Preferably at night

By Stanley Péan (Author), Gilles Archambault (Preface)

WINNER OF THE 2020 VICTOR-BARBEAU PRIZE When jazz is around, Stanley Péan is not far away, smelling, admiring, and indulging in the passion for this music, which is best listened to at night. The writer and the radio man form a duo to enter, step by step, into the intoxicating universe of this music and into the disturbing world of these musicians whose lives were exhilarating and tragic, alcoholic and devoted, inspired and jolting, sad and triumphant. What is jazz? The question is as old as this music. There are as many answers as there are jazz musicians, but they generally prefer to let the notes speak. If Stanley Péan ventures into writing, it is to better return to listening. This collection is therefore not intended to dissect and define the multiple aesthetics of jazz or to convince anyone of their value. The author is more interested in the comments made about jazz and some of its most illustrious artisans, and in the representation given to it in creative works, whether cinematographic, literary or theatrical. Stanley Péan recounts life trajectories, interweaves music, literature and cinema, and takes the measure of an art as fertile and disconcerting as the century in which it was born. The highlight is "Black and Blue," a reminder of the history of African-Americans in which their musical grievances arose and grew in measure. Like jazz, these essays are spontaneous and thoughtful, organic and refined.

ISBN: 978-2764625934