{"id":739,"date":"2012-01-04T11:05:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T16:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=739"},"modified":"2019-09-12T21:08:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T01:08:02","slug":"josef-skvorecky-novelist-of-jazz-freedom-creativity-rip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/01\/josef-skvorecky-novelist-of-jazz-freedom-creativity-rip.html","title":{"rendered":"Josef Skvorecky, novelist of jazz = freedom & creativity, RIP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josef Skvorecky’s The Bass Saxophone<\/a><\/em> is one of a handful of fine novels identifying the extraordinary powers of jazz \"\"<\/a>as an art form, a process, a heritage — which makes it more than something to listen or dance to. Several obits for the Czech writer (d. Jan 3, age 87) who was long exiled in Canada have failed to mention his admiration and understanding of this American gift to the world, but the Atlantic Monthly gives him\u00c2\u00a0his due<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like Milan Kundera<\/a> and Vaclav Havel<\/a>, Skvorecky infused his depictions of a jazz-inflected cultural\u00c2\u00a0underground in opposition to tyrannical, absurdly\u00c2\u00a0bureaucratized government with sly, corrosive humor.\u00c2\u00a0Not surprisingly, he also wrote\u00c2\u00a0detective stories<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and \u00c2\u00a0essays on literature, politics, jazz and the movies<\/a>, including one that links Kafka to jazz (which I haven’t read but shall immediately).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josef Skvorecky – Halligonia.ca<\/p><\/div>\n

Hats off to this author, who translated\u00c2\u00a0Dashiell Hammett<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0into Czeck and took it upon himself to become a publisher of other dissident writers. Skvorecky demonstrated how the arts produced in the 20th century urban U.S. have relevance far bey0nd our borders, which should remind we who live here not only that those arts have been pretty significant, but that they remain so in the present and for the looming future, both abroad and right at home.<\/p>\n

howardmandel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Josef Skvorecky’s The Bass Saxophone is one of a handful of fine novels identifying the extraordinary powers of jazz as an art form, a process, a heritage — which makes it more than something to listen or dance to. Several obits for the Czech writer (d. Jan 3, age 87) who was long exiled in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/bass-saxophone.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-bV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2219,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/04\/how-charles-lloyd-stays-marvelous.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":0},"title":"How Charles Lloyd stays marvelous","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"During\u00c2\u00a0the 50 years since his breakthrough album Forest Flower (released in February 1967, recorded live at the Monterey Jazz Festival the summer before) -- comparable in some ways\u00c2\u00a0to The Epic success of Kamasi Washington --\u00c2\u00a0saxophonist-flutist Charles Lloyd has been unusually popular for an adventurous jazzman. He showed how he's done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Charles Lloyd\"","block_context":{"text":"Charles Lloyd","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/charles-lloyd"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/images-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/09\/audience_size_for_jazz_festiva.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":1},"title":"Jazz festival weekend: Is anybody counting?","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Can we guestimate how many listeners will be out hearing jazz this Labor Day weekend, at festivals free and\/or famous around the U.S.?\u00a0Chicago, Detroit, Tanglewood, Aspen, Vail, Los Angeles, Washington DC (well, Herndon VA), Philadelphia,\u00a0San Jose, Macinac Island (Michigan) Indianapolis, St. Louis, Wilmington and Bethany Beach (Delaware), San Diego, Tucson,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1341,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/04\/jazz-day-reasons-to-be-cheerful.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":2},"title":"Jazz Day reasons to be cheerful","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On the second International Jazz Day, let's celebrate -- 1) A glorious legacy of enduring music; 2) The\u00c2\u00a0dedication to the art form of musicians and their supporters now, worldwide; 3) The recognition by government officials and institutions of jazz as an entity that will not be silenced or co-opted; 4)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jazz Heroes, designated in 2013 by the Jazz Journalists Association and 25 local North American communities","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/2013JazzHeroeswHEADwnumbers.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2403,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2018\/01\/women-in-jazz-journalism-on-gender-issues-in-nyc-mlk-weekend.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":3},"title":"Women in jazz journalism on gender issues, in NYC MLK weekend","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend '18 was a big one for jazz in NYC with the first Jazz Congress at Jazz at Lincoln Center, a glorious Winter Jazz Fest, artists showcases at the conference of APAP (the Association of Performing Arts Presenters) and diverse independent venues -- but not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend\"","block_context":{"text":"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-weekend"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/images-1-200x165.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1295,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/04\/jazzapril-begins-no-joke.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":4},"title":"JazzApril begins (no joke!)","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"April is Jazz Appreciation Month (so named by the Smithsonian Institution), culminating on the 30th with\u00c2\u00a0International Jazz Day (a project of UNESCO, organized by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz) -- and both those initiatives are endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. So the Jazz Journalists Association has launched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"ja-ijd-jamSQ200","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/ja-ijd-jamSQ200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":563,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/10\/jazz-audience-initiative-study-posted-webinar-set.html","url_meta":{"origin":739,"position":5},"title":"Jazz Audience Initiative study posted, webinar set","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jazz Audience Initiative, a 21-month research project of Columbus, Ohio's Jazz Arts Group, has posted its final reports and scheduled a webinar for October 21 (free registration available) to discuss them. Among the main points: Musical tastes are socially transmitted. Jazz has relatively diverse audiences. 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