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Da Capo Jazzes Things Up
Calvin Reid -- 8/28/00
Miles Davis masterpiece is the subject of a book that fronts a hip new list for the publisher this fall


The Miles Davis Sextet in action.
Da Capo Press has long been known for quality reprints of classic performing arts titles--not for its parties. But a very popular late-night jazz bash thrown at this year's Book Expo was the first public sign that things are changing at the Cambridge-based publisher. A year after its acquisition by the Perseus Books Group, Da Capo Press is transforming itself from a reprint specialist into an aggressive frontlist publisher of original hard and softcover books while adding hard-soft deals with other Perseus imprints.
To mark the change in its publishing program, Da Capo is releasing Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn. The book is an original examination and celebration of the making of the seminal 1959 jazz recording by the Miles Davis Sextet--probably the best known and definitely the bestselling jazz album of all time--with plans for a marketing and cross promotional push unprecedented for Da Capo.
Another 'Kind of Blue'
This fall, jazz lovers will be able to sample another celebratory study of the Miles Davis masterpiece...
Click Here to read more!

"It's going to be a big one for us," said Lisa Warren, publicity director at Da Capo. Kahn, who has written about music for Rolling Stone and the New York Times, was given unprecedented access to the Sony/Columbia recording archives, including unedited master tapes and all manner of materials that touch on the recording. Kind of Blue is that rare work of art that is both critically acclaimed and wildly popular--even people who hate jazz love it--and the book will likely attract significant media attention. Although it took 30 years to sell 500,000 copies of the record, making it a bestseller, a series of market and cultural changes contributed to an explosion in sales (three million sold since 1997 alone). Kahn's book not only examines the musicians--the leader Miles Davis on trumpet, saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Bill Evans and all the rest--but includes extensive interviews with musical contemporaries of Davis, and with drummer Jimmy Cobb and session photographer Don Hunstein, the two people still alive who were in the studio in 1959 when the music was recorded.

John Radziewicz, publisher of Da Capo Press, told PW Kind of Blue is the first release in its expanding program. "For 25 years, Da Capo was a specialized trade publisher reprinting out of print and public domain titles," he said. "We'll still do reprints, but we'll add more and more original titles." He said there would be "more promotional efforts, more advertising, more muscle behind all our books," improvements he credits to Perseus resources.
Kahn's book hits stores
in October.
Kind of Blue will be among the first of the new Da Capo titles to benefit from those Perseus muscles. There's a 40,000-copy first printing, another Da Capo first. There's a $50,000 national marketing campaign with print advertising targeted for the New York Times and the New Yorker. For the first time, Da Capo will sponsor a 10-city radio and satellite tour for the author, along with Cobb and Hunstein. And, said Kevin Hanover, Da Capo's marketing director, the house is looking to "piggyback" on the January broadcast of noted filmmaker Ken Burns's much anticipated documentary on the history of jazz. The house is talking with Burns's publisher Knopf about possible cooperative promo efforts. It has already struck a cross-promotional deal with Sony/Columbia, whereby Sony will place 50,000 inserts for the book in Kind of Blue CDs from October through the end of the year, and Da Capo will return the favor with an ad insert for the recording placed in each book.
Da Capo publishes about 70 books a year, which Radziewicz said might increase slightly. But the house will add about eight original titles this year, among them an original hardcover collection by the distinguished p t Mary Oliver (The Leaf and the Cloud) and a 10th-anniversary trade paper edition of H.G. Bissinger's bestselling work on small-town high school football hysteria, Friday Night Lights. Da Capo will also expand on its ongoing but less publicized efforts in the areas of history, military history, science, popular culture and sports. "We plan to be more of a general publisher in the future," said Radziewicz. In the fall, Da Capo will roll out the Best Music Writing series, with the first book edited by noted musical biographer Peter Guralnick, added Radziewicz.

They've even redesigned the Da Capo Web site (www.dacapopress.com), and there's a section devoted to the career of Miles Davis. Popular trade titles, muscle marketing, tech-savvy satellite tours and trendy Web sites? Is Da Capo Press looking to become hip? "We're looking to publish books with a broader reach," said Radziewicz. "But when we aren't publishing books, we're going to be throwing parties."

Another 'Kind of Blue'
A biography of
a masterpiece.
This fall, jazz lovers will be able to sample another celebratory study of the Miles Davis masterpiece, Kind of Blue. In November, St. Martin's Press is releasing The Making of Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and His Masterpiece by Eric Nisenson. Nisenson, a jazz writer and biographer, has written notable biographies of several jazz immortals, among them Davis ('Round About Midnight: A Portrait of Miles Davis); and the saxophonists John Coltrane (Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest), a member of the legendary Davis Sextet, and Sonny Rollins (Open Sky).
Like the Ashley Kahn book (Da Capo), Nisenson not only provides a portrait of jazz and Miles Davis in late 1950s New York, but also takes a close look at the details of the recording sessions, capturing the ambience in Columbia's old E. 30th St. studio as it charts the influence and musical legacy of Kind of Blue. Nisenson also adds substantial discussions of Davis's brilliant sidemen, Coltrane, pianist Evans and alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley.

Dori Weintraub, associate director of publicity at SMP, told PW Nisenson's books have all been well received; she expects reviews to drive the book's sales. "He gets an amazing amount of review coverage," she said, "and we're expecting it again." Promo and marketing plans are still in the works, but Weintraub said jazz and music Web sites would be a part of it. "We're good with music--we do this well," she said.
--Calvin Reid

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