Laughter From The Hip: The Lighter Side Of Jazz

by Leonard Feather, Jack Tracy

from the back In Laughter From the Hip Leonard Feather and Jack Tracy present us with an hilarious collection of anecdotes of some of the lighter moments in the lives of jazz greats Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Joe Venuti, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Barnet, Eddie Condon, Wingy Manone, George Shearing, and a host of others. We hear tell of the time Joe Venuti led Paul Whiteman’s orchestra in “The Star-Spangled Banner” with a fishing rod – clad only in a pair of long underwear! We chuckle out loud at Leonard Feather’s mock-scenario à la Hollywood, The Duke Ellington Story. We know and love the music of those master musicians who make up the unforgettable cast of real-life characters in this book. Now we meet them in a delightfully different way – shooting straight from the hip and hitting us right in the funny bone.

185 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1979

About the author

Leonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-American musician, composer, record producer, music journalist and radio broadcaster. He began working in radio broadcasting in the U.K. during the 1930s, and wrote a regular column for the British magazine 'Radio Times' during those years as well, titled "Tempo di Jazz". After working as a record producer in both the U.K. and U.S., he moved in 1939 to New York City; he later moved to Los Angeles during the early 1960s. Leonard Feather was co-editor (with Barry Ulanov) of the U.S. music business magazine 'Metronome' for many years, until it ceased publication in 1961. He also served as chief jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times until his death.

Reviews

[Lainie · Rating 3 out of 5]

To get the most out of this light-hearted look at legendary silliness by classic jazz musicians, it helps to possess at least some familiarity with the musicians and history of 20th century big bands, bebop, modern and other forms of jazz music. Not having as much familiarity, I had to skim past some of the short essays. The brief stories of band members good-naturedly ratting out each other were fun to read, even without knowing all of the characters. And I mean: characters.

I came away with a fondness for these performers and managers, continually commuting to gigs near and far, sometimes in rundown jalopies, other times on trains, buses, or—if the money was good—planes. The endurance factor alone was impressive, let alone the talent, camaraderie, and commitment to show up and do it right.

Don’t miss page 142, where appears a list of names for an imaginary band!