Stanley Crouch

Stanley Crouch (born December 14, 1945, Los Angeles) is an American music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and novelist perhaps best known for his jazz criticism and his novel "Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?"

Biography

During the early 1970s, Crouch moved from California to New York City, where he shared a loft with tenor saxophonist David Murray above an East Village club called the Tin Palace. While working as a drummer, Crouch conducted the booking for an avant-garde jazz series at the club, as well as organizing occasional concert events at the Ladies' Fort.

Since the early 1980s, Crouch has become critical of the more progressive forms of jazz and has been associated with the neo-conservative opinions of Albert Murray. An ardent proselytizer for the music of Wynton Marsalis, Crouch writes the liner notes for all the trumpeter's albums. Crouch was dismissed from "JazzTimes" following his controversial article "Putting the White Man in Charge", in which he asserted that white critics elevate white jazz musicians beyond their abilities.

Crouch appeared in Ken Burns' 2001 documentary "Jazz" and served on the film's advisory board. [imdb name|0189459] [cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/jazz/about/about_credits.htm|title=Jazz|accessdate=2007-09-04|format=HTML|work=PBS.org|publisher=Public Broadcasting System]

Controversy

Crouch has reacted offensively to critics and detractors. At the First Annual Jazz Awards, Crouch was invited to present an award. While reading the nominees, he made disparaging comments about two of them: trumpeter Dave Douglas and pianist Matthew Shipp. After the show, jazz critic Howard Mandel, who was chiefly responsible for creating and organizing the Jazz Awards, confronted Crouch about his earlier comments. After a short argument, Crouch punched Mandel and then was confronted by Shipp, who called Crouch "an Uncle Tom and a fucking loser". However, the two were quickly separated and a brawl was avoided. [ [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/birdlives/bl-8.htm All About Jazz - The Definitive Resource for Jazz Music ] ]

Opinions

Crouch is a fierce critic of gangsta rap music, claiming it promotes violence, criminal lifestyles and degrading attitudes toward women. With this viewpoint, he has defended Bill Cosby's remarks (see the "Pound Cake Speech") and praised a women's group at Spelman College for speaking out against those rap music. Recently several of his syndicated columns have been dedicated to these subjects.

Crouch was invited to a panel of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award, a $25,000 award designed to protect speech as it applies to the written word.

His syndicated column for the "New York Daily News" frequently challenges prominent members of the African American community. Crouch has criticised, among others, author Alex Haley, the author of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and ""; community leader Al Sharpton; filmmaker Spike Lee, scholar Cornel West, playwright Amiri Baraka and Tupac Shakur, whom he called "scum." Fact|Feb 2008|date=February 2008 Crouch's controversial work has won him critical acclaim from some quarters.

In 2005, he was selected as one of the inaugural fellows by the Fletcher Foundation, which awards annual fellowships to people working on issues of race and civil rights. The fellowship program is directed by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University.

References

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Fiction

External links

* [http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=107&category=mediaMakers Brief biography]
* [http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2007/02/interview_with_.html Interview with Crouch by Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus, mostly about "Considering Genius"]
* [http://www.salon.com/bc/1999/01/19bc.html “The Bull in the Black-Intelligentsia China Shop”] (Salon.com article; part of its "Brilliant Careers" series)