Fascinating Rhythm
Reading Jazz in American Writing
Introduction
In Donald Barthelme's short story "The King of Jazz," attempts to describe
a trombone solo by Hokie Mokie demonstrate the folly of jazz writing. The
story narrates a cutting contest between Mokie, the former "King of Jazz,"
and his Japanese contender as onlookers grasp for superlatives. The
dethroned trombonist, whose playing had earlier been described as having
an "epiphanic glow" with a style known as "English Sunrise," emerges with
a solo so thrilling that it inspires a series of questions that build to
their own absurdist crescendo:
You mean that sound that sounds like the cutting edge of life? That
sounds like polar bears crossing Arctic ice pans? That sounds like a
herd of musk ox in full flight? That sounds like male walruses diving to
the bottom of the sea? That sounds like fumaroles smoking on the slopes
of Mount Katmai? That sounds like the wild turkey walking through the
deep, soft forest? That sounds like beavers chewing trees in an
Appalachian marsh? That sounds like an oyster fun ... read full excerpt from Fascinating Rhythm: Reading Jazz in American Writing ebook
