Carmen McRae: Miss Jazz

by Leslie Gourse

Book Overview

A biography of one of the classic jazz singers of the 20th century. Jazz biographer Leslie Gourse recounts the colourful life story and numerous musical accomplishments of Carmen McRae, incorporating... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082307904X
• ISBN13: 9780823079049
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Billboard Books
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Recommended for jazz music fans

Leslie Gourse's Carmen Mcrae, Miss Jazz tells of the life of a jazz singer who grew up during the swing era in Harlem to make her mark on the music world at the ripe 'old' age of 34. This is based on interviews conducted by McRae before her death as well as added insights by her friends, family and fellow musicians. Recommended for jazz music fans.

If you liked Ken Burns' Jazz...

I think it's wonderful that there are books such as Ms. Gourse's out there on the market. Although I was surprised not to see her as one of the jazz experts enlisted in the making of the PBS documentary "Ken Burns' Jazz", I think her books are a natural complement to that series. Many young children may be interested in reading about Jazz or learning more about this music and, given the state of public education, these may be the types of books that school librarians might order. In addition to this book on Ms. McRae (so unfortunate that she passed away and couldn't comment on the book), there are many others (many, many others) by Ms. Gourse to which a young reader may turn in the hopes of finding out more about great artists. There's one on Nat King Cole, one on Ella Fitzgerald, one on Aretha Franklin, one on Mahalia Jackson, one on Gloria Estefan, one on Jim Henson (of Muppets fame), and even one on Pocahontas. These books might have served as excellent introductions. They are written in a literary style that is accessible to jr. high students. And rather than focusing on bare bone facts, Ms. Gourse likes to look for skeletons in the closet (wouldn't have known, had it not been for this book, that Carmen and Billie Holiday were lovers, even though Carmen was also having an affair with Joe Louis...) Kids don't necessarily have the patience for academic research, or tedious issues like subtext or context or deconstruction. They won't find any here. Instead of trying to find a deeper meaning in the lives of her subjects, Ms. Gourse allows them to speak through newspaper clippings, re-published excerpts from interviews granted to other authors, discographies, etc. Ms. Gourse's books do what the best scholastic literature aimed at jr. high students is supposed to do: make you want to read other books.