Musician Richard Sudhalter; Jazz History Left Bitter Note

Richard M. Sudhalter, 69, a jazz musician, critic and biographer whose history of white jazz musicians prompted gales of protest when it was published in 1999, died Sept. 19 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, N.Y. He had multiple system atrophy, a degenerative condition similar to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Mr. Sudhalter was a first-rate trumpet and cornet player who specialized in the early styles of jazz. He led groups in the United States and Europe, recorded widely and was considered one of the finest heirs of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Bunny Berigan and Bobby Hackett.

Mr. Sudhalter's more lasting contributions, however, came as a writer, first with "Bix: Man & Legend," a 1974 biography of Beiderbecke, the doomed trumpet star of the 1920s who drank himself into an early grave.

Critic Terry Teachout yesterday called the book, co-written with Philip R. Evans and William Dean-Myatt, a "landmark of jazz scholarship" and the "first jazz biography written to the standards" of a serious study of a classical composer or other major historical figure. The book helped revive interest in Beiderbecke, whose lyrical recordings and compositions have inspired generations of musicians.

In 2002, after years as a performer, promoter and critic, Mr. Sudhalter published a biography of Indiana-born composer Hoagy Carmichael, which Washington Post critic Jonathan Yardley pronounced "meticulous, admiring, perceptive and informative."

But he made his greatest impact in 1999 with the 890-page "Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945." The exhaustively researched history, which challenged the prevailing notion that jazz was exclusively a black art form, ignited an angry backlash.

Mr. Sudhalter highlighted many ethnic and musical strands that compose the rich brocade of jazz, emphasizing that "black and white once worked side by side, often defying the racial and social norms of their time to create a music whose graces reflected the combined effort."

He delved into the lives and legacies of scores of musicians, maintaining that many white performers, including Bud Freeman, Red Norvo, Pee Wee Russell and Artie Shaw, had not received their full due from history.

Many critics and musicians were incensed at Mr. Sudhalter and called him the Pat Buchanan of jazz, referring to the often-inflammatory conservative commentator. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis said the book "does not deserve the dignity of a response. It's not an argument I'm prepared to devote five minutes to."

Critic Gerald Early wrote in the Chicago Tribune, "I fear that the length of the book may be a sign of the author's desperation."

At public forums, where he gamely tried to defend his work, Mr. Sudhalter was sometimes mocked and jeered.

"The angrier the denunciation, it seemed, the less the writer had actually read," he told the Contemporary Authors reference work in 2000. "Far from a racial screed, 'Lost Chords' was simply a book of musical history."