Coltrane Rollins Beebop Melody and a new Style
So, you want to syncretise a new personal style from the beebop genius, hard bop cool of John Coltrane and the melodic sensibilities of the Sonny Rollins colossus? Difficult.
Even more so if you are a walking, talking alto sax wielding Bear; and, a philosophising Platonist with a penchant for William Blake, Shakespeare and the truth.
Jazz and the Art of Saxophone Maintenance
Zabor’s magical blend of detail, storytelling and depth of character build our unusual hero into an entirely believable, and human, hero; an unlikely but likeable denizen of the jazz underground. We join our Bear in the thoroughly human pursuit of love, the meaning of life and the perfect saxophone solo.
Zabor handles the Bear’s psyche – his struggles and triumphs – with consummate skill. After crashing his first New York jam the mysterious Bear begins a helter skelter ride of gigs, tours, and contracts – his mission to find fulfillment and happiness. However compelling, this is no nursury rhyme however, so expect the unexpected.
Love and the Jazz Scene
This book is probably the finest evocation of the life of a musician and the Jazz scene to date and Zabor seamlessly weaves a complex social and emotional portrait that will surprise you. Bear fights to build a life in the world of men, falls in love with a woman and suffers from existential, creative, and artistic doubt. Some of the Jazz ‘analysis’ is exceptional, yet this is a warm and compelling, often hilarious and touching human story that will amaze and delight.
Rafi Zabor and the Great Jazz novel
Zabor took a fourteen year hiatus from writing Bear after it was first seriealised in Musician magazine for which he became editor. The Bear Comes Home won the 1998 PEN/Faulkner proze for fiction which is unsurprsing because the storytelling, vivid insight and translucent narrative flow, clearly cement The Bear Comes Home as most probably the most readable, the strangest and the greatest Jazz novel.
Rafi Zabor The Bosphorous Dogs
Rafi Zabor is currently working on a new novel ‘The Bosphorous Dogs’ which has successfully reached its target on KickStarter.com where he says:
” ..it is very very hard…to get a working advance for an unfinished novel these days..”
You can find out more about his new novel here.
