| Jazz Contributor(s): Rothwell, Miles (Author) |
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ISBN: ISBN-13: 9798670745253 Publisher: Independently Published OUR PRICE: $6.64 Product Type: Paperback Published: July 2020 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Noir |
| Physical Information: 0.32" H x 6" W x 9" (0.46 lbs) 136 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Ben 'Freddie' Thurman lives a solitary life playing piano in a Seoul Jazz club. He lives in a one bedroom apartment. His days float by, rarely seeing the Sun, sleeps after performing all night.One night a group of business men stroll in as it's the only place open. One of the men, takes a photo of the Band with his Android, sometime later he sends it home and to his wife and son who live in the USA. His son researches the Musician and finds out he was a famous session player and member of a backing band at the Lynx Lounge who used to support Freddie Webster, Sonny Stitt and a host of others.The Band were underpaid and ripped off by club owners, the main man Lucky Trappiste often wrote melodies for Bird and was paid in drugs. They went into a radio station studio and recorded nine songs for a record known as the Evidence Sessions - only a few demo copies were pressed but those who heard it said it inspired Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman and others along the way to Free Jazz.The Americans in the Club don't know much about Jazz but they are intrigued with the piano player performing in a Seoul nightclub which is part of a world of drugs, prostitutes and other creatures of the Seoul underworld. Freddie symbolises New York - The people the subway the parks the restaurants they were all me, he states. He lived in the Cecil Hotel on Seventh Ave and frequented Minton's. Freddie remembers the Brownstones with names like Adelle, Onyx. Guy called Drex - used to sell Dexedrine to musos to keep them going through the ten or twelve sets a night - all these musos traversing the streets going from one gig to another sitting in with each other fights over money trying to out solo each other. One of Freddie's neighbours is Gigi, a transsexual dancer who is murdered which calls into question the integrity of the Clubland owners and their dealings with property developers with links to the Freemason Fraternity.Freddie's friends Jae-yo and Cia find out about Gigi's murder while on holiday at a peaceful meditation resort in the countryside. The style of the story is film noir based with references to the purity of Jazz performance and the search and dedication to the cause. Freddie decides the official report of Gigi's death is unacceptable and takes it upon himself to investigate further by delving into the shadowy world of Club owners. Freddie is approached by one such underworld to perform in a proposed Casino venue which Freddie initially baulks at as it epitomises everything he despises - commercialism on a grand scale but changes his mind when the Developer insinuates he might be able to assist with his enquiries into Gigi's death. |
