Pops Stop

Honestly I probably wasn't going to read Terry Teachout's biography of Louis Armstrong anyway, but now I'm definitely not going to because of this spot-on review in The Nation. (You have to subscribe to read the whole thing online, but there is a free trial option) Schiff takes Teachout apart for inadequately documented research, ignoring or underplaying Armstrong's sharp political remarks, and most importantly for not incorporating African-American critical perspectives in analyzing Armstrong's life and music. There's a larger point about the condescension inherent in writing about jazz by describing its relationship to European music written by whites. Schiff's piece is a must for anyone interested in music and cultural criticism.