Jazz Etc.

by John Murray

Meet Vince Mori, an Italian Cumbrian, and a very passionate man. Vince is obsessed with women, the clarinet, and his trad jazz band, the Chompin Stompers. His romantic son Enzo is obsessed with only one woman, his brilliant Oxford contemporary, the world-famous guitarist, Fanny Golightly. Unfortunately, single-minded Fanny only has eyes for a Portuguese musical legend caled Toto Cebola. John Murray's revelatory new novel is the ideal read for all those interested in the cosmopolitan music scene and the Eternal Triangle.

Genres: Jazz

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started very promisingly as a dark comedy that might just be a non-believer's guide to jazz. Spotify was consulted. As a lovely counterpoint to Melvyn Bragg's semi-autobiographical, Cumbrian novels that tackled the themes of social mobility in the post-war years where the son of a publican can get into Oxford via a rigorous grammar school education, Murray tackles the growing pains of a Enzo, who also gets into Oxford despite being burdened with an Italian immigrant father whose taste for schmaltzy trad might not go in his favour as he tries to woo a modern jazz genius he meets there. The book is funny but descends, like new jazz, into such avant garde characterisations of his parents' lodger and his love interest's ultimate jazzy partner, that I found myself skipping little bits just to get to the next plot point.

[E L K Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this book three stars for it's beautiful follow of jazz music and honest love to this genre which vibrates through the whole book. There is also wit, accompanied with it. But as a story surrounding it, that is rather pity. It's quite slow and in me personally does not rise any entertainment or interest. Therefore, three stars.

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The almost non-existent plot is a vehicle for interesting and authoritative meditations on the nature of jazz, great jazz musicians, and West Cumbria.Distinctive, rather heavy-handed humour, largely based on phonemic renderings of regional and foreign accented speech.