Music: Swing Pundit

Five years ago, before the cry of the jitterbug was heard in the land, a boyish, exuberant Frenchman was busy filling a medieval French castle with hot phonograph records by U.S. jazz players. The Frenchman, Hugues Panassié, had never seen a U.S. jazz orchestra in the flesh. But what he heard on records convinced him: 1) that jazz was a very important type of music, 2) that the difference between good and bad jazz was worth serious critical consideration, 3) that this difference depended not on how jazz was written but on how it was played. To drive his points home, Connoisseur Panassié wrote a book called Le Jazz Hot which, translated into English, promptly became the swing fan’s bible.

Last week Swing Fan Panassié arrived in Manhattan on his first visit to the U.S. After skimming the cream of Manhattan’s swing spots, Pundit Panassie concluded that the U.S.,Manhattan, and Manhattan’s Harlem were “marvelous,” but that “jeeterbogs” were an unmitigated nuisance. He further concluded that a concert of jazz music was a “seely idea,” that the rising generation of “cats” are mere kittens compared with the classic Louis Armstrong, “Bix” Beiderbecke and “Fots Wallair.” His present favorites: Count Basic at the Famous Door, Sidney Bechet and Zutie Singleton, whose jamming is a nightly feature at Nick’s Tavern, Manhattan.