Excellent overview - nitpickers need not apply

books:


	• The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records Ashley Kahn W. W. Norton, 2006 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent overview - nitpickers need not apply

I'm glad someone came out with a behind the scenes look at Bob Thiele & Co. since I had not known much about him or read his book "What A Wonderful World" that came out a few years back.

The pictures of Van Gelder's studio are beyond words and some of the mini-reviews have inspired me to check out the likes of artists such as Sam Rivers, Pharaoh Sanders and Alice Coltrane. Even if it lacks any in-depth information about them, it gave me a taste for further investigation.

I guess if you are looking for a musical theory book, or a tome on race relations & guilt trips from the 1960s, then this book isn't for you. True, the music matters, but this is about a specific record label, not just any specific artists that were on it. Do a Google search and you will find plenty of other books out there about that.

Besides, if it weren't for the likes of "head white men in charge" (as another reviewer contemptuously put it) like Bob Thiele or Creed Taylor, Impulse would never have happened in the first place.

I consider it a valuable book for a newcomer who wants to be introduced to the subject.

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The House That Thiele Built

Blue Note gets all the hype about jazz labels, but this book makes the convincing case that Impulse was every bit as influential in its recordings as that that other legendary jazz house. Coltrane, and the musicians around him, such as Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Alice Coltrane, were the bedrock of the Impulse label, and still are 45 years later. In more than 300 titles issued in its heyday of the '60s, Impulse built a library of timeless classics. Some big Impulse stars back then don't get their due today: Gabor Szabo, Pharoah Sanders and Gato Barbieri, to name three. But some of their Impulse titles are still available and worth looking for. This book centers on the producers: Bob Thiele, Creed Taylor, Ed Michel, Steve Backer and Michael Cuscuna, as architects of the label, but there are more than 30 two-page album profiles and ample interviews with many of the musicians. GRP did a great job reissuing Impulse titles a few years back when it owned the label. Jazz is primarily a reissue proposition today. But this book takes you back to when new jazz records had people talking. It's a fun nostalgia trip.

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No jazz library would be complete

This is the 45th anniversary of the Impulse record label, and to mark the occasion is a powerful review THE HOUSE THAT TRANE BUILT: THE STORY OF IMPULSE RECORDS - which is, concurrently, a story of the roots of jazz recording. Paired with a 10 'best of Impulse' cd collection plus a 4-cd companion to the book, THE HOUSE THAT TRANE BUILT has also become a radio program and provides a close analysis of the relationship between jazz great John Coltrane and Impulse Records. Nearly two decades of artistic creation are chronicled from marketing wins and insider experiences - derived from interviews with over fifty musicians, industry executives and producers - to other powerful artists and recordings to evolve from the Impulse record label. In its heyday Impulse fostered new technologies, new sounds, and new artists: no jazz library would be complete without THE HOUSE THAT TRANE BUILT, which shows how all this was achieved.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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Kahn delivers the jazz goods again

Having read the other two jazz books by Ashley Kahn," Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece" and " A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album ," I was eager to read his keen insights into Impulse Records. The way he titled it further inticed me as I am a big John Coltrane fan, going back to when the master was alive and I was just a pup. I'm listening to one of those beautiful Impulse records as I write, it is gorgeous in presentation, an aqua blue cover, rendering a shadowy image of Trane blowing and simply entitled Coltrane. The CD release is nowhere as awesome as the original 1962 recording version on Lp but that is another story. The point is, Ashley Kahn demosnstrates in his book, that the people who ran Impulse were masterminds in presenting their records and artists to the public. The album covers were works of art, matching the virtuosity of Trane and the artists that followed. The book begins slowly, almost to most of boring, with background information on Creed Taylor the man behind the signature look and artists of Impulse. Here the author covers the early artists like Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn and Oliver Nelson. When Bob Thiele is introduced in the book it gets more interesting . Enter John Coltrane and the book has any jazz fan captivated at this point. He relies heavily on John Coltrane information, which is just fine. Give credit where credit is due. With the inclusion of Rudy Van Gelder, the engineer responsible for creating the magic in his New Jersey studios and you've got history unveiling itself. Although the author gives full credit to Trane as being the foundation and reponsible for the success of Impulse, he also gives credit to others. He details the contributions of the other artists, the former Trane protege and star in his own right, Pharoah Sanders Tauhid, Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo Spellbinder, wife of John Coltrane and bearer of the Trane legacy Alice Coltrane The Impulse Story and sax legends Sonny Rollins Sonny Rollins on Impulse!, Gato Barbieri, The Impulse Story, Albert Ayler, The Impulse Story and Archie Shepp Four for Trane, amongst others. One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the details revealed about certain recordings. Ashley Kahn takes a particular album like the collaborative John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, highlights the two pages in grey and delves into a sidebar that just deals with aspects surrounding the recording. This is pretty cool as it breaks up the reading but more importantly sheds some light on little known aspects of the recording. teh author takes the mundane business world of records and sprinkles enough tid bits to keep the readers interest. Mr. Kahn supplements his readers knowledge with original thought , artwork of covers, offbeat releases, newsclips from various newspapers, excellent photographs, copies of letters, notes, musical notation and the poem for Trane's remarkable suite A Love Supreme. The book is meticulously written but not overbearing. Included is a complete discography of Impulse Records from 1961-1977, discus personae(who's who), bibliography and source notes. If you are a jazz lover you will enjoy this book. Recommended for jazz aficionados, people who love the records of Impulse and John Coltrane's contribution to music. The slogan for Impulse was " The New Wave of Jazz is on Impulse." It is never too late to catch the wave, check it out.

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reviews: page 1, 2

The dynamic fifteen-year saga of the enduringly popular jazz record label guided by legendary saxophonist John Coltrane.

Following the path of its star musician John Coltrane, Impulse Records cut a creative swath through the 1960s and 1970s with the politically charged avant-garde jazz that defined the label's musical and spiritual identity. The House That Trane Built tells the story of the label, balancing tales of individual passion, artistic vision, and commercial motivation. Weaving together research, dynamic album covers, session photographs, and nearly one hundred interviews with executives, journalists, producers, and musicians?from Ray Charles and Alice Coltrane to Quincy Jones, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, and others?this is the riveting tale of an era-shaping jazz label in the age of rock. The thirty-eight Album Profiles?a veritable book within a book?offer a consumer's guide to the best and most timeless titles on Impulse. 120 illustrations.

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