From Library Journal
Larkin originally wrote these record reviews for England's Daily Telegraph , and he gathered most of them in an earlier edition subtitled A Record Diary 1961-68 (1970). While his acerbic derision of modernism as exemplified by Pound, Picasso, and Charlie Parker might be enough to keep all but the most culturally conservative from reading beyond his introduction, readers who can see beyond his opinions will find the poet, novelist, and essayist Larkin. He structures a piece with gentility and flavor, using collections of reviews brief enough to be called notes to exemplify comments about ``the State of Jazz'' and to propound a nostalgic ideal. All What Jazz has as much to say about Larkin as it does about jazz recordings; it is as appropriate for literature collections as for music collections. William Brockman, Drew Univ. Lib., Madison, N.J.Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.