We Called It Music: A Generation of Jazz

by Eddie Condon, Gary Giddons (Introduction), Thomas Sugrue (Narrator)

Eddie Condon (1905–1973) pioneered a kind of jazz popularly known as Chicago-Dixieland, though musicians refer to it simply as Condon style. Played by small ensembles with driving beat, it was and is an informal, exciting music, slightly disjointed and often mischievous. The same could be said of Condon's autobiography, We Called It Music, a book widely celebrated for capturing the camaraderie of early jazz. Condon's wit was as legendary as the music he boosted. Here is Condon on modern jazz: "The boopers flat their fifths. We consume ours." On Bix Beiderbecke: "The sound came out like a girl saying yes." On the New York subway: "It was my first ride in a sewer." When his memoir was first published—to great acclaim—in 1947, he was well known as a newspaper columnist, radio personality, saloon keeper, guitarist, and bandleader. He was the ideal man to come up with an insightful portrait of the early days of white jazz, and his book offers nonpareil accounts of many of the jazz greats of that era, including Beiderbacke, Fats Waller, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy McPartland, Gene Krupa, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby.These were the days when jazz was popularly associated with Paul Whiteman and Irving Berlin. Condon considered true jazz an outlaw music and himself an outlaw. He and his cohorts tried to get as close as possible to the black roots of jazz, a scandalous thing in the '20s. Along the way he facilitated one of the first integrated recording sessions.We Called It Music, now published with an introduction by Gary Giddins that places the book in historical context, remains essential reading for anyone interested in the wild and restless beginnings of America's great musical art, or in the wit and vinegar of Eddie Condon.

Genres: Music, Jazz, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

Reviews

[Jeff Stookey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across Eddie Condon’s jive talking We Called It Music, when I first started studying the music of the 1920s. This book contains the famous description of Bix Beiderbecke’s cornet playing: “The sound came out like a girl saying yes.” Full of great period details and memorable lines. If you want to learn about this period in music, don't miss reading this book.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat forgotten today, Eddie Condon probably did more to evangelize jazz than anyone else. This book is a look at his upbringing in Indiana and Illinois, his days as a young banjoist travelling through Chicago and New York, and his career as a jazz promoter. Big names in jazz are dropped right and left and stories involving more bootleg gin than you could or should drink in a lifetime abound. Perhaps the wildest stories involved Josh Billings, the toothless percussionist who forwent a drumkit and used a suitcase and paintbrushes instead.

A fun read and a unique glimpse at Prohibition era Chicago. You can tell Condon loved what he did for a living, even if he was broke most of the time.

[Gerard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and engaging account of Condon's quest to earn a living playing his type of jazz and to promote the idea of jazz as an art form.

[Hal Issen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a participant and witness to the Trad and early jazz scene in Chicago and New York, I recommend playing the songs when they are mentioned in the text. Interesting fact: Eddie Condon was among the first, if not the first to integrate jazz musicians into nationally known bands.