The Jazz Master

by Devashish

In this evoca­tive and enter­tain­ing fic­tional mem­oir, nineteen-year-old Dan Hen­nessey takes us on a jour­ney to the epi­cen­ter of the beat move­ment — San Fran­cisco 1956, the year of Howl and The Dharma Bums. As he gets swept up in the fer­vor of the San Fran­cisco Renais­sance, he meets cul­tural icons such as Allen Gins­berg and Jack Ker­ouac, and spir­i­tual fig­ures like Alan Watts and Jiddu Krish­na­murti, each of whom serves as a cat­a­lyst for his awak­en­ing. But the man who becomes his spir­i­tual and musi­cal men­tor, the man the poet Gary Sny­der called the jazz mas­ter, is a tenor sax­o­phon­ist, ex-Zen monk who teaches him Zen through the art of jazz. Filled with reflec­tions on art, soci­ety, and spir­i­tual life, The Jazz Mas­ter is both a tale of spir­i­tual awak­en­ing and a por­trait of a unique and col­or­ful era that paved the way for the rev­o­lu­tion­ary changes of the six­ties and seventies.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2014

About the author

Devashish is the author of six novels and two works of non-fiction that explore themes of spiritual growth and social change. He is an avid meditator, a yoga teacher, and a musician who divides his time between Puerto Rico and Brazil.

Reviews

[Giles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really engaging slightly fictionalised (some names changed) memoir of a spiritual odyssey as seen through the events of the late 1950s beat poetry, jazz and Zen scene in California.
I would highly recommend for anyone who is interested in jazz, poetry, spirituality and out of the box thinking. Well written and offering deep explorations of what it means to be spontaneous and to find liberation both psychologically and spiritually.

[Kerfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, wandering through it at a leisurely pace, which seemed to fit the zen-infused story. It certainly reads as a real memoir, rather than a novel. Using actual people like Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and Alan Watts adds to the effect, but I also tried to google the narrator's friend Diana-the-poet, only to realize quickly that she was as fictional as Dan himself. So it's well done.

The Zen ideas Devashish sprinkles into the narrative are not new to mainstream thought in 2014, but they arise pretty naturally from the interactions between the characters. I know these concepts, I've heard them stated before in many different ways. Yet the appeal lingers.

Of course, a person with family obligations, someone scrambling to pay the electric and phone bills and the rent, can't drop everything for hours at a time to sit zazen. Still: a gentle reminder to turn off the constant digital chatter, quiet the mind every once in awhile, and remove some of the clutter inside and out, is always welcome.

Elijah is a great character and I'm looking forward to meeting him again in part two of this trilogy.

[Daniela Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because there is no form without the void: The Jazz Master begins with an encounter between a young musician and the man who will become his mentor in the Way of Jazz, an encounter which is also the beginning of a deeper orientation to life. As the narrative unfolds, we unfold with it, opening our consciousness to the presence of the void. In the movement of the music, we become aware of the construction of a meta-narrative that becomes alive through the act of reading. As I read, I also move, just as the protagonist does, between heaven and earth, in the presence of a pulsating narrative that inhabits the space between Jazz and Zen. Form — word, phrase, narrative, story, book, literature — that does not limit but makes room for that which is beyond form.

[Sara Giita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The prose is clean and the story really drew me in. Just reading it inspired me to slow down and find the stillness. As a musician, I enjoyed the philosophizing about the muses, "Big mind" and the origin of creative works.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very entertaining and spiritually and culturally educating. I especially enjoyed the interaction with real life persons like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Alan Watts and Jiddu Krishnamurti. I can't wait for the sequel..

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zen and.......

A magical book that uses jazz as a vehicle to achieve......
For me, a primary lesson is the significance of practice

[MsFolio * · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF