Book Description
Points of Departure is an alternative version of Jazz criticism, one which scratches beneath the veneer of Objectivity and challenges the tyranny of so-called expertise. Robin Tomens believes that Jazz has for too long been at the mercy of academics – who often serve only to alienate potential listeners, and that America’s greatest musical art form deserves to be ‘Freed from the cultural ghetto and given the chance to astound all who encounter the many treasures it contains’.
From A to Z (that’s Louis Armstrong to John Zorn), Robin hears diversity that is not reflected in literature about the hundred-year-old music. ‘Ironically, a music that’s been made by everyone from the poorest black Americans to the “learned” middle-classes, has not been democratised in terms of the audience. It’s sanctified by snobbish critics and subsequently misunderstood by “the masses”. Jazz is both creatively complex and, at the same time, hugely influential in the popular music of the 20th Century.’
Points of Departure offers both snapshots and larger portraits of post-war Jazz in a style that is distinctive, humorous, ironic, serious and honest. It deals with the reverential idolisation of jazz gods such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, as well as lesser-known artists such as Don Ellis and Joe Harriott. It is not a guide or a history but one man’s expression of the listening experience which he hopes will ‘entertain, inspire, provoke and playfully debate the nature of Jazz’.
About the Author
Having helped shape the new sound of eclecticism at the now legendary club The Rumpus Rooms, and producing his own small press magazine Ego, Robin Tomens now writes a column ‘Listen Hear’for the e-zine Tangents, and is a resident DJ at the Mean Fiddler’s prestigious new London bar, Bartok, where he offers listeners a mosaic of minimalism, movie soundtracks, jazz and electronic music.
