Original image by There Stands the Glass.
When I spent 90 minutes in the presence of Stanley Crouch in 2014, I thought of him mostly as the most prominent advocate of Wynton Marsalis’ usurpation of the jazz establishment and as the author of the recently published Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. Knowing what I know now, I would almost certainly have embarrassed myself groveling before the imposing intellectual that day.
Encountering Crouch’s extended meditation on an unlikely performance by the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Disneyland in Victory Is Assured: Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch allowed me to belatedly recognize his brilliance. The new posthumous collection of unpublished and uncollected essays, notes and reviews is an engaging survey of Crouch’s imposing range.
In addition to pieces addressing the familiar Crouch subjects Ellington, Marsalis and Charlie Parker, the survey includes surprising topics including a brief appreciation of the Italian actress Anna Magnani, a scathing takedown of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and a spirited defense of two critically disparaged late-career Marvin Gaye albums.
Although I relished every page of Victory Is Assured, I still don’t buy into a few core Crouch doctrines. Yet the collection allows me to better understand his loathing of rap, disdain for plugged-in crossover jazz and unequivocal endorsement of Marsalis. I only wish I’d come to this more complete understanding during his lifetime.