ABSTRACT
Of particular interest to fans and biographers are the so-called swan songs—the final concerts and last recording dates—which almost invariably have tempted commentators to hear the music in light of the impending end. Albeit often unintentionally, most of these narratives tend to perpetuate the gendered and racialized stereotypes that have been part of both jazz's history and its historiography. This chapter discusses such final recordings and the narratives spun around them. Three case studies shed light on different aspects of such (presumed) swan songs. Two cases involve concerts that have been constructed as final: Miles Davis's revisiting at the Montreux Jazz Festival of recordings he made with Gil Evans and a bootleg tape of Clifford Brown, issued on The Beginning and the End, reportedly recorded hours before he died in a car accident. Ben Webster's last performance shares a short public address with Brown's alleged final concert, with foreboding closing remarks that add extra drama to the swan song.
