Nica's Dream: The Life and Legend of the Jazz Baroness

Biography & Memoir, Entertainment & Performing Arts
Cover of the book Nica's Dream: The Life and Legend of the Jazz Baroness by David Kastin, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Kastin ISBN: 9780393082319
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: June 27, 2011
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: David Kastin
ISBN: 9780393082319
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: June 27, 2011
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

The first biography of the legendary Rothschild heiress who reigned as New York’s “Jazz Baroness.”

It’s a misty night in 1950s New York. A silver Rolls-Royce screeches to a stop at the neon-lit doorway of a 52nd Street jazz club. Behind the wheel is a glamorous brunette, a chinchilla stole draped over her shoulder and a long cigarette holder clinched in her teeth. After taking a pull from a small silver flask, she glides past the bouncer into the murky depths of the Three Deuces. The Jazz Baroness has arrived.

Raised in fairy-tale splendor, Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild de Koenigswarter (known as “Nica”) piloted her own plane across the English Channel, married a French baron, fought in the French Resistance, and had five children. Then she heard a recording of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight.” Inspired by the liberating spirit of jazz, Nica left her family, moved to Manhattan, and began haunting the city’s nightclubs.

The tabloids first splashed her name across the headlines after Charlie Parker died in her hotel suite—a scandal that cast a dark shadow over the rest of her life. She retreated from the public eye, but through her ongoing ministrations to Monk and dozens of other musicians she became a legend. Nearly a score of jazz compositions have been written in her honor, including two of the most beloved classics of the genre: Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream” and Monk’s “Pannonica.”

Nica’s Dream traces the story of a fascinating woman across her thirty-year reign as the Jazz Baroness, but it also explores a transformative era in twentieth-century American culture. Based on interviews with musicians, family members, historians, and artists, David Kastin’s probing biography unwraps the life of this enigmatic figure and evokes the vibrancy of New York during the birth of bebop, the first stirrings of the Beat Generation, and the advent of abstract expressionism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The first biography of the legendary Rothschild heiress who reigned as New York’s “Jazz Baroness.”

It’s a misty night in 1950s New York. A silver Rolls-Royce screeches to a stop at the neon-lit doorway of a 52nd Street jazz club. Behind the wheel is a glamorous brunette, a chinchilla stole draped over her shoulder and a long cigarette holder clinched in her teeth. After taking a pull from a small silver flask, she glides past the bouncer into the murky depths of the Three Deuces. The Jazz Baroness has arrived.

Raised in fairy-tale splendor, Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild de Koenigswarter (known as “Nica”) piloted her own plane across the English Channel, married a French baron, fought in the French Resistance, and had five children. Then she heard a recording of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight.” Inspired by the liberating spirit of jazz, Nica left her family, moved to Manhattan, and began haunting the city’s nightclubs.

The tabloids first splashed her name across the headlines after Charlie Parker died in her hotel suite—a scandal that cast a dark shadow over the rest of her life. She retreated from the public eye, but through her ongoing ministrations to Monk and dozens of other musicians she became a legend. Nearly a score of jazz compositions have been written in her honor, including two of the most beloved classics of the genre: Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream” and Monk’s “Pannonica.”

Nica’s Dream traces the story of a fascinating woman across her thirty-year reign as the Jazz Baroness, but it also explores a transformative era in twentieth-century American culture. Based on interviews with musicians, family members, historians, and artists, David Kastin’s probing biography unwraps the life of this enigmatic figure and evokes the vibrancy of New York during the birth of bebop, the first stirrings of the Beat Generation, and the advent of abstract expressionism.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps: Empires of Time by David Kastin
Cover of the book Divine Nothingness: Poems by David Kastin
Cover of the book Servants of the Map: Stories by David Kastin
Cover of the book Unquiet: A Novel by David Kastin
Cover of the book Psychopharmacology Problem Solving: Principles and Practices to Get It Right by David Kastin
Cover of the book Hunger: A Novella and Stories by David Kastin
Cover of the book Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli In His World by David Kastin
Cover of the book Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency by David Kastin
Cover of the book What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen by David Kastin
Cover of the book One to Nine: The Inner Life of Numbers by David Kastin
Cover of the book Happiness in a Storm: Facing Illness and Embracing Life as a Healthy Survivor by David Kastin
Cover of the book Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers by David Kastin
Cover of the book The Greek Way by David Kastin
Cover of the book Mightier than the Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America by David Kastin
Cover of the book Shadow of Cain: A Novel by David Kastin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy