Aficionados of experimental music of the late 20th century will revel in Gann's excellent collection of Village Voice
columns from the late 1980s and 1990s on New York City's vibrant downtown venues. Getting his start in writing criticism for several Chicago newspapers in the early '80s, Gann was hired as music critic for the Voice
in 1986, churning out weekly dispatches on the city's cutting-edge music, composers and concerts, of which about 100 samples out of over 500 are included here. As provocative as Lester Bangs's rock writing and as uncompromising as Nat Hentoff's jazz and blues work, Gann's writing is strong and powerful as it covers such diverse subjects as sampling, popular tastes, multiculturalism, renegade operas, the demise of 12-tone music, commercial minimalism and serialism. Whether writing on the political correctness of art or the sometimes elitist aesthetics of performance music, Gann does not mince words (or bite his tongue). Although he regrets that some of his longer pieces are not included, he does himself proud with his probing chats with such pioneers as Robert Ashley, Glenn Blanca, Philip Glass, Leroy Jenkins, Fred Ho and Yoko Ono. Gann's astute collection deserves to be savored. (Dec.)
