High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm: The Life and Music of Valaida Snow
by Mark Miller
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark MillerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10
ISBN: 1551281279
Number of pages: 187
Publisher: Mercury Press (Canada)
Book Reviews of High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm: The Life and Music of Valaida Snow
Book Review: THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT
Summary: 5 Stars
To the prospective biographer, Valaida Snow presents something of a challenge. She was a talented singer, trumpeter, and dancer who toured widely throughout Europe and the Far East, and yet whose career was obscured by myths, many created by Valaida herself. Perhaps as a result, it's taken over 50 years from her death in 1956 for the definitive account of her life to be produced, and what a life it was, as Mark Miller relates it. He has set out to overcome the mythology by returning to contemporary accounts, meticulously annotated, and avoiding new suppositions dressed as fact. He rather disarmingly defines his role as that of spoilsport, although that is not borne out by the result.
The amount of detail which he has uncovered is quite breathtaking in its scope, and yet one never feels overwhelmed by it. Rather, his narrative unfolds at a measured pace, covering Valaida's various roles in revue and vaudeville, her musical and other associates, and the cosmopolitan nature of her career. The several crises in that career, including the true nature of her Danish detention in 1942, are spelt out objectively, and whilst readers may detect where the author's sympathies lie, they are left to draw their own conclusions.
The facts of Valaida's life may have needed scrupulous unravelling, but her recorded output is somewhat more accessible, particularly those 32 sides that she recorded in London for the Parlophone label, which constitute just short of half her recorded output. All are set out in a separate discography, and analysed chronologically within the narrative. In short, this is an indispensable work of scholarship for anyone seeking to broaden their understanding not just of that phenomenon called Valaida Snow, but also of her music and the times in which she lived and played.
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