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Stanley Crouch

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Critic

The Resume

    (December 14, 1945-September 16, 2020)
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Jazz critic, social commentator, poet, and novelist
    Wrote for the Village Voice, Jazz Times, New Republic, and the New York Daily News
    Named poet in residence at Pitzer College (1968)
    Wrote the novel ‘Don’t the Moon Look Lonesome?’ (2000)
    Consultant for (and frequently appeared in) the Ken Burns documentary ‘Jazz’ (2001)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said about a brief period as a drummer, ‘The problem was that I couldn't really play. Since I was doing this avant-garde stuff, I didn't have to be all that good.’
    He has been described as a ‘rigid jazz purist.’
    He did a complete 180 on avant-garde jazz, such as going from hailing Cecil Taylor in 1979 as ‘the magician, the interpreter, the visionary’ to a decade later writing that Taylor and his band ‘embodied everything wrong in jazz.’
    He called gangsta rappers ‘the scum of the earth.’
    He was known for dissing other blacks, such as Toni Morrison (‘no serious artistic vision or real artistic integrity’), Spike Lee (‘a nappy-headed Napoleon’), and Cornel West (‘the lead huckster of the Ivy League’s takedown’).
    A former friend, author Quincy Troupe, said, ‘He turns all his intellectual attacks into personal vendettas.’
    He got fired from the Village Voice after punching hip-hop critic and Public Enemy associate Harry Allen (1988).
    He slapped the face of a reviewer who panned his novel.
    He and Molly Ivins were hired by 60 Minutes to provide ‘Point/Counterpoint’ style commentary only to be let go after eight fairly stiff appearances (1996).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His father was in jail when he was born; he would not meet his father until he was twelve.
    He witnessed the Watts riots firsthand (1965).
    He got hired as an English professor at Pomona College despite not having a college degree.
    He served as a mentor to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
    With Marsalis, he established the Jazz at Lincoln Center program of concerts (1987).
    Senator Chuck Schumer said, ‘Stanley pokes holes in the conventional wisdom of the left and right. His views are neither black, nor white-they're just smart.’
    He received a MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant.’ (1993) and a NEA Jazz Masters Award (2019)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 29 Votes: 82.76% Annoying