It happens that writing becomes a drain, and as it flows away, everything else flows away too, including passion and desire. In Retratos de Jazz (Tusquets Editores, Col. Andanzas, 2025), Haruki Murakami has brought together texts from two exhibitions to accompany portraits of jazz greats by Japanese artist Makoto Wada. That’s what the book is about: quick, light touches captured by Wada’s brush and some lightning trips that Murakami himself takes to the copies of the albums in his jazz collection, where he pulls out the vinyl records of Chet Baker, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and Count Basie for a total of fifty-five revisitations… without any complexity, without dwelling on schools, variations or styles beyond a brief mention of whether the musician is the true author of a new musical movement, as in the case of Miles Davis, highlighted in a few lines. Beyond that, everything is very simple.
The short vignettes are peppered with references to Murakami’s formation as a music lover, the first records that fell into his hands, and the loss of his virginity—musically speaking—when he attended his first jazz concert at the age of 16. However, he does draw a map, offering a very personal playlist when, in each review, he reveals his preference for a song, album, or exclusive performance by each musician. Clifford Brown’s Study in Brown, Pithecantropus Eerectus by double bassist Charles Mingus, the luxurious performance of what he personally considers “the best white singer after Billie Holiday,” the ill-fated Anita O’Day in her foray into the film Jazz on a Summer Day, and so on until covering a whole palette of pink—in all its shades—of something as rich and diverse as jazz. Enjoyable at times, yes, but…
Murakami is not going to be asked for the kind of chaos and existentialism of his fictional stories or the scaffolding he prepares to outline his sometimes well-crafted characters. It is clear that this is something else, but not that different. A lackluster, watered-down book.
Jazz for dummies, a book without enthusiasm.
