Monday, May 4, 2009

REMARKABLE-PASSIONATE-JOURNALISTIC-GRIPPING


REMARKABLE-PASSIONATE-JOURNALISTIC-GRIPPING, October 13, 2007
By R. Mayfield Phillips "R. Mayfield Phillips" (Stamford, CT)


- See all my reviews


"Death of a Bebop WIfe" by Grange (Lady Haig) Rutan
Published by Cadence Jazz Books, Redwood, NY
A review by R. Mayfield Phillips

In a noteworthy book, part jazz history, part mystery, part autobiographical; the tragedy of an innocent's (Bonnie Gallagher Haig) loss of life is portrayed in a style that informs, while astonishing the reader at the depth and breadth of its historical content. For jazz buffs, readers will find an intimate look into a somewhat disregarded period where jazz as bebop influenced a large segment of urban culture. The author gives us a first hand glimpse of such notables as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and the central figure, Al Haig. The author, once briefly married to Haig (and also victimized), is able to delve underneath the pleasing artistry of pianist Haig, and reveal a darker character with shadows of misogamy. The ultimate victim's powerlessness at the hands of Haig reminds one of Charles Baudelaire's observations in "Flowers of Evil"

The Devil holds the string which moves us,
In repugnant things we discover charms:
Everyday we descend a step further toward Hell,
Without horror, through gloom that stinks.

By today's standards and given current society's awareness and prosecution of domestic abuse, Bonnie Haig's death, the bumbling police work, and flawed legal proceedings (Haig is freed) seem to be hopelessly disconnected to the perceived tranquility and competency to be found in an affluent New York City suburb. Furthermore family members sounded alarm bells that went unheeded: Robert Rutan (father of Grange) found Haig "weird" and stated "He never bought it." Maggi Gallagher (Bonnie's mother) called Haig "sick, sick sick" acknowledged being "scared to death" and revealed that "Al had beaten up my beautiful daughter."

What was it about that society that provided an alibi for the deviate behavior of certain artists and musicians? The book provides rather graphic insights of parallel cultures with differing standards living side by side. The author has been courageous in providing detail usually only available in a diary to insure credibility and objectivity. While she digs into the past "for both of us" the objective reader's emotions move from sympathy to anger given Haig's actions and final freedom. As Walter Benjamin stated in his "Thesis on the Philosophy of History."

The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the 'state of emergency' in which we live is not the exception, but the rule.

The author's unique narrative style is at times from the perspective of an observer-participant dialectic (reminding us of Baudelaire's flaneur), occasionally as the narrator, but always passionate and intimate journalist who spares no detail or observation as a result of her investigative prowess. The book is written in composition that juxtaposes time events in a non-linear arrangement constantly surprising and pleasing the reader. It is conversation which reaches backward then forward with flashes of anecdotes that charm and reinforce the passion of the author whether it is the music historian, mystery lover, or biography buff, "Bebop Wife" is a story as unique as its author.

You keep coming back like a song...



Although more than fifty years have passed, Al Haig is remembered as an icon and a "young blood" during the bebop revolution. Joanne Haig, his fourth wife and widow, told me this was her favorite picture of her husband, hence, I felt that the preppy lad from Nutley,New Jersey, who hung out with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie when they were creating bebop havoc and mayhem, deserves to be seen with a smile and like the rest of us out here in the world. Certainly his dark side does not betray him.

His first wife: Donna,now 84 and having Alzheimer's, sadly is now in a nursing home in Arizona, but even to this day she thinks Al is down on Sunset Strip on a gig with Stan Getz. To her Al Haig is ever young.

Me, his second wife: Grange, now 71, he liked younger women... has finished Death of a Bebop Wife and can take a deep breath, knowing I did the best I could to document his contribution to the "music."

Bonnie, his third wife, would be 65 had she lived, is caught in a freeze-frame at the age of 25,ever young, ever beautiful and continues to "Walk in beauty like the night" Lord Byron.

Joanne, his fourth wife, and widow, has happily remarried and lives in Canada.

And the music stopped...but we kept on dancing.