I stumbled across this book at the Bookery in Fairborn, Ohio which has a little hidden niche of early 20th century paperbacks and pulps. I’m always on the lookout for something different from the era. This book looked to be a seedy romp into the backdoor of Jazz. I assumed it was from the 40’s or more likely the 50’s, when soulful Jazz got publicly popular but was surprised to see that the book was actually written in 1938. I’m nowhere near a jazz expert but everything I’ve heard from that era was big band and well, very tame. As someone who played in underground music for twenty years of my life I should have known better. Besides music that has been created for mainstream commercial consumption there is always a real version of the genre sitting just below the surface of the music you normally hear. I was also surprised to see that this was written by a woman. A woman jazz fanatic in the 30’s. Who was Dorothy Baker?
She was born in 1907 in Montana. Played the violin but lost the ability to play due to polio. She graduated from the University of California in 1929 with a degree in French. Moved to France, married poet, Howard Baker and moved back to California. She published a few short stories centered around jazz, which she loved. Young Man with a Horn was her first novel. It is loosely based on the life of real-life jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke.
In the novel there is a female character who has ambiguous lesbian hints even though she is married to the main male character. It’s very subtle though and I wouldn’t even have noticed it had I not seen it mentioned somewhere else. There has been some question as to whether Dorothy was a lesbian herself but due to society at the time, she married a man and just suppressed her real feelings. In her next novel, Trio, also a jazz centered story, there are once again lesbian-ish characters. I haven’t read it yet, but it seems these aren’t as ambiguous. When the decency folks started flinging accusations, she denied that there was any lesbianism at all. She tried making the novel into a play, but it was taken off Broadway on the grounds of obscenity; once again, the lesbian themes. Three more books were to follow, always with the subtle lesbian hints. I’m assuming as time went on, they weren’t as subtle.
I don’t usually do deep dives on the authors; I just enjoy reading the stories and let the other blogs handle the research (which I do find interesting). I’d rather spend the time reading the next book. I’m selfish, what can I say. But while I was reading this, I was just so surprised to see it was written by a woman. Not that I think women can’t write about jazz but more because of the stereotypes of the era I assumed it’s not something a women would usually do. It’s inspiring honestly and thought she deserved a little biography on this one. And now on to the review:
Rick Martin was born a poor white kid in the city of Los Angeles. His parents are dead, and he is raised by his Aunt and Uncle who give him a tiny closet room, make sure he has food and clothes and pretty much call it a done deal after that. They are non-existent in the story. Rick is overwhelmingly drawn to music which comes quite naturally to him. He sneaks into his religious high school in the mornings to get a chance to play the piano in the music room. It’s going well until a group of pyscho religious students stumble upon him and go Jesus crazy on him. With that window of opportunity gone Rick realizes he needs to get a job so he can afford an instrument of his own. He gets a job at a bowling alley. Which on a personal note, I have always fantasized about. He meets his best friend, Smoke, who also works there. There is a color barrier, but the love of jazz music breaks it down.
Smoke takes him to hear local up and coming jazz legends, Jeff Williams Band at the jazz club down the street. It’s a speakeasy so even though the boys could walk in, they sit outside the back door every night for months just listening to the music. Rick is aware that his white skin might draw some stares, so he doesn’t push to go inside. As someone who became obsessed with music in my early teens this part hit a romantic nostalgia. The way the boys would do anything just to be near the music was so spot on. The way this is written it’s hard to believe Dorothy wasn’t a musician herself in the actual jazz scene she talks about. It’s so real. The feelings, the thoughts. This whole beginning was emotionally overwhelming and inspiring.
Eventually they run into the musicians. Smoke actually knows them and has played with them a couple times so everything is friendly. They invite the boys to an after afterhours jam session that goes on until the sun comes up. Jeff lets Rick sit at the piano for a bit. He then offers Rick lessons. Rick’s dream is coming true. He has finally found a place where he belongs. He moves from piano to the trumpet wherein he also gets lessons.
A couple years later Rick is old enough and good enough to join a band for real. Because of the color barrier he joins an all-white band in a sunny seaside resort type area. His fratty bandmates are quick to throw the N word around and separate jazz into blacks and whites. Rick never jumps in to squash the racism but obviously doesn’t join in either. He does constantly tell the other members how great these players are and makes them listen to all of their records. They eventually get on board with Rick’s ideologies. It’s interesting. It’s the 30’s so just like the lesbian factor it’s not like Dorothy can come right out and bluntly say, racism is bad but the way she shows you instead of preaching is both practical and I believe a more successful way of approaching the subject. Not only that but it fits perfectly into the storyline. It’s not wedged in there all awkwardly like so many movies and TV shows of our current times do. It’s an intelligence and talent that is sorely missed in our current era.
Rick blows away the other musicians and soon becomes the star of the show. Professional band leaders come down to check him out and soon he is whisked away for the big time back in jazz central, New York City.
In New York he runs into his old buddies, Jeff, Smoke and the rest of the original crew. They tear through New York playing after hours bars and speakeasies. They attend their proper mainstream day jobs in the big bands and then party it up all night playing music and drinking until dawn. Rick is now at the top of his game and the best horn player all around. He plays on record after record. He is a jazz world celebrity and lives and breathes the world of music.
Eventually he meets a woman named Amy. She is friends with Smoke’s jazz singing sister, who is also a jazz star in her own right. This is where the subtle lesbian stuff comes in. Amy seems infatuated with Smoke’s sister but soon gravitates towards Rick. She seemed to me more of a star chaser than anything actually resembling romance so maybe that’s why I didn’t notice the lesbian hints. This was the only part of the book that took a dip in interest to me. I could tell right away that the relationship was going to dissolve, he was going to drink more and that would lead to the end of Rick so it was kind of a bummer way to the end book but also the perfect way to end the book as it’s how a lot of musicians stories end, with everything crumbling apart. Also, this isn’t a spoiler, all of this is laid out at the beginning.
If you couldn’t tell, I absolutely loved this book. LOVED. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has played music and had the passion overwhelm them. I’ve already droned on and on so just real quick, it looks like they made a movie out of this. It’s appropriately called, Young Man with a Horn and stars Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall and Doris Day. I have yet to see it but from watching the clips it looks pretty cool.
Originally published in 1938
My copy: Signet second printing 1953
Review by Nick Anderson
