Review by Choice Review
Bunny Berigan was considered by many to be second only to Louis Armstrong as the outstanding jazz trumpeter of the 1930s. His deep rich tone, his power in all registers of the instrument, and his great stamina made him one of the busiest, best paid, and most famous musicians of the Swing Era. That he does not occupy a more prominent place in jazz history (such as that enjoyed by his contemporary Roy Eldridge) may very well be due to Berigan's early death in 1942 at age 33. This is the first volume-length study of Berigan. Dupuis is obviously an unabashed fan, and at times his tone is almost breathless in its praise. Yet he directly and candidly confronts Berigan's extramarital dallying and his losing battle with alcoholism. The volume walks an uneasy line between the academic and the general reading audiences. Both may be slightly disappointed: academics may be uncomfortable with the general tenor, whereas general readers may be overwhelmed by detail. Musical discussion is prevalent and accurate, but not technical in nature. Although it may not comfortably fit into a convenient scholarly versus popular niche, this is a significant work on an important and revered figure. Appendixes include a genealogy and itineraries, and there is a useful discography. For all sorts of jazz collections. K. R. Dietrich; Ripon College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bernard ``Bunny'' Berigan (1908-1942) was only 33 when he died an alcoholic's death in New York City, far from his rural hometown of Fox Lake, Wis. Berigan, who played with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey before forming his own band in 1937, wasn't as widely recognized as other bandleaders of his era, but his fans were intensely loyal. His own fidelity, however, comes into question: when Berigan's wife heard that the trumpeter was having an affair with singer Lee Wiley, she confronted him, saying, ``It's her or me''--Bunny choose Lee. Dupuis, a former Detroit school principal, brings together the major successes and myriad scrapes of Berigan's brilliant yet tormented career. Interviews with friends and acquaintances from Fox Lake as well as from the music industry give this enjoyable if occasionally sluggish volume a friendly, admiring tone. Photos not seen by PW. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Dupuis offers the first full-length biography of swing-era jazz trumpeter Bunny Berigan (1908-42). By interviewing dozens of Berigan's relatives, friends, and musical associates, he pieces together the trumpeter's life: the early years in Wisconsin; his extensive work on the CBS radio network; stints with such notables as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman, Billie Holiday, and Bing Crosby; and the formation of the Berigan band in 1937, which hit the charts with ``I Can't Get Started.'' The author ends with the trumpeter's premature death from alcohol poisoning. Throughout the account, Dupuis places Berigan's life in a social and historical context. This lively, well-written, exhaustively researched book is highly recommended for anyone interested in jazz.-- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A jazz trumpeter's dream, the long-awaited (for 50 years) biography of the greatest white trumpet-player of the century. What Michigan-based jazz scholar Dupuis lacks in stylishness is more than made up for by his relentless search for the wellsprings of the Berigan horn's Irish gaiety, growls, and tone. How did Bunny Berigan (1908-42) come up with such a swinging, colossal, fat, velvety sound? Others have had a piercing or big ringing brilliance, but Berigan's tone luxuriated with cream far into the topmost register and deep into the laziest barrel notes- -and he often played that way for 70 hours a week. Dupuis says that Berigan favored his lower lip, resting the horn lightly on it, with vibrato from the jaw and diaphragm, not from pressure or from shaking the horn. The story of Berigan's life is pretty much the legend: young man with horn, beloved by all and gifted by the angels, felled by booze at 33. Some Berigan buddies deny his liquor problem. But Berigan himself, when asked how he could play so well while smashed, replied, ``I practice drunk.'' Dupuis makes a richly documented case for Berigan's genetic inheritance of alcoholism, and he movingly shows the hornplayer's supportless, pre-A.A. battle against it. During Berigan's final months, a fellow bandsman heard the cirrhotic hornman sob, ``I'm too young to die!'' Things we didn't know include his adulterous affair with snake-eyed singer and bandleader-groupie Lee Wiley. During Berigan's last days, we watch the musician hallucinate, with his horn beating off figures in a delirium. A book that belongs in every hornplayer's case, along with a picture of Louis Armstrong. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs--not seen.)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
