2-5m-1-S3E20 The Horn John Clellon Holmes -JBR

2-5m-1-S3E20 The Horn John Clellon Holmes -JBR

From 2-5-1 by Simon Whiteside and Nicholas Tomalin

May 1, 2026 · 5 min · Episode 20

About this episode

This episode reviews the jazz novel 'The Horn' by John Clellon Holmes, exploring its themes and characters.

One of our jazz book reviews podcasts about the  Novel The Horn by John Clellon Holmes-born 12th March 1926 Studied at various places Columbia 1943 and post-draft at the New School 1949 where he met Jack Kerouac and remained a life long friend First novel published as Go a fictional book based on real characters and considered the first beat novel The Horn was his second novel and again contains many barely disguised real-life characters  The protagonist  the fictional Tenor Colossus Edgar Pool is known as  “ The Horn” a jazz legend who took jazz from Swing to Bebop with his skill and invention -  making him a revered alpha-male.  The book takes place on the evening of The Horn’s final day as he stumbles through New York after being outplayed [allegedly for the first time] by a young sax player. As his friends and lovers search for him they reminisce about his life  It is a classic paean to the talented jazz musician who slowly self destructs through drink, drugs and sex  It is structured in an attempt to mimic jazz performance practices of the 1940s  Chapters are called Choruses or Riffs In the Chorus chapters Holmes defines his…

People in this episode

Hosts: Simon Whiteside, Nicholas Tomalin

Topics covered

  • jazz literature
  • beat generation
  • character study
  • New York
  • jazz history

Keywords

  • jazz
  • novel
  • The Horn
  • John Clellon Holmes
  • beat novel
  • Edgar Pool
  • literary review

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Horn, GO

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