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An Unsung Cat: The Life and Music of Warne Marsh (Studies in Jazz, No. 37) | 
| Author: Safford Chamberlain
Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
Buy New: $39.76
You Save: $5.19 (12%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 562928
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 430
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0810853507
Dewey Decimal Number: 780
EAN: 9780810853508
ASIN: 0810853507
Publication Date: May 28, 2000
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Product Description
I>An Unsung Cat explores the life and music of jazz saxophonist, Warne Marsh. The book also offers an extensively researched discography and photographs that reveal the public and private face of this unique performer. A significant addition to the literature of jazz studies.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Opened my eyes July 9, 2008
I have been reading about and listening to the Tristano guys for almost a year now, but was always partial to Lee Konitz. I've done some study of his playing and listened to a lot, from Tristano to present day. I am a great fan of his playing, through all the evolutions of his style.
Unfortunately, it caused me to overlook Warne Marsh on those recordings. I've read Konitz's bio and Tristano's, and picked this up to complete the set. The biography is compelling, and so very well written. I've read some horrible biographies recently, but this one just grabbed me, both with Marsh's story and the way Safford Chamberlain writes about it. Plenty of detail, without going overboard (I'm looking at YOU, Tad Szulc. Chopin admirers, don't waste your time on "Chopin in Paris"...).
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book are the transcriptions. Chamberlain has included transcriptions of Warne Marsh solos, generally chronological through his career, and they are spaced out in the book several chapters at a time. If you can find the recordings, it's really great to watch his solos unfold. Even after reading along with the first one, my ears were opened in a new way to Warne Marsh's playing, and he has quickly become a favorite. The analysises (anylysi? Analyses? Whatever, plural, there is one with each transcription) included are also good, they point out some important things that might be overlooked.
All the information about Warne Marsh and his music is so wonderful, and compiled MASTERFULLY. The perfect amount of info, spaced and presented perfectly, and the inserted transcriptions really seal the deal.
I have since gone back to listen to the older solos, and also check out the evolution of his playing (the Red Mitchell records...my god!), and "An Unsung Cat" is so very true. Him and Konitz, from Tristano through their individual growth away from that style (while never abandoning what they gained through it), are, generally, the only two horn players I can get excited about any more (aside from the undeniable legends). They've effectively ruined most jazz for me...a mixed blessing, but my appreciation for a well constructed solo is so much deeper than a year ago, in no small part thanks to this book.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL JAZZ FANS.
 Unsung Cat Review January 4, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is a decent read for Warne Marsh fans and has some interesting insights into Lennie Tristano and his school; awfully dry at times though.
While I really like Warne Marsh's playing, the book seems to idolize him and hold him in a much, much higher realm than I think he belongs.
Again, a good read with some very interesting information.
unsung cat July 7, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Mr. Chamberlain has done a great service for jazz musicians and fans with the creation of this book. One of the most refreshing points of the book (which actually sets it apart from most other jazz biographies) is that Safford is not scared to be critical of Warne and his associates, especially Lennie Tristano. The book only paints a vague picture of Warne as a person, but I interpret that as a way of showing how hard it was to really get to know the man. This is definitely a book that should be picked up to help spread the word about one of jazz' most important and creative improvisers.
A terrific book about a wonderful musician. September 23, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
My biggest complaint about Ken Burns' "Jazz" was how many great musicians were ignored. People like Herbie Nichols, Serge Chaloff, Jimmy Raney, the list is almost endless. Safford Chamberlain's book about one of the most sorely underappreciated improvisers ever is superb. It puts in human terms the struggles that almost all jazz musicians faced from the late 1940's on in trying to document a music that was falling further and further from the public view. Lee Konitz has stated "I don't know of any other musician that realy surprised me as much as Warne did with his inventiveness." Mr. Chamberlain is an excellent writer, and I hope this book helps to turn more jazz fans onto to Warne.
A Scholarly Appraisal of an Underrated Jazz Genius January 14, 2001
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Safford Chamberlin's love for his subject matter, the jazz solos of the late tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, comes out on every page of this unusually well researched and well written biography.Marsh was a child prodigy who fell under the spell of the eccentric jazz recluse Lennie Tristano, the founder and guru of a school of highly disciplined post-bebop jazz in New York City during the late 1940's. Marsh ping-ponged between Tristano and the West Coast, mostly in relative obscurity, until he died on stage at Donte's in North Hollywood in December 1987. Chamberlin skillfully weaves the facts of Marsh's life with details about his milieu and descriptions of his recordings. The chapters describing Marsh's early recordings with fellow Tristanoite Lee Konitz are particularly interesting. Chamberlin delicately deals with the difficult subjects of drugs, commercialism and racism in jazz music. I have read many jazz biographies, some lurid, some sloppy and inaccurate. This one, however, treats the subject matter with the seriousness and attention to detail this wonderful music we call "jazz" deserves.
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