Point Appertaining To Books Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz

Title:Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz
Author:William Zinsser
Book Format:Paperback
Book Edition:Special Edition
Pages:Pages: 191 pages
Published:November 1st 2000 by Paul Dry Books
Categories:Nonfiction
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Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz Paperback | Pages: 191 pages
Rating: 4.48 | 25 Users | 3 Reviews

Chronicle To Books Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz

"Highly recommended"—Library Journal

"In this account of the world adventures of two splendid jazz artists, Bill Zinsser has given us one of the most exciting books about America's original art form that I've ever read. It's a revelation."—Studs Terkel

Since 1955, Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff have been playing, teaching, and sharing jazz around the U.S. and around the world. William Zinsser, one of our finest chroniclers of American life, tells their story as he travels with the duo to China, to Davenport, Iowa, to New York City, and—with Willie Ruff—to St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, where Ruff journeys back to the roots of Western music in order to understand jazz's musical legacy.

Zinsser also accompanies Mitchell and Ruff as they visit their hometowns in Florida and Alabama. We listen as the two men tell of growing up in small towns in the American South of the 1930s and 40s; as they tell about the teachers, community leaders, and family members who believed in two young black men with talent but no formal musical training; as they tell of their struggles, their perseverance, and their ultimate success.

Jazz is indeed a uniquely American musical tradition, and there are no better guides to this inspiring art than Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff.

"[This is a] thoughtful, adept, and satisfyingly unusual book of reportage…Though its contents are entirely factual, it concerns lives that give the sense of being but fatefully, imaginatively, arranged, and it constantly suggests improvisation—that is, 'something created during the process of delivery,' as Mr. Ruff explains the term to the Chinese…He also tells them improvisation is 'the lifeblood of jazz.' William Zinsser's book reminds us that improvisation is the lifeblood of life, too. [This book is also] about difficult passages that end in victorious arrival. Mitchell & Ruff is a deservedly happy book."—New York Times Book Review

"A highly infectious, Studs Terkel-like chronicle about the unorthodox development of two distinguished musicians."—Publishers Weekly

"Jazz came to China for the first time on the afternoon of June 2, 1981, when the American bassist and French-horn player Willie Ruff introduced himself and his partner, the pianist Dwike Mitchell, to several hundred students and professors who were crowded into a large room at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Probably they were not surprised to find that the two musicians were black…What they undoubtedly didn't expect was that Ruff would talk to them in Chinese."—from Chapter 1, "Shanghai"

William Zinsser is a lifelong journalist and nonfiction writer—he began his career on the New York Herald Tribune in 1946—and is also a teacher, best known for his book On Writing Well, a companion held in affection by three generations of writers, reporters, editors, teachers, and students. His 17 other books range from memoir (Writing Places) to travel (American Places), jazz (Mitchell & Ruff), American popular song (Easy to Remember), baseball (Spring Training) and the craft of writing (Writing to Learn). During the 1970s he was at Yale University, where he was master of Branford College and taught the influential nonfiction workshop that would start many writers and editors on their careers. He has taught at the New School, in New York, his hometown, and at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Albert Murray is a cultural critic, biographer, essayist, and novelist. He has taught at several colleges, including Colgate, Barnard, and Tuskegee. Mr. Murray's works include The Omni-Americans, South to a Very Old Place, Train Whistle Guitar, The Blue Devils of Nada, and The Seven League Boots.




Be Specific About Books Toward Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz

Original Title: Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz
ISBN: 0966491343 (ISBN13: 9780966491340)
Edition Language: English


Rating Appertaining To Books Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz
Ratings: 4.48 From 25 Users | 3 Reviews

Piece Appertaining To Books Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz
Reading it with my seniors. Then seeing them in concert on April 15. Very excited.

Zinsser does it again, pulling you into the life of these 2 very accomplished jazz performers. You get a glimpse into their past and the people who helped them along the way. You get a feel for how music helped them overcome adversity and how they themselves give back through the music they create. I admire how Zinsser can craft such short novels but compact so much information. He is a genius and a pleasure to read. He could make paint drying seem interesting and exciting.



Zinsser does it again, pulling you into the life of these 2 very accomplished jazz performers. You get a glimpse into their past and the people who helped them along the way. You get a feel for how music helped them overcome adversity and how they themselves give back through the music they create. I admire how Zinsser can craft such short novels but compact so much information. He is a genius and a pleasure to read. He could make paint drying seem interesting and exciting.

I don't know anything about jazz, but this book's opening chapter immediately transported me to the Shanghai Conservatory where in 1981 the two African American musicians introduced jazz to the Chinese for the first time. The Conservatory audience, steeped in the Western classical music tradition, were reportedly fascinated by the improvisations of jazz. At one point in their program, Willie Ruff invited a student to play a Chinese melody, before Dwike Mitchell improvised on it on the piano, and

William Knowlton Zinsser is an American writer, editor, literary critic, and teacher. He began his career as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, where he worked as a feature writer, drama editor, film critic, and editorial writer. He has been a longtime contributor to leading magazines.