Future Jazz

by Howard Mandel

Jazz has always been an experimental art form, pushing the boundaries of the mainstream, searching for the new. As Howard Mandel reveals in Future Jazz , jazz today is still reaching out in exciting new directions.
In a series of vividly drawn portraits and intimate, in-depth interviews with musicians, composers, experimenters, and club owners, Mandel captures the vitality and the passion of the modern jazz scene, from the 1970s to the present. The most successful jazz players of recent years have been the
so-called Young Lions, and Mandel includes three extensive interviews with the Lion King himself, Wynton Marsalis, who shares his philosophy of jazz and his pointed opinions on the contemporary scene. But most of the book focuses on the more experimental and avant garde trends. The book traces the
development of some of the dominant new jazz groups--talking to Lester Bowie of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and to members of the World Saxophone Quartet--and examines the work of a range of major jazz figures such as David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Joe Lovano, Geri Allen, and singer Cassandra
Wilson. And in a great departure from other jazz books, Mandel examines the powerful influence of rock on jazz. He chats with guitarist John McLaughlin, whose groundbreaking collaboration with Miles Davis set off the fusion revolution, and probes the inventive ideas of other jazz musicians with
roots in gospel, blues, and soul, such as George Benson and James "Blood" Ulmer.
Ranging from the Knitting Factory to Lincoln Center, Future Jazz is an indispensable guide to today's scene and a valuable roadmap to the music of tomorrow.

Genres: History, Jazz, Music

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 1999

Reviews

[RA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice discussion/"evaluation," at the time, looking forward to "jazz" development.

Mandel's diverse collection of interviews illustrates the depth of serious music knowledge, preparation, & delivery of a number of "different" jazz musicians; despite what the egocentric, arrogant, avant-garde curmudgeon, Wynton Marsalis, says.

Viewing it from this time period helps me appreciate (and search for the music of) various musicians I have overlooked.

[Doug Dillaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of jazz at the cusp of the century, even if it overlooks a whole swathe of the avant players in the scene - basically, it's a collection of magazine articles gussied up, and within that and its svelte size, it casts an admirably wide spread, and encouraged me to check out some musicians I knew little about (Butch Morris's "conduction" is fascinating) or had written off (Steve Coleman).

It did not, however, encourage me to check out Wynton Marsalis. What an arrogant jerk.

[Peter Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Howard Mandel attempted in this book to predict the direction that jazz might take in the future via a process of interviewing a number of musicians, seemingly randomly chosen. Some of those musicians were not jazz musicians. I found Mandels's style of writing to be irritatingly self-congratulatory and detracted from my getting the most out of this book.
On the plus side, Howard kept out of the picture much of the time and left the musicians to do most of the talking. Some of those interviewed had some interesting things to say about how they developed in music and where they felt they (and jazz) might be going. However, one musician that Mandel featured strongly and who shall be nameless was inarticulate and came across as knowledgeable about music but uneducated. Frankly, his whole contribution added little or nothing to the theme of the book and Mandel did him no favours by publishing his ramblings.
Overall. I was disappointed by this book.