Brian Kane, the author of this book, is a Yale academic and an experienced jazz musician. And that may explain why some of the book was of no interest to me and some was very interesting indeed. The subtitle of the book is Jazz, Ontology, Auditory Culture and that word “ontology” covers the sections where my interest faded.
It’s a word familiar to academic philosophers but for an outsider it’s difficult to grasp its meaning. At times when the author is concerned with analysis of definitions and categories I wasn’t interested, but when he’s discussing the significance and performance of standards (songs or tunes widely known in jazz circles) he had my full attention. The “hearing double” of his title refers to the situation where the listener has his own memory of the tune (and perhaps chord sequence) in his head while listening to a performance, or may have a memory of a specific version for comparison (such as the famous Hawkins version of Body And Soul). This is what may and probably does happen when listening to a jazz standard. A fine and unusual example appears at the end of the book with an assessment of how one may listen to Monk’s LP of Ellington compositions. For anyone familiar with Ellington’s music this is indeed hearing double, as he or she aurally scrutinises what Monk’s solo piano has done with Ellington’s melodies and arrangements.
As background to this discussion the author provides a great deal of interesting coverage of the way in which broadcasting in the USA through the middle of the last century developed in many listeners an awareness of different versions of the same song, whether vocal or instrumental, leading to the double hearing of his title. There is also considerable and detailed exploration of musical links such as those between Davis’s So What and Coltrane’s Impressions, and this relates to the philosophical discussion of the nature of musical identity. So if you’re adept at skipping what doesn’t interest you there’s plenty here that’s much more to do with jazz than with philosophy and, if philosophy appeals as well, Professor Kane’s laudable work is right up your street.
Hearing Double by Brian Kane. Oxford University Press; hb; 243pp and 60pp notes, references and index. ISBN 975-0-19-060050-1
