Is a Jazz Novel an Unbearable Concept? Not This One

What does it take to write a compelling novel with a jazz setting?

A lot, apparently, since library bookshelves are not exactly teeming with readable material. There are those, in fact, who find the two disciplines--novels and jazz--to be mutually exclusive. Novels, after all, are about articulate storytelling; jazz is about nonverbal intuition. Novels use the language of speech and communication; jazz uses the media of ecstasy and emotion.

So, for a very long time--and despite a variety of largely unsuccessful efforts--jazz and novel writing have remained relatively separate creative endeavors.

Until now, that is. The publication this month of “The Bear Comes Home” (Norton), by former music critic and drummer Rafi Zabor, washes away all the misconceptions. In this imaginatively conceived, brilliantly written novel, Zabor describes, with penetrating insight, the act of making jazz. Often using real-life musicians as characters, he depicts the process from the inside in a fashion that is true to the music, while at the same time allowing the nonmusical reader to share the experience.

Describing bassist Charlie Haden at work, for example, Zabor writes: “Haden had dropped strict timekeeping to wrench explosively placed double-stops out of the bottom of his instrument, the strings protesting bodily against the fingerboard. . . . “

Portraying the novel’s alto saxophone-playing protagonist stretching his solo into expansive areas beyond the blues, Zabor writes: “He started working his next chorus further away from the changes, confusing the issue with chord substitutions and the occasional frank anomaly, but ended it with a well-turned resonant shining G . . . the rhythm section behind like the heroes of perception they were. . . . “

But the jazz descriptions, intuitive as they are, are only one aspect of this unusual novel. Because the hero, the saxophonist described above, is actually a talking bear--one who is as knowledgeable about Persian poetry as he is about John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. And it is to Zabor’s credit as an author that the obvious questions that arise--How can a bear talk? How can a bear philosophize? How can a bear play jazz?--are quickly set aside by the believability of the story and the penetrating accuracy of all the settings.

Zabor’s observations of life on the road, of working in clubs, of the dark humor that permeates the world of jazz musicians, are all right on target. But take away the special interest that the jazz aspects offer, and this is still a superbly well-written contemporary novel. The bear, his alto saxophone and his quixotic journey through contemporary American life have the feel of a truly memorable character.

Torme Update: A year ago today, singer Mel Torme suffered the stroke that has kept him out of action, and out of public, ever since. His publicist, Rob Wilcox, now reports that the 71-year-old Torme is making his initial ventures out of the house for weekly visits to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion. Torme is able to walk with assistance, is in good spirits and speaks in a clear, but huskier than normal tone. According to Wilcox, the one statement Torme will make at the moment is a strong assertion that he has “no intention of retiring,” and that his single goal is to resume his career and return to performing. There is, however, no prognosis as to how long that will take, since Torme’s recovery has been a long, slow process.

On Record: The flow of John Coltrane material continues with Impulse! Records’ release of “The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings,” scheduled to be issued Sept. 23. The four-CD boxed set covers a four-day gig in November during which the saxophonist was backed by a variety of ensembles featuring McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Eric Dolphy, Roy Haynes and others. Each of the CDs will include new original cover art commissioned for the project.

Rhino Records has announced an Oct. 28 release date for “Charles Mingus Passions of a Man: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1956-1961).” The six-CD box includes, among others, Mingus’ “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” “The Clown” and “Blues & Roots,” with extensive ancillary print material.

Epic-Legacy is scheduling a relaunch of the CTI catalog on Sept. 2 with 10 titles originally issued between 1970 and 1977 by Creed Taylor’s CTI Records. The titles, which were among the first to set standards for the commercially viable jazz of the ‘70s, include albums by George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Deodato, Stanley Turrentine and Paul Desmond. Several of the albums include alternate takes and previously unreleased material. Epic-Legacy will also release “Birth of the Groove,” a budget-priced sampler covering CTI’s more funk-oriented acts, with selections by Esther Phillips, Johnny Hammond, Joe Farrell and others.

Free Music: The multicultural band Huayucaltia performs at the California Plaza Celebrations! concert today at noon, (213) 687-2159.. . . The L.A. Jazz Quintet is at the L.A. County Museum of Art tonight for an admission-free jazz set at 5:30 p.m. (213) 857-6010. . . . Saturday afternoon in Alhambra, Pedrini Music’s weekly free Saturday concert features saxophonist Herb Geller with pianist Milcho Leviev, bassist Tom Warrington and drummer Paul Kreibich, (818) 289-0241. . . . On Thursday, Japanese guitarist Hideaki Tokunaga performs a free concert at the Museum of Contemporary Art at California Plaza with a quartet that also includes the talented pianist Otmaro Ruiz, 5 p.m. (213) 621-1749. . . . Pianist Freddie Ravel’s super-smooth jazz takes the spotlight on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a free concert at the Market Place in Long Beach, (562) 433-4403.