Pretty good. Covers in detail lots of people who don't generally get coverage of drummer Ed Blackwell and drummer Milford Graves. Having just seen the graves documentary I was pleased that his portrayal was consistent in this book. Great look at what it was really like to be a free-jazz musician in the 60's/70's (spoiler: it was hard!) ( )

This is a phenomenal book about music, music which -- let's be frank -- you probably won't like. Spontaneous, improvised, 'free' jazz is certainly not everybody's cup of tea: it can be raucous, squally 'n' squealy, LOUD and otherwise difficult, and is definitely not the type of jazz that Joe and Jane Standardissue think about curling up with on a snowy day. I don't much like Joe and Jane's kind of jazz for what that's worth -- it's probably Kenny G or some shit like that (which isn't jazz, but I digress).

I happen to love this stuff, and As Serious as Your Life is where I first encountered reliable descriptions of late John Coltrane, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and Sun Ra. I'm especially grateful to Wilmer for the last-named artist, who has been a tremendous influence on and improver-of my life.

I mean, I didn't "get" Cecil Taylor at all until I saw what Wilmer had titled her chapter on him: 88 Tuned Drums. Then it all made sense.

If you are sonically adventurous, this book is a gold mine, a rock on which to stand. ( )