The ‘DownBeat’ Interviews

DownBeat is one of the great music fanzinesuccesses and probably the oldest-running publication of its kind. Started in1934 by devotees of the still-disreputable music called jazz, a sound deemedunworthy of serious consideration in the mainstream press, DownBeat became the most respected journal of opinion and criticismin jazz as that music grew in esteem. As jazz’s presence in popular culturereceded with the rise of rock ’n’ roll, DownBeatexpanded to encompass worthwhile artists rooted, however loosely, in jazz andblues.

Along with criticalreviews, DownBeat has always featuredinterviews with artists and articles by the artists themselves. DownBeat: The Great Jazz Interviews (HalLeonard) draws from 75 years of back issues to present a collection of words bydozens of significant jazz artists plus some important musicians from outsidethe fold. Edited by DownBeat’s FrankAlkyer and Ed Enright, the book begins with fascinating pieces on (or by) suchformative figures as Louis Armstrong and two feuding men with tall claims fortheir contributions to American music, Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy. The Great Jazz Interviews bringstogether swing-era articles on Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Artie Shaw andBenny Goodman; bebop interviews with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk andCharlie Parker; and examinations on the cool school through Miles Davis andStan Getz. The ’60s brought interviews with venturesome artists such as Sun Ra,Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane along with Jimi Hendrix.

DownBeat magazine was always supportive ofblack artists at a time when such sympathy was not a given in America. Ittended to be open to all developments. A 1954 interview with Les Paul shows themagazine was already documenting the technological shift that was changing theway music was created and consumed. The 1970s and ’80s brought fascinatingdiscussions on music with Frank Zappa and Brian Eno.

The Great Jazz Interviews is essential reading for anyone whocares deeply about music, jazz or otherwise.