Short stories
Black and Blue
Jazz Stories
- Publisher
- Véhicule Press
- Published
- September 1, 2022
- Pages
- 240
- Price
- $21.95
- ISBN
- 9781550656114
- Language
- English
On the publisher’s site (opens in a new tab) In bookstores (opens in a new tab)
The team behind the book
- Translation
- David Homel
In Black and Blue, author and radio personality Stanley Péan guides us through a history of jazz, stopping at a number of high points along the way. He takes us behind the scenes with anecdotes that tell much about the misunderstandings that have surrounded the music. How could Jean-Paul Sartre have mixed up Afro-Canadian songwriter Shelton Brooks with the Jewish-American belter Sophie Tucker? What is the real story behind the searing classic “Strange Fruit” made immortal by Billie Holiday, who at first balked at performing it? And since this is jazz, there is no shortage of sad ends: Bix Beiderbecke, Chet Baker, Lee Morgan, to name a few. Péan also shows how musicians like Miles Davis worked with the emerging voices of hip- hop to widen jazz’s audience, as well as how the movies, Hollywood and European cinema alike, tried to use jazz, often whitening it in the process. Like jazz itself, Péan’s essays are spontaneous, thoughtful, and refined.
Reviews
“The strength of this book is that it whets the appetite to listen to jazz . . . beautiful stories well told.” — Patricia Powers, Radio-Canada
Description from the publisher Véhicule Press, seen in October 2026 · Source ↗
Also by Stanley Péan
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Grangou Stanley Péan
-
Nos solitudes Edwidge Danticat
-
La pénombre propice Stanley Péan
-
Béatrice et Croc Harry Lawrence Hill
-
Noir satin Stanley Péan
-
Cartes postales d’outre-monde Stanley Péan
-
La plage des songes Stanley Péan
From Véhicule Press
-
We Drove All Day for This Bruce Taylor
-
Qaf’s People Sadiqa de Meijer
-
My Summer Vacation Zeenat Nagree
-
Cannibal Rats Richard Greene
-
Morgan’s Castle Jan Hilliard
-
How to Move On Joel Yanofsky
-
Private Number David Homel
-
Fan Mail Jason Guriel
-
The Inferno Dante Alighieri
-
Quietly, Loving Everyone Curtis John McRae
