Whitney Balliett

Whitney Balliett died this morning. Balliett was one of the most gifted and persuasive writers about jazz music. I guess I started reading his New Yorker pieces almost fifty years ago and I own half a dozen or so books in which most of them were collected over the years. Sometimes his writing infuriated me but when I connected with his prose it was like doors opening up to rooms filled with jazz I would otherwise never have entered. I didn't always agree with him - he wasn't as open to new developments in jazz in the sixties as I thought he should be - but his passion and insight were an inspiration. Doug Ramsey, another wonderful jazz writer, has written an informative tribute here: http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/