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This Is: Essays on Jazz
With an ear for the overlooked, Aaron Gilbreath chronicles the forgotten corners of the mid-century jazz scene. Shadowing the greats from Sonny Clark to John Coltrane, Gilbreath traces the tragedy of saxophonist Hank Mobley, unearths the story of self-exiled pianist Jutta Hipp, and pauses on the meaning of heroin for trumpeter Lee Morgan. He also revisits a few standards, like The Connection, an influential film with its own take on drugs and sobriety; the ten-year evolution of Miles Davis' "So What"; and the impact of record labels' vault archives. This Essays on Jazz celebrates the joy, genius and struggle of jazz, in essays both intimate and deeply researched.
198 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2017
9 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Gilbreath
9 books37 followersAaron Gilbreath is an essayist and journalist. Raised in the Arizona desert, he moved to the Pacific Northwest at age twenty-five and has written stories for Harper's, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Kenyon Review, The Paris Review Daily, Oxford American, Slate, The Dublin Review, Brick, Saveur, and Virginia Quarterly Review. Previously an editor at Longreads, his stories have been nominated for a James Beard Award and been notables in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, and Best American Essays.
His newest book, The Heart of California: Exploring the San Joaquin Valley, was a finalist for the 2022 Oregon Book Award. His collection of personal essays, Everything We Don't Know, was a finalist for the 2018 Oregon Book Award. Outpost19 published his second book This Is: Essays on Jazz, in 2017, six days after his daughter was born.
He serialized a multimedia book about the overlooked cult classic album from the 1990s, Deconstruction, and he runs the Alive in the Nineties music series on Substack.
He's currently writing a book about Japan and one about growing up during the music 1990s. He loves green tea, ferrets, and grilled fish.
PS: I did not write the book Concrete Grave listed here on Goodreads, but that's a rad title!
His newest book, The Heart of California: Exploring the San Joaquin Valley, was a finalist for the 2022 Oregon Book Award. His collection of personal essays, Everything We Don't Know, was a finalist for the 2018 Oregon Book Award. Outpost19 published his second book This Is: Essays on Jazz, in 2017, six days after his daughter was born.
He serialized a multimedia book about the overlooked cult classic album from the 1990s, Deconstruction, and he runs the Alive in the Nineties music series on Substack.
He's currently writing a book about Japan and one about growing up during the music 1990s. He loves green tea, ferrets, and grilled fish.
PS: I did not write the book Concrete Grave listed here on Goodreads, but that's a rad title!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 10, 2017
Really well put-together collection of jazz essays by Aaron Gilbreath. He sets out his perspective on what makes good music writing from the start: a passion for the music that often includes the narrator as part of the story (more or less), and that's how he proceeds. I happen to agree with that being a particularly interesting style of writing, as it allows for nuance and description and a real connection with how the writer got interested in the subject in the first place.
My favorite piece was the one about pianist Jutta Hipp; there's also a good piece right before it about the excavated Blue Note "vault" and how said vaults tend to work. Every piece is different; all are quite fun and contain loads deeply-held and well-described passion for the music.
My favorite piece was the one about pianist Jutta Hipp; there's also a good piece right before it about the excavated Blue Note "vault" and how said vaults tend to work. Every piece is different; all are quite fun and contain loads deeply-held and well-described passion for the music.
December 27, 2024
Just boring and bland, an impressively apolitical portrait of an inherently political music
September 16, 2017
I won This Is: Essays on Jazz by Aaron Gilbreath from Goodreads.
Aaron Gilbreath's enthusiasm for Jazz jumps off the page of his book This Is: Essays on Jazz, and the reader feels that enthusiasm right through to his bones and to his tapping toes. Step along a Manhattan street with Gilbreath listening to the music in his earbuds, or stand in a corner in Seattle reflecting on what could have been, or sit down in famous studios where legends recorded their masterpieces. These essays take the reader there.
Many of the thirteen essays may each focus on one musician, one event, but musicians moved in and out of each other's orbit and, therefore, each essay is about the whole world of Jazz. Gilbreath writes about the great losses to Jazz of musicians who died too young, lost confidence in themselves too soon, or lost their way at times. He does not shy away from the influence on Jazz of drugs, incarceration, happenstance, institutional racism, and strong personalities. The essayist's respect and admiration never wavers. In fact, throughout the book, his enthusiasm remains infectious. The reader comes away with not only a stronger appreciation for Jazz, but also a list of tracks for suggested close listening, and a longer list of must-have albums.
Aaron Gilbreath's enthusiasm for Jazz jumps off the page of his book This Is: Essays on Jazz, and the reader feels that enthusiasm right through to his bones and to his tapping toes. Step along a Manhattan street with Gilbreath listening to the music in his earbuds, or stand in a corner in Seattle reflecting on what could have been, or sit down in famous studios where legends recorded their masterpieces. These essays take the reader there.
Many of the thirteen essays may each focus on one musician, one event, but musicians moved in and out of each other's orbit and, therefore, each essay is about the whole world of Jazz. Gilbreath writes about the great losses to Jazz of musicians who died too young, lost confidence in themselves too soon, or lost their way at times. He does not shy away from the influence on Jazz of drugs, incarceration, happenstance, institutional racism, and strong personalities. The essayist's respect and admiration never wavers. In fact, throughout the book, his enthusiasm remains infectious. The reader comes away with not only a stronger appreciation for Jazz, but also a list of tracks for suggested close listening, and a longer list of must-have albums.
May 21, 2020
Gilbreath has conservative taste in jazz: Miles with Coltrane, Garland, and Philly Joe is in; Miles with Herbie, Ron, and Tony less so. He writes lovingly about the jazz he likes and doesn't waste time writing about what he doesn't like. If you love the music, this is worth a read. I like that it's personal and more about feelings than technical stuff. Just a few misspellings and inaccuracies.
January 13, 2020
Fantastic. There's not much really good writing about jazz and this book writes clearly and interestingly about players most would know and made me look up and listen to some I wasn't familiar with or had glossed over. Strong recommend for those who like to read essays or about music.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews