Stanley Crouch
Stanley Crouch | |
---|---|
Born | Stanley Lawrence Crouch December 14, 1945 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | September 16, 2020 New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged 74)
Nationality | American |
Occupations |
|
Notable work | Don't the Moon Look Lonesome? (2000 novel) |
Awards | Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (nonfiction), 2016 |
Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020)[1] was an American poet, music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer.[2] He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?
Biography
Stanley Lawrence Crouch was born in Los Angeles, the son of James and Emma Bea (Ford) Crouch.
Crouch was then active as a jazz drummer. Together with
Crouch befriended
After his stint at the Voice, Crouch published Notes of a Hanging Judge: Essays and Reviews, 1979–1989, which was selected by The
Crouch continued to be an active author, producing works of fiction and nonfiction, articles for periodicals and newspaper columns. He was a columnist for the
Crouch became less of a public figure due to declining health during his last decade. He died on September 16, 2020, at
Crouch's personal and professional papers are held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. [10]
Personal life
Crouch lived in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.[11]
Opinions
As a political thinker, Crouch was initially drawn to, then became disillusioned with, the
In his syndicated column for the New York Daily News, Crouch frequently criticized prominent African Americans.[nb 1] Crouch was critical of, among others: Alex Haley, the author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Roots: The Saga of an American Family;[15] community leader Al Sharpton;[16] filmmaker Spike Lee;[17] scholar Cornel West,[18] and poet and playwright Amiri Baraka.[19]
Crouch was also a fierce critic of
From the late 1970s, Crouch was critical of forms of jazz that diverge from what he regarded as its essential core values, similar to the opinions of Albert Murray on the same topic. In jazz critic Alex Henderson's assessment, Crouch was a "rigid jazz purist" and "a blistering critic of avant-garde jazz and fusion".[24] Crouch commented: "We should laugh at those who make artistic claims for fusion."[25]
In The New Yorker Robert Boynton wrote: "Enthusiastic, combative, and never averse to attention, Crouch has a virtually insatiable appetite for controversy."[6] Boynton also observed: "Few cultural critics have a vision as eclectic and intriguing as Stanley Crouch's. Fewer still actually fight to prove their points."[6] Crouch was fired from JazzTimes following his controversial article "Putting the White Man in Charge" in which he stated that, since the 1960s, "white musicians who can play are too frequently elevated far beyond their abilities in order to allow white writers to make themselves feel more comfortable about being in the role of evaluating an art from which they feel substantially alienated."[26]
Association with Wynton Marsalis and Ken Burns
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis called Crouch "my best friend in the world" and "mentor".[27] The two met after Marsalis, at the age of 17, settled in New York City to attend the Juilliard School.[27] The two shared a close relationship,[27] Crouch having written liner notes for Marsalis' albums since his debut album in 1982.[28]
When Marsalis served as "Senior Creative Consultant" for
After Jazz, Crouch appeared in other Burns films, including the DVD for the 2002 remastered version of
Awards, honors, distinctions
- In 2004, Crouch was invited to a panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award, a $25,000 award designed to protect speech as it applies to the written word.[32]
- In 2005, he was selected as one of the inaugural fellows by the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University.[33]
- In 2005, Crouch was named Man Of The Year by Patrick Lynch of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York for being "as bold in his support for New York City police officers as he is in his condemnation of the city’s “cheapskate” attitude in compensating the men and women who risk their lives every day to keep New York City safe and civil", which awards annual awards to men who perform acts of political allyship towards policing as a construct and has been presided over by Patrick J. Lynch since 1999.[34]
- Crouch served as president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation from 2009 on.
- In 2016, Crouch was awarded the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (nonfiction).[35]
- Crouch was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[7]
Bibliography
Non-fiction
Victory Is Assured: Uncollected Writings |
Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz |
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker |
The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity |
Always in Pursuit: Fresh American Perspectives, 1995-1997 |
The All-American Skin Game, or, The Decoy of Race: The Long and the Short of It, 1990–1994 |
Notes of a Hanging Judge: Essays and Reviews, 1979–1989 |
Reconsidering the Souls of Black Folk, with Playthell G. Benjamin |
One Shot Harris: The Photographs of Charles "Teenie" Harris |
Fiction
Don't the Moon Look Lonesome? (2000) |
Poetry
Ain't No Ambulances for No Nigguhs Tonight (1972) |
Notes
References
- ^ Roberts, Sam (September 16, 2020). "Stanley Crouch, Critic Who Saw American Democracy in Jazz, Dies at 74". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ Garner, Dwight (October 10, 2013). "Stanley Crouch's 'Kansas City Lightning,' on Charlie Parker". The New York Times.
- ^ "Stanley Crouch". NNDB. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ "California Birth Index (1905-1995)". SFGenealogy. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ "HIP WAX (hipwax.com) VINYL RECORDS -- Funk, Soul, Funky Rock, Disco, Breakbeats". www.hipwax.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Boynton, Robert S. (November 6, 1995). "The Professor of Connection: A profile of Stanley Crouch". The New Yorker. pp. 97–116. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ a b "Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation". Louisarmstrongfoundation.org. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- National Public Radio(NPR).
- ^ West, Michael J. (September 17, 2020). "Stanley Crouch 1945–2020". JazzTimes.
- ^ "The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Remembers Stanley Crouch". NYPL.org. September 22, 2020.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (March 28, 2011). "This crazy quilt called America", New York Daily News. Retrieved February 21, 2019: "In my Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, I often ride my bike over to the Clover Club to hear the Michael Arenella Quartet."
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (January 10, 2010). "Then & now, I'm a Negro: The people who used that word gave it majesty". NY Daily News.
- ^ Author unidentified (January 30, 1995). "The 100 Smartest New Yorkers". New York Magazine, vol. 28, no. 5, p. 41.
- ISBN 978-0-679-44202-8.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (April 12, 1998). "The Roots of Alex Haley's Fraud". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Lamb, Brian (May 12, 1996). "The All-American Skin Game, or the Decoy of Race". Booknotes. C-SPAN. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (April 25, 2011). "Nation in love with minstrelsy: Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, Snoop Dogg and struggle to define blackness". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (May 23, 2011). "Cornel West is an expert showman but nothing more: The lead huckster of the Ivy League's takedown". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ISBN 0-8147-9373-8.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (March 12, 1997). "Fatal Attraction: Rappers & Violence". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (May 27, 2004). "Some Blacks Stand Tall Against the Buffoonery". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (April 23, 2004). "Hip Hop Takes a Hit; Black Women Are Starting to Fight Rap's Degrading Images". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (September 11, 1996). "Tupac shows risk of being rapped up in stage life". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Stanley Crouch - Biography". allmusic. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (March 2002). "Four-Letter Words: Rap & Fusion". JazzTimes. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Crouch, Stanley (April 2003). "Putting the White Man in Charge". JazzTimes. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Wynton Marsalis - Pulitzer Prize for Music". The Achiever Gallery. American Academy of Achievement. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "Wynton Marsalis - Credits". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
- ^ Stevens, Jan (2001). "On Ken Burns JAZZ documentary - and Bill Evans". The Bill Evans Webpages. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "Stanley Crouch". Internet Movie Database. imdb.com. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award". PEN American Center. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Bernstein, Elizabeth (April 15, 2005). "Giving Back" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "PBA names Stanley Crouch 'Man of the Year'" (Press release). September 2, 2005. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ "Stanley Crouch". Windham–Campbell Literature Prize. February 29, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.