Autograph letter on jazz musicians - photo 1
Autograph letter on jazz musicians - photo 2
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Autograph letter on jazz musicians

Lot 406
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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£ 4 032
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1029057
Lot 406 | Autograph letter on jazz musicians
Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
John STEINBECK (1902-1968)

Autograph letter signed ('John') to Eddie [Condon], n.p., n.d.

In pencil. Three pages, 278 x 214mm, on yellow lined paper. Provenance: Christie's New York, 17 April 2001, lot 211.

'They almost seem in themselves to live outside ordinary law and common ethics': Steinbeck on jazz musicians. Steinbeck writes thoughts prompted by Condon's upcoming compilation of essays on jazz musicians, commenting on the difficulty of communicating the experience of musicians in words, giving as examples the verbal inarticulacy of Pee Wee Russell or Bix Beiderbecke in contrast with their musical dexterity. 'I've known musicians ... They are the most confused, childlike, vicious, vain people I know. On the other hand they are the most generous. Their vices are like those of children. Their domestic relations are of mixmaster type ... Business confuses them, and so does politics. They almost seem in themselves to live outside ordinary law and common ethics'. Steinbeck contrasts this with their devotion to their craft: 'They aim at excellence and apparently at nothing else. They are hard to buy and if bought, they either backslide into honesty or lose the respect of their peers ... And further, while there may be some jealousies, they do not compare with those in other professions. Let a filthy kid, unknown, unheard of and unbacked sit in – and if he can do it – he is recognized and accepted instantly'. Steinbeck adduces the 'universality of the language' of music across national and cultural barriers, and concludes 'So Pee wee gets an ulcer and the biographies are more often than not written on police blotters ... You must admit it is a remarkable thing – and it has no historian except you'.

Steinbeck's letter was used five years after his death as the foreword to Eddie Condon's Scrapbook of Jazz (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1973).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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