Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz

Series Page, Title Page, Frontispiece, Copyright, Dedication, Quotes

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the AMS 75 PAYS Endowment of the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Music Makes Me Music Makes Me Fred Astaire and Jazz Todd Decker university of california press Berkeley • Los Angeles • London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England© 2011 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Decker, Todd R. Music makes me : Fred Astaire and jazz / Todd Decker. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-26888-3 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-26890-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Astaire, Fred. 2. Jazz musicians—United States— Biography. 3. Dancers—United States—Biography. 4. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States— Biography. I. Title. ML420.A896D46 2011 781.65092—dc22 2011004809 Manufactured in the United States of America 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100 percent postconsumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy. For Kelly, David, and James You can’t say to a jazz performer, whose talent is worth anything, that he plays avant-garde, or that he plays Dixieland, or that he is modern or a proponent of the Chicago style. A substantial musician will say, “I just play.” —Jazz musician Bud Freeman, quoted in Burt Korall, Drummin’ Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz, the Swing Years When you come to the evolution of the dance, its history and philosophy, I know as much about that as I do about how a television tube produces a picture—which is absolutely nothing. I don’t know how it all started and I don’t want to know. I have no desire to prove anything by it. I have never used it as an outlet or as a means of expressing myself. I just dance. —Fred Astaire, Steps in Time Dick Cavett: Do you dance every day? Fred Astaire: I don’t usually dance. Oh, a piece of music might set me off. —The Dick Cavett Show, November 1970 Goodman cherishes a remark by Fred Astaire, who said: “I’d rather play like Benny Goodman than dance like Fred Astaire.” —New York Post, 6 June 1973 ...