicians, but not deserving, in my opinion, of extended analysis. Worst of all, Kofsky treats the avant garde as if it existed in a vacuum. After all, the mid-'60s abounded with terrific players and composers who may not have satisfied Kofsky's radical litmus test, but who contributed mightily to the big universe that is jazz: Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Roland Kirk, Lee Morgan...Charles Mingus, for crying out loud! (By the way, don't look for Miles Davis's name very often in the book either.) There's a rule of thumb that every freshman composition student worth his or her salt learns: never let your thesis get in the way of gathering evidence. Kofsky's book is a classic of deductive reasoning gone bad: he formulated his thesis and then let nothing, and I mean nothing, get in the way of proving it.
Rating: 
Summary: good info and stories--could do without the rhetoric
Review: Several great first person stories about some of the new Jazz greats--esp. Coltrane. Personally I am sympathetic with the politics of the book, but the language seems very stilted and dated at times. Great critique of the white dominated music business and critical intillectual snobbery.
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