Art Blakey Cookin' and Jammin': Recipes and Remembrances From a Jazz Life

by Sandy Warren

A culinary memoir of the famous New York jazz drummer Art Blakey, written with love and candor by the woman who knew him best, shared his life for 22 years and helped raise his son Takashi. Foreword by Dr. John (Mac Rebennack). Interspersed between anecdotes are dozens of recipes that Art and Sandy developed and used, on and off the road. Twenty photos complete this fascinating look at the life of a jazz great. You will want two copies of this 5x7 hardcover book -- one for the kitchen and the other for your library. "Off the charts! This intimate portrayal of Art Blakey...is jam packed with honesty, rich with sweet vignettes, and his recipes, and spiced with intimate and personal stories. It is exceedingly readable and presents new facets of this brilliant, complex, and creative soul who shaped jazz artists and American music for over half a century."-- Jelly Roll Justice of WWOZ-FM, New Orleans. Dr. John says, "This ain't just another book of recipes. It's the sweet 'n sour story of a woman and her man makin' a home, raisin' a son, and turnin' up the flame everyplace they went."

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2010

Reviews

[Murf Reeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was awesome. A rare look at a side of a musician as seen by someone on an unusual inside. Sandy was able to combine Love, Sadness, life on the road with the wholesome thread of cookin. Blakey was an amazing man with his own amazing demons and Sandy was able to show all these sides of Blakey and herself, but laying it out there without any pretention, regret, just honest love.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late Art Blakey was and is one of my favourite drummers, bandleaders and musicians, so I just couldn't resist buying this. As far as I know, no one has yet stepped up to write the full-length scholarly biography that this great man's life and music so obviously and richly merit, which is absolutely disgraceful. Until someone does, we will all have to be content with the handful of books about him that have been published so far, of which several are well worth reading.

I haven't tried out any of the recipes in this book yet, but I'm glad I read it, especially for one particular reason. Now, when someone tells me in the grocery store that I "shop like a little old lady", I can say "yeah, well, that may be so- but I also shop just like ART FUCKING BLAKEY, hahaha!!!"

Just for the record, it was my own dear mother who started that; I think I was about 11 or 12 years old the first time she made that particular observation. Nowadays, of course, I lovingly point out to her that she would definitely know, because she now actually is a little old lady! My wife has also been known to make similar comments over the last thirty years or so, in her case usually followed by the observation that she really did turn out just like her own mother, who invariably sent her husband out to do the grocery shopping throughout her life.

All of this is quite funny given the fact that I was taught, as a very small boy, the proper way to shop for groceries by a series of little old ladies led by my beloved great-grandmothers, Agnes Janey Stewart Williamson Gleason & Myra Marie Covey Treece, followed closely by my maternal grandmother, Myra Marie Treece Showalter. Honourable mention must also go to my great uncle Dan (Professor Dan MacGregor Showalter), whose flamboyant though impeccable style and flirtatious demeanour with all the "ladies of a certain age" made him also an important role model. Their excellent training is apparently still quite obvious, because throughout my life ladies of all ages have had a tendency both to take notice and to not be shy about commenting- which makes grocery shopping even more pleasant & amusing!

Last but not least, all the ladies who have been kind enough to volunteer helpful information & advice in many grocery store aisles over these last several decades have my gratitude as well. Judging by the stylish look & hip attitude of some of the ladies I see in the grocery stores I patronise here in Detroit, I wouldn't be even a little bit surprised if some of them knew their way around Baker's, the Bluebird and the Twenty Grand back in the day, or if they knew Art Blakey (or any number of other jazz musicians I could name) quite well in their younger days...