Intermission
In 1961, jazz pianist Bill Evans dropped out of public sight for several weeks, devastated by the car-crash death of Scott LaFaro, his bassist. Evans stayed with his parents in Florida during this time, and this period is the subject of Owen Martell’s 2013 novel Intermission. A film version of the novel has just been released and is entitled, Everybody Digs Bill Evans.
Bill Evans was a narcotics user throughout most of his adult life, injecting himself with heroin and later cocaine. Harry, his older brother, knew this and tried to help Bill, always hoping to get him off drugs. Later in life, Harry developed schizophrenia and died by suicide. He was married and had a daughter, Debby, who was immortalized in Bill’s composition, Waltz for Debby. Bill actually was married twice and had a son in another relationship, although, since this occurs later, it’s not relevant to this story
Intermission is a different sort of beastie than say, The Memory Police, in that it is based on real people and events, although it is a fictionalized version in that the moment to moment experience of the characters is imagined. There was a “real” Bill Evans, his father and mother, Harry Sr. and Mary, his brother Harry and his wife Pat, and their daughter, Debby, but they left no memoir that such a work as Intermission could be based on. The scenes represent a particular view of a particular author on what might have been. An advantage this type of storytelling has is that there are characters and backstory already present; the people (especially those who would buy and read Intermission) know something about the real Bill Evans and his family. People have pre-conceptions which may or may not be confirmed. Mr. Martell risks the wrath of some who may object to his “taking liberties” with such a revered artist, but Intermission is clearly a work of fiction. The title refers to a break musicians take between performances.
After the title page, there is a dedication in the Welsh language, as Mr. Martell is Welsh. For Tom and for my parents. (I’m guessing Tom is Mr. Martell’s brother—Ha! No one knew I speak Welsh.) Then we have a quote from no other than Miles Davis, whom the real Bill Evans performed with. Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.
We’ll have to consider how this fits into the story. It’s not a prologue, as it doesn’t reference the characters, but it does describe the story in enigmatic fashion. Mr. Martell doesn’t so much write a story about the facts of the characters’ lives, more about their experience—the larger explanation of their lives isn’t there. By way of example, although things begin with Bill’s brother Harry reading about Scott Lafaro’s death in the newspaper, there is no further reference to what arguably, is the key event in the story for another fifty pages.
The whole book is structured in four parts, each corresponding to a different character’s close third person perspective. They are entitled:
The Petrushka Chord (Harry)
All-Night Vigil (Mary)
The Colour of Saying (Harry Sr)
Acknowledgement (Bill)
The first two are clear musical allusions (Stravinsky and Rachmaninov), the other two—if they are allusions—I don’t recognize them. Within each section are chapters which also have musical references as titles.
Petrushka was a ballet written by Igor Stravinsky and was one of Bill’s favorite pieces of music, one that he first heard as a child. The Petrushka chord is a recurring polytonal device consisting of two major triads separated by a tritone; when sounded together, the chords clash horribly with each other, producing a distinctive and dissonant sound. The first section being called this would suggest a theme of two things sounding together and producing a significant sound.
Indeed, if we see Bill and Harry as these two things, they are two different people who are very close, who produce a sort of music in combination, a music not always pleasant to hear.
The Petrushka Chord section begins with a chapter entitled Impromptu. Impromptu is of course, another musical reference, more generally meaning doing, saying, or creating something on the spot without any prior planning, rehearsal, or preparation. Perhaps this refers to the surprise of sudden death via a car accident, of the way the survivors have to react to something unplanned.
As said above, Harry is shown learning of Scott Lafaro’s death. He immediately worries about Bill’s reaction, calls him and gets no answer, and then leaves his NYC apartment, headed out to find Bill. In the course of this section, he finds Bill and, still worried about him post Lafaro’s death, asks that he stay at his place. This doesn’t work out, as Harry is aware of Bill going out to purchase drugs and is concerned at the effect of this on his young daughter, Debby. Finally, he asks his parents, who live in Florida, if they will take Bill in, and they agree. Harry persuades Bill to go and puts him on a plane.
And that’s the story told in the first section. But how is it told?
“It was late in the evening, after dinner and Debby, before Harry got a chance to open the paper.” This is the “opening” line. In this first chapter, Harry is shown reacting to the news of LaFaro’s death. “Harry thought of the fingers he’d seen and felt, thwanging and plucking, roughly affectionate on the neck of his bass like a farmer’s handling livestock…He wondered if he had family, a wife, children, and thought of Debby, asleep in the next room…And he thought of Bill, meek and needy. He felt afraid for him, suddenly.” He tries calling Bill but gets no answer. “He took the base of the telephone in his hand and stook facing the window. There was a fleeting reflection of their father in the glass.” He speaks with his wife and leaves the apartment to find Bill.
A fairly straightforward narrative scene, mostly involving one character whose internal-ness is shown. It’s established that Harry worries about his brother—although we don’t know why, and a connection is made to the sons’ father, who is of course, not really in Harry’s apartment but on his mind. There is the simile “like a farmer’s handling livestock.” This could be Harry’s thoughts but it’s more likely that it’s the implied author offering a poetic motif. What I mean is that the average person—even a musician like Harry Evans—probably wouldn’t have a memory of Scott Lafaro and think his hands playing the bass were “like a farmer’s…”
In the next chapter, Harry is shown walking down a NYC street. “He…set about walking, an insistence in his shoulders, as if the effort he put in now would be totted up later for possible gains.” Here’s a clear example of the narrative being very close to this third person character. There’s an entity observing Harry inside and out and making meaning of his behavior. Then, it’s telling a story about him—he’s not telling a story about himself.
Let’s stop there.
Till next time.
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