Sigma Alpha Iota

Summer 2021 30 30 P A N P I P E S had struck, and then rolled deliberately up in a second grand sweep, this time striking true. I never saw a more delicious piece of cleverness. It was so quick-witted and so exactly characteristic of Liszt. Instead of giving you a chance to say, 'He has made a mistake,' he forced you to say, 'He has shown how to get out of a mistake.'" What an invaluable lesson for any music student! Of course, this narrative demands the inclusion of negative impacts in Liszt's life because of complex relationships with a powerful female trio: Countess Marie Catherine Agoult, the mother of his three children; Princess Carolyne zu Sayn- Wittgenstein, his sympathetic and mainly loyal significant other for four decades; and Cosima, his devious daughter who championed the career and memory of Richard Wagner, her second husband, to the detriment of her father. In Volume II, Walker devotes an entire chapter to the War of the Romantics. His masterful storytelling compelled this reader to take a side in the conflict, but which one won't be revealed. This triple treasury contains a wealth of information other than narrative. In the preface of Volume I, a concordance table identifies the locations of Liszt's peregrinations by both their former and alternate names as well as their original and current countries. In Volume II on eleven pages with a font smaller than the text, Walker chronicles Liszt's conducting engagements from 1840 through 1884. In Volume III is an appendix that enumerates his many titles and honors. There is also a summary catalogue of Liszt's approximately 400 pupils and disciples, grouped by 22- plus nationalities, from 1829 through 1886. Parenthetically, Living with Liszt, the diary of Carl Lachmund, one American student, was published in 1995; it is ably annotated, edited, and introduced by Alan Walker with his usual precision and expertise. Walker impressively summarizes both relevant events in Europe and pertinent affairs in the Roman Catholic Church thus providing historical context to understand certain important aspects of Liszt's life. Fortunately for posterity, music, his refuge, enabled Liszt to reach unimaginable peaks. He overcame tragedies (two of his children passed on in their twenties) and survived continual attacks by individuals and the press. The trilogy is fascinating and at times exhausting, but all the while foreshadowing draws the reader onward with compelling force. To say Liszt's life was full of intrigue is an understatement, but Walker looks for the best and remains positive — dispelling myths and scandalous rumors. His gentle humor softens this telling of the intense life story of a true genius. REVIEWS THE LADY SWINGS: MEMOIRS OF A JAZZ DRUMMER By Dottie Dodgion & Wayne Enstice University of Illinois Press, 2021. The latest entry in the series Music in American Life, from University of Illinois Press, introduces readers to longtime jazz drummer Dottie Dodgion (born 1929 in California), a name that is unfortunately an unfamiliar one, even though she is still an active performer in her 90s! Written in the first person, in a conversational style, the book is a fascinating account of a woman who did her best to succeed in the world of jazz, which was unfriendly to women, and even more so to women drummers. Dodgion recounts her life chronologically in a succession of "Scenes" interspersed with chapters called "Behind the Scenes," in which she delves more deeply into some topics. The reader learns about her early exposure to music through her father, a drummer who traveled with various groups, and performed in house bands at strip clubs and similar venues. Her life was far from easy, and she does not hold back from describing some of the more horrifying incidents in her early life, which was spent in poverty and in the company of her mother's poorly-chosen male companions (her parents' marriage ended when she was barely two years old). Dodgion details how she gravitated to the drums herself after starting out as a vocalist, as well as her most important musical influences. She discusses being a jazz musician both on the West Coast and in New York City, where she and her husband, saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, moved in the early 1960s. Dodgion got her share of breaks due to her hard work and her determined, strong character. For instance, she played with Charles Mingus briefly during the late 1940s, earned a position as drummer for Benny Goodman during his stint at Basin Street East in the 1960s, and later performed with cornetist and bandleader Ruby Braff. She also found success playing with Marian McPartland and her quintet. She spent most of her career, however, filling in or doing short-term gigs with groups with varying degrees of talent, making it clear to the reader that her gender, and not her abilities, dictated the course of her career. Above all, Dodgion is forthright and honest about both the positives and the negatives of life as a female jazz drummer. She is frank about some of the seedier aspects of the jazz experience, including the role of drugs and sex in the lifestyle, but the reader ends the book marveling at all Dodgion managed to do with the many obstacles and challenges she faced. Supplementary online material accompanies the book. A musical note symbol occurs periodically in the text when audio or visual material related to it can be accessed on the publisher's website. There are 13 audio excerpts, some from unreleased recordings, as well as a brief video excerpt. The musical examples are especially welcome, as commercial recordings of Dodgion are hard to come by. Dottie Dodgion has had an interesting and musically fulfilling life, and this book is a wonderful account of not only the jazz world of the 1950s and 1960s, but of a musician who deserves more recognition. University of Illinois Press has produced a fitting tribute to a remarkable woman. — Kathi Bower Peterson

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