Gerhard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic, Vol. I and Vol. II (University Press of Mississippi)
The first volume of Kubik’s work is subtitled, “The African Undercurrent in Twentieth–Century Jazz Culture;†the second, “Jazz Derivatives and Developments in Twentieth-Century Africa.†The descriptions indicate the depth and scope of the Austrian ethnomusicologist’s research, which has taken him to Africa every year for nearly five decades. Happily for the general
reader, Kubik’s writing and explanations are straightforward. He accounts for Lester Young’s unorthodox way of holding his tenor saxophone as a profound influence on a school of African flutists who developed the powerful resonance that characterizes their playing. Kubik draws on his knowledge of psychiatric practice to realistically interpret the spoofing humor that doctors examining Thelonious Monk saw as mental imbalance. He has insights into the importance of musicians barely known on this side of the Atlantic, among them Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Donald Kachamba and Duke Makasi. These valuable volumes will endure.