Jazz at center of ‘Bebop Fairy Tales’

Mark Ruffin wrote “Bebop Fairy Tales: An Historical Fiction Trilogy on Jazz, Intolerance, and Baseball,” with hope that people will learn about baseball, jazz and a little something about themselves. Photo courtesy of Mark Ruffin
Mark Ruffin wrote “Bebop Fairy Tales: An Historical Fiction Trilogy on Jazz, Intolerance, and Baseball,” with hope that people will learn about baseball, jazz and a little something about themselves. Photo courtesy of Mark Ruffin

 Jazz at center of ‘Bebop Fairy Tales'


BY TIA CAROL JONES
Mark Ruffin, best known for his articles and radio show
centered on jazz, has taken his love for the genre and created a historical fiction novel entitled, “Bebop Fairy Tales: An Historical Fiction Trilogy on Jazz, Intolerance, and Baseball.”
     Ruffin said he has always been interested in music and
music journalism. He started his career as a music writer at
Chicago Magazine and went on to write for the Chicago Sun-
Times and the Illinois Entertainer. He joined a screenwriting group with other writers and started to come up with stories about jazz and music. 
    “Just in our hometown alone, there are so many legendary jazz stories,” he said.
     Ruffin said while it took him seven years to write four
screenplays, it took him 17 years to write “Bebop Fairytales.”
He said writing prose is a lot harder than writing screenplays.
     Each story takes place in a different era in history, the
1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Each story is named after a famous
jazz song. The first story is called, “Saturday Night Fish
Fry.” Ruffin’s story is about Bob Fosse, choreographer, and
Gene Ammons, a saxophone player, and a wild night in New
Orleans.
     “When I say historical fiction, I mean the story is made up, but all the facts are real. Bob Fosse really was in the Navy and his station chief was really Joe Pappas and Gene
Ammons was really in this band. It’s like, ‘oh, that could have happened,” he said.
     Ruffin said people love the story. He described it as “rollicking.” The next story, “Round Midnight with the Klu Klux Klan,” is about a white banker in Mississippi and a meeting with Thelonious Monk and a prolific writer in New York City.
     The third story, “The Sidewinder,” Ruffin said, is a love letter to Philadelphia. It is about two kids, a Black kid from one side of Philadelphia and a Jewish kid from another side of Philadelphia and their love of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.
     “My story is about how racism, baseball and jazz affected these kids between 1964-1980. It’s a long letter to Philadelphia culture, it has Philadelphia R&B, Philadelphia
jazz, Philadelphia classical music. It’s a comingof- age story about these two kids,” he said.
      Ruffin said during this time, a lot of historical events took
place, and it was a time of revolution. He turned this story into a screenplay, but it hasn’t been turned into a movie.
Ruffin said he hates intolerance and wants everyone to
get along. He said in talking to people, he found out a lot about himself.
    “In my book, you are entertained, you learn a lot about
sports and jazz, and you get to look at yourself and how your own internal biases are affected,” he said. “Through these
stories, you learn about yourself a lot and you come away
with a better understanding of who you are and how you can
help us in this reckoning we’re having right now.”
     Ruffin said he didn’t intend to finish writing the book
during a time when social justice and racial inequity are at
the forefront of conversations in America. He said it was just
luck, with people paying attention to race.
    “I hope people can be entertained, learn a lot about music,
jazz music history, and baseball history. But, you don’t have
to be a baseball fan to enjoy this, and you don’t have to be
a jazz fan to enjoy this. They’re great stories, everyday stories that happen to have jazz and baseball.”
    “Bebop Fairy Tales: An Historical Fiction Trilogy on
Jazz, Intolerance, and Baseball” costs $20 and is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

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