Nat Hentoff told his readers early on: “I was introduced to jazz, and that's become a basic concern and passion of mine ever since.”
Hentoff’s work first appeared in The Village Voice in 1958 where he covered New York City politics, penned scathing media criticism, and wrote prodigiously about jazz. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1972; contributed to innumerable newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Downbeat, and Jazz Times; was recognized by the National Press Foundation for “a lifetime of distinguished contributions to journalism;” and was named a NEA Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, the first non-musician to receive this award.
Louis Armstrong historian Ricky Riccardi acknowledged that one of the 40 books written by Hentoff, Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya, “was a big part of my indoctrination into the jazz world. It didn’t take long to realize that when I saw Nat’s name anywhere, I should pay attention.”
Terry Teachout, current drama critic for The Wall Street Journal, points out that Hentoff was not a musician nor exactly a jazz critic or scholar, “but an intelligent enthusiast with good taste and a receptive ear; a technological Luddite who never abandoned the typewriter and never est
