Be-Bop, Re-Bop by Xam Wilson Cartier

*Used - good condition

Published by Ballantine Books 1987

Be-Bop, Re-Bop is told in language that swings off the page. It's the story of the 30s--Krazy Kat cartoons, the Louis-Schmelling fight, the young Nat King Cole. The story of the 40s--the Flying Black Aces, Billie Holliday, and the least-known titans of jazz. It's the story of the 50s, with its bawling baby named de-segregation, and the story of now, with its brie, chablis and self-centered me.

Riding a riff of sheer joy, Be-Bop conjres up the time and life of an on-the-spot sage known as Double, along with the dues and cues of the headbump reality he chooses to use to his gain. Up front of that backdrop we meet Double's daughter and grow to know her, not just as Double's young chip but as an upgrown observer in Double's own image. Then there's level-edged Vole, Double's wife and too there's PQ, Muh-Dear and the regulars.

Ool ya koo, ah ruby do flew...Be-Bop's the pulse of American Blacklife, the real-deal depiction of folks and their values as partners in time. Not a book but a beat, it's the tune of our roots on their trail to today.