The Majesty of Chicago Jazz

"Chicago jazz critic and documentary filmmaker Reich profiles 25 Chicago jazz artists, highlighting their contributions to musical innovation. . . . Reich asserts that Chicago has no single style of jazz and instead fosters creativity and eccentricity. His selection method was to give readers a sense of the groundbreaking character of jazz produced in Chicago, which he calls a 'breeding ground for musical experimentation.' An engaging, vital, and persuasive collection of essays on essential jazz musicians."

* Library Journal *

“Jazz may have been born in New Orleans, but it came of age in Chicago. . . . Read together, these twenty-five essays become a coherent portrait of a city whose influence on jazz rivals that of any in the world. Reich writes with the authority of a veteran reporter, the curiosity of a lifelong listener, and the empathy of someone who understands that music is inseparable from the people who create it. . . . The Majesty of Chicago Jazz: Twenty-Five Visionaries Who Define the City's Sound is both a valuable historical record and an absorbing celebration of the artists who gave the city its enduring voice.”

-- Karl Ackermann * All About Jazz *

“[Reich is] a strong believer that without Chicago, jazz would be inconceivable; it's an argument that runs through the [296] pages of this book. . . . The author writes with knowledge, a sense of fair criticism where necessary, and immense enthusiasm for his subjects. . . . You'll most likely come away thinking, I really want to hear some of that.”

-- Norman Darwen * The Jazz Rag *

When it comes to documenting jazz in print and in film, Howard Reich is your man. . . . Here, within its pages, Reich offers two pieces on each of The Majesty of Chicago Jazz’s 25 innovators, as if to create greater, more lucid, richly informative features on his subjects, including reviews, appreciations and obituaries. For the uninitiated, The Majesty of Chicago Jazz even hosts a ‘beginner-friendly’ discography. While some may argue the merits of New York, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles for the immensity and diversity of its jazz players and scenes, these two new books make loud, great cases for Chicago as jazz’s steamiest hotbed."

-- A.D. Amorosi * Jazz Times *

“Who’s on your musical Mount Rushmore? Sourced from three decades of columns, former Chicago Tribune jazz critic Howard Reich carves his own in this anthology. . . . Along with Louis Armstrong and Dee Alexander, undersung figures — like the dizzyingly talented pianist Dorothy Donegan — also get their due.”

-- Hannah Edgar * Chicago Tribune *

“Reich is a fast-talking booster of Chicago’s jazz whose enthusiasm has not dimmed over his decades of covering it. . . . Jazz is ‘indestructible because it responds to the moment,’ Reich says. 'It’s never old. It’s never archaic because it’s being created in that moment.' For four decades, Reich was there in that moment, documenting an ever-evolving art form and the city that has fostered it.”

 

-- Daniel Hautzinger * WTTW Chicago *

“In the beginning, it was the sound from New Orleans. But over the next one hundred years, Chicago’s nightclubs, theaters and streets were filled with jazz. . . As someone who has written about this art for over half of that century, Howard Reich not only had nightly access to the hip happenings in the local jazz clubs, but a first name relationship with many of the artists who helped to mold them. . . . The book is a love letter to Chicago, Chicago’s jazz community and the culture and history of the people and the neighborhoods that helped to create it.”

-- David Witter * Newcity *

“Reich traces the arc of Chicago jazz with a wide brush. . . . This is a deep dive into some of the biggest names in Chicago jazz and it’s informative, interesting and engaging. And the way it’s written it’s the kind of book you can dig into in bits and pieces over time. Dig?”

-- Bobby Tanzilo * OnMilwaukee *

“Through twenty-five vivid, well-researched, and unfiltered portraits, [Reich] traces the journeys of exceptional creators who, whether born and bred or simply settled [in Chicago], have all left an indelible mark on the metropolis and American music. . . . Written with clarity, relevance, and a profound knowledge of the musicians, this book stands as a valuable synthesis for understanding the richness of a metropolis where music has always been much more than entertainment: a true way of life.”

-- Jean-Luc Vabres * ABS Magazine *

“Music lovers will find, then follow, a great music critic. Howard Reich, writing for the Chicago Tribune, put Chicago on the map.”

-- Patricia Barber, musician and composer

“This is a ‘when, where, who, and how’ depiction of some of Chicago’s jazz influencers. Part history, part performance and recording reviews, and part instructional manual, Howard Reich’s The Majesty of Chicago Jazz is sprinkled with sage advice and insight from the book’s magical subjects. The decades-old critiques are another reason jazz students, performers, and aficionados will enjoy this read.”

-- Bobbi Wilsyn, jazz singer and educator

"This extraordinary collection of essays is indelibly imbued with Howard Reich’s deep and abiding connection with Chicago and so many of the musicians he writes about.  This book moves past an invocation of musical genre to create a celebratory chronicle affirming the centrality of the ‘City of the Big Shoulders’ to the global phenomenon of jazz, ancient to the future."

-- George E. Lewis, author of A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music.

"Once again, Howard Reich has provided a valuable account of some of the most important and unique contributors to America’s art form—Jazz. Here, he shares some of the wealth of his experiences from a lifetime of listening and talking with many of the greats, from Jelly Roll to Muhal Richard Abrams, painting the scene and giving us a recounting, often in the artist’s own words, of their experiences.  Reich reminds us that Chicago has been the birthplace of, destination for, and place of refuge for many artists, including some of the most iconic, unique, and undefinable voices to have shaped the music. This book is a must for anyone wanting to familiarize themselves with the richness of Chicago’s jazz legacy."

-- Jonathan Bailey Holland, dean, Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University

“Chicago has given America some of its finest writers and critics. Howard Reich is both—and, rare among jazz writers, a trained musician as well. He brings keen musical insight, a critic's judgment, and a playwright's gift for storytelling to the artists who made Chicago essential to the music's story. If you don't know Chicago jazz, you don't really know jazz. Start here.”

-- John Edward Hasse, curator emeritus of American music, Smithsonian Institu