Charleston Mercury and Evening Post Publishing Company Launch Whisky & Jazz by Hans Offringa
Jazz was born in a whisky barrel. — Artie Shaw
Jazz is not background music, it sets the mood, it opens the mind. A glass of malt does the same. So does this book. Thanks, Hans! — Dave Broom, whisky journalist
The Charleston Mercury and its parent company, the Evening Post Publishing Company, are pleased to announce the publication of Whisky & Jazz by Hans Offringa. Mr. Offringa, an international whisky expert, wrote Whisky & Jazz in Charleston with the editorial assistance of Jack McCray, noted jazz historian, jazz columnist for the Post and Courier and author of Charleston Jazz (Arcadia, 2007).
Hans Offringa ingeniously connects ten famous jazz musicians with ten excellent single-malt whiskies. The result is a collection of ten unique blends, each carrying a blue note as well as a tasting note, presented in a “sippin’ and tasting guide. The historical context in which jazz and whisky are placed makes this a publication that will appeal not only to whisky aficionados but also to those who love history and (jazz) music.
The images in the book are primary the work of Gijs Dragt, an award-winning designer and artist from the Netherlands. Mr. Dragt designed Whisky & Jazz and took the photographs of Scottish countryside and several of its distilleries. He and Mr. Offringa have worked together as a team on books and journal articles. The collaboration is part of a 30-year-old friendship.
Gijs Dragt paints stories with his camera, whereas Hans Offringa uses words to tell the legends and myths behind distilleries that make the King o’ Drinks. Together they make beautiful books, matured in friendship like a single-malt whisky takes time to mature in the cask.
The book touches many cultures. In particular, it honors the Deep South’s African-American contributions to creating jazz as the American music. It also showcases the European connections to whisky and the artistic elements of the man who has captured all of this in photographs.
This is Mr. Offringa’s second book in a series on how the senses mix with whisky; the first was A Taste of Whisky. He is the author of more than a dozen books, most about whisky. Widely sought as a speaker, he and his wife, Becky, write a fortnightly column for the Mercury as “The Whisky Couple.” The Charleston Mercury is the only newspaper in the world to have a regular column solely devoted to the enjoyment of whisky, so it is most appropriate that the Mercury is marketing and publishing Mr. Offringa’s book.
Since the Atlantic Ocean forms in the cultural capital of the South, Charleston, shouldn’t the ultimate pairing of American music and European whisky be published in the Holy City? The Mercury thinks so, too. In addition to being available at many retail outlets in the Lowcountry, the book is for sale online via www.charlestonmercury.net