Description
Book SynopsisLive at the Cellar tells the story of Vancouver's iconic jazz club and other co-operative scenes during the 1950s and '60s and the profound influence they had on the evolution of jazz in Canada.
Trade ReviewGood books on jazz are filled with intriguing stories about the relationships that generate such an energizing art form. This book is that, and more. The more is a carefully considered framework for making sense of the social dynamics that create a jazz scene. Put the stories into the framework and you’ve got a must-read book. -- Brian Fraser, historian and minister * BC Lookbook/The Ormsby Review *
Live at the Cellar deserves an audience beyond jazz aficionados: in a town that tends to endlessly reinvent the wheel, it tells how the first wheel was forged.
-- Alexander Varty * The Georgia Straight *
With verve and insight, Veronica Strong-Boag’s account of Laura Jamieson challenges many widely held myths. The book shows how a seemingly conformist, middle-class matron became an unstinting champion of social change – including women’s enfranchisement, birth control, and social democracy.
The Last Suffragist Standing is a stunning accomplishment, notably for its fresh and compelling twist on Canadian political history. -- Stuart Derdeyn, art and entertainment reporter * Vancouver Sun *
Jago’s book is a sparkler. It shows how a small group of believers can make real change and quietly kick ass to boot. Bless ’em all! ... This is Vancouver’s book of the year, hands down.
-- Trevor Carolan * Subterrain, Issue 81 *
Good books on jazz are filled with intriguing stories about the relationships that generate such an energizing art form. This book is that, and more. The more is a carefully considered framework for making sense of the social dynamics that create a jazz scene. Put the stories into the framework and you’ve got a must-read book. -- Brian Fraser * The Ormsby Review *
Live at the Cellar does important work helping to tell the story of the music in Vancouver at this foundational moment in the city's history as well as drawing connections with other major Canadian scenes during the same period. -- Joe Sorbara * CAML Review *
Marian Jago has performed a genuine service in capturing one of the places that did exist [in the early jazz scene], with a diligently researched and amiably written study of a unique time and place in Vancouver’s musical past.
-- George Fetherling * Literary Review of Canada *
[...]The way Jago sets the stage to explain how and why a musician-run, co-operative jazz venue emerged at this specific time in Vancouver, as in several other places, provides a fascinating window into Canadian history. -- Jill Wilson * Canada's History *
Table of ContentsForeword by Don Thompson
Preface
Introduction
Part 1 | Setting the Scene
1 Are You In or Out? The Nature of the “Scene”
2 Laying the Groundwork: The Early History of Jazz in Canada
Part 2 | The Vancouver Scene
3 The Making of a Jazz Scene: Vancouver’s Cellar Club
4 No Room for Squares: The Cellar as Artistic Hub
5 In the Swing of Things: Growth, Maturation, and Mingus
6 Altered Chords: New Blood and the End of an Era
Part 3 | Other Canadian Scenes
7 Co-ops from Coast to Coast: Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax
Conclusion
Appendices: Gigography for the Cellar, 1956–63; Canadian Jazz Sources
Notes; Selected Bibliography; Interviews; Index
