My Dear Departed Past by Dave Frishberg

As a flexible swing-oriented pianist who became a famous lyricist and composer of insightful and often humorous songs, many of which he sang, Dave Frishberg has carved out his own unique niche in jazz history. His recent memoir, My Dear Departed Past (a perfect name for an autobiography), lives up to expectations. Frishberg, who caught the tail-end of an era when swing and classic bop greats could be bumped into on New York City streets, has a very strong memory of the period and, not too surprisingly, is a skilled storyteller. The first half of his book traces his life from his early days in Minnesota through his two years in the Air Force and his mostly joyful days as a sideman in New York. While he has few kind words about Anita O’Day or Benny Goodman’s personality, his writing about Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, Ben Webster, Bob Dorough, and Gene Krupa pay tribute to their humanity, wit, and musical abilities. Frishberg remembers a brief scene with Ava Gardner and a sad but fascinating incident with Judy Garland. Aaron Copland, Scatman Crothers, Bob Dylan, Malcolm X (who was a baseball fan), Johnny Mercer, and Hoagy Carmichael are among those who make appearances in his memoirs. Frishberg remembers how at one eccentric club, the avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor almost played backup for Tiny Tim! Another particularly memorable story involves his one disastrous and hila