Comics and the Graphic Music Thing

Chico and Rita by Javier Mariscal and Fernado Trueba is one of my most recent comics purchases along with Jonathan Ross' Turf. It's a love story with its setting split between Havana and New York. Just as important as the romance between Chico, a pianist and Rita, a singer is the love affair between New York's legendary Bop Jazzmen like Dizzy Gillespie and the exotic sounds of Cuban musicians. More about Chico and Rita and the difficulties of doing the graphic music thing after the jump.

The graphic novel reads like love letter to Cuban "Descargas" music. In fact, it was listening to some of Cachao Lopéz's music that really helped me to nail the feel of the panels and read in a way that felt in accordance with the art and text. Listening to Descargas is a sure way to gain some insight into the flow of the story. I've been meaning to write about my impressions of Paolo Parisi's Coltrane and its dependence upon John Coltrane's A Love Supreme for narrative structure. It's my hope that in the coming years music and comics will prove a heady combination.

Of course the relationship of prose books with music is better developed. We have books about genres, artist biographies, developmental histories, accounts of classic albums and collections of music journalism, not to mention famous novels like High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Increasingly, publishers like selfmadehero are putting out graphic biographies of musicians like Johnny Cash--I see a Darkness or fiction with strong musical themes, like Chico and Rita. Alan Moore makes liberal use of musical allusions and quotations in V for Vendetta and Watchmen. I've also previously talked about Courtney Taylor-Taylor of the Dandy  Warhols and his One Model Nation, which is a noble attempt in fiction to do the graphic music thing.

I really hope the graphic approach will enliven books about music. Particularly the classic album sub-genre. Right now it's something that is, in my opinion, often let down by the prose treatment. Although obviously a good writer, I feel somehow let down by Bryan Waterman's treatment of Marquee Moon for Continuum's 33 1/3 series. My friends and I didn't really get on with that series' Loveless book, either. Yes, you get the facts, but the challenge is always going to be getting the feeling--that's what sets appart a satisfying read and a wikipedia article. Not to say Bryan Waterman's research isn't excellent, becuause it is. Feel is something exceedingly difficult to do, particulary with music when the feel of the original work prefigures the expectations of your audience.

I haven't mentioned documentaries much here but I would recommend the Stephen Kijak directed Stones in Exile for a good indication of the film's power to enliven a classic album.