Battle of the Five Spot, The

This is a new-format reprint of a successful jazz book documenting the debate over ground-breaking jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Coleman revolutionized jazz when he first started playing at The Five Spot in New York City in 1959. Lee investigates this time, considering both the changes within the art and within the society of the time.

AUTHOR

David Neil Lee

David Neil Lee is a writer and double bassist. Originally from BC, he spent years in the Toronto art scene and on BC’s Sunshine Coast, and currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario. He has just finished a PhD in English at the University of Guelph. In 2012, Toronto’s Tightrope Books issued David’s first novel, Commander Zero. In 2014, a new and revised edition of David’s critically acclaimed jazz book The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field was launched at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City. In 2016, the City of Hamilton awarded the Kerry Schooley award for the book that “best conveys the spirit of Hamilton” to David’s Lovecraftian young adult novel, The Midnight Games.

Reviews

“This is a book worth reading for its exhaustive research and the provocative ideas contained in its thesis.” – The New York City Jazz Record

“Engaging and lucidly written, without a trace of academese, it’s a fascinating perspective from which to view this sequence of events, an all-too-uncommon stepping to the side and coming at an issue from a new angle. Would that this were done more often. Highly recommended.” – Just Outside