Nica's Dream

April 15, 2011

Music historian and educator Kastin (I Hear America Singing: An Introduction to Popular Music, 2001) narrates the life of Kathleen Annie Pannonica (Nica) Rothschild (1913–1988), an heiress who fell in love with American jazz and soon became a sort of fairy godmother to some of the form's greatest names, principally Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.

The author begins with the most controversial moment in Nica's life: the shocking death in 1955 of Parker, 34, in her New York hotel room. The event propelled her onto the front pages and raised many eyebrows (including, respectfully, Kastin's, who doubts Nica had sexual relations with her musician friends). The author is stymied throughout by the reluctance of Nica's children to grant interviews—or even to permit access to their mother's rich archive of recordings and papers. But he goes with what he has, which is considerable. Kastin chronicles the rise of the Rothschilds, Nica's family, her marriage, notable service in World War II, motherhood, divorce and her absolute devotion to jazz—and to the many musicians she befriended and subsidized. Night after night, she parked her Rolls (later, a Bentley) outside the clubs; she opened her hotel rooms and (later) her house to all-night jam sessions; she helped rescue Monk from oblivion, saw him enjoy a long period of soaring popularity, endured and supported him during his various psychological crises and allowed him to board for protracted times with her. Along the way, Kastin introduces us to just about every major figure in American jazz (Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Art Blakey et al.)—and a few notable fans as well (Norman Mailer and Leonard Bernstein, among others).

Though this is putatively Nica's story, neither the author nor readers can long avert attention from mesmerizing Monk and the other Olympians of bebop.

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Starred review from April 15, 2011

The name Nica de Koenigswarter may not be immediately recognizable, yet she was an important patron to a bevy of jazz greats. Many paid her tribute in compositions, including the one by Horace Silver that serves as the title of this excellent biography. Kastin (I Hear America Singing: An Introduction to Popular Music) traces the journey of this Rothschild heiress and heroine of the French Resistance through her personally groundbreaking 1953 move to New York, where, after leaving her titled husband and her children, she emerged as a major inspirational presence in the jazz world. Koenigswarter frequented jazz clubs from 52nd Street to the Five Spot, hosted jam sessions in her luxurious living quarters, provided generous funding, and befriended numerous jazz talents and often their families--particularly Thelonious Monk--and helped them overcome personal challenges that were often as complex as the innovative music they created. VERDICT This is an essential read for jazz enthusiasts and strongly suggested for those interested in new perspectives on jazz culture and its historical framework. Kastin is an exceptionally fine writer who compellingly blends rare interviews, in-depth research, and masterful storytelling in this first biography of a legendary individual.--Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2011
Born in England in 1913, Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild grew up in a world of cocooning wealth, high achievement, eccentricity, and loss after her father committed suicide when she was nine. Wild about driving fast cars and flying small planes, she married fellow pilot Baron Jules de Koenigswarter. After having the first two of their five children, Nica joined her husband in the French Resistance, driving battlefield ambulances in North Africa and Europe. She then found her true home and spiritual calling in the jazz clubs of New York. There the unconventional, soon to be legendary baroness raced her Rolls-Royce and Bentley through the city streets and hosted all-night jam sessions in her swanky digs, serving as muse, patron, and guardian angel to seminal bebop jazz musicians, especially Thelonious Monk. Music historian Kastin tells Nica's astonishing story with infectious pleasure, respect, and wonder, recounting her generosity, quirkiness, and courage in facing the aggressive racism of 1950s America. Although her children ensure that many aspects of her still controversial exploits remain veiled in secrecy, Kastin succeeds in bringing the surprisingly self-effacing Nica to blazing life while also capturing the transcendent synergy among now-iconic jazz musicians, beat writers, and abstract painters, a creative cosmos profoundly enriched by the passion, largesse, and daring of the incomparable baroness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)