'Living' ('levende') music in the cafés of Amsterdam: a title to prick up the ears of ethnomusicologists! Not 'live' music, but 'music of life' ('levensmuziek') or 'lively' ('levendige') music. Terms which indicate that music is seen as a part of d aily life and analysed as such. The emphasis is on the social context of the music, proving that ethnomusicologists and music anthropologists can work towards the same goal: music as a reflection of society.

The book appealed to me for another reason as well: I live in the 'Jordaan', the old central city area which is referred to many times in the book. One of the cafés, 'De Twee Zwaantjes' (The Two Swans) is just around the corner. Often, when passing by, I hear strains of music and song issuing forth and can see people inside having a good time, which is the idea behind the title 'living music'.

The research -for an MA thesis- was done in the very city in which the author lives. Anthropological fieldwork is the base from which Ms. Rövekamp started: she visited a number of cafés regularly, between 1977 and 1982, talked with the musicia ns, the bar-owners and the public, made sound recordings and took photographs. Basically, she deals with cafés where accordion players perform, sometimes together with a vocalist. Famous accordionists and vocalists are featured, like Johnny Meyer a nd Manke Nelis. The café life is introduced in Chapter 1: 'An Evening in Café Bolle Jan'. It is run by a family of father, mother, and son. (The latter, René Froger, is nowadays a very popular singer.) Bolle Jan ('Fat-faced John') Fro ger is famed for his 'dirty' songs. The family is 'Jordaan' born and bred and the café is on the edge of the district. People come from far and near to listen to the music in this café. An elaboration of this chapter is found in Chapter 5, w hich describes visits to thirteen accordion cafés, conveying their sounds and atmosphere.

Chapter 2 deals with the history of living music in the cafés of Amsterdam, since the fifteenth century on, with background information on the development from travelling music makers to post-World War II times, via the popular theatres, fairs, str eet music, and cabarets. Special attention is paid to accordion cafés and accordion players in Chapter 3.

The Jordaan quarter and its accordion cafés are described extensively in Chapter 4, highlighting the street singers and their songs, as well as the street organs to which people used to dance. Being one of the oldest and poorest popular quarters of Amsterdam (1612), it has a long history of (protest) song and music. This music is heavily romanticized nowadays, and the Jordaan is becoming a fashionable quarter. Many of the original inhabitants have moved away, and as some say: 'The Jordaan is not th e Jordaan anymore'. Still, many of the songs are a reflection of the solidarity and social control which was (and is) to be found in this once isolated community. Johnny Jordaan and Tante Leen were well known for their 'songs of life' ('levensliederen'), describing the life of this popular quarter and the people in the Jordaan are still a sentimental lot.

The repertoire is analysed in Chapter 6, divided into repertoire from the Jordaan, from Amsterdam and from countries outside the Netherlands (USA, France, Israel). On page 143 a 'hit parade' of 27 items is compiled, with 'Aan de Amsterdamse grachten' (The Canals of Amsterdam) by P.Goemans and 'Bij ons in de Jordaan' (With Us in the Jordaan) by L.Noiret/E.v.d.Brande-Henvo in the top-five. Potpourri's (medleys) are very popular. A short analysis of scales, rhythms, tempo/vibrato/glissando follows. Chapter 7 is called 'The last round' and describes events between 1980-1986, mainly outside the accordion cafés. The summary and conclusions are to be found in Chapter 8, followed by an extensive list of literature, song texts and notations, as wel l as a description of the tape recordings.

Although the book gives an excellent description of living music in the cafe’s of Amsterdam -at times perhaps a little too much- it lacks depth. If the material had been linked more closely to sociological theory, it might have been a PhD thesis. Also, a cassette with live recordings made by Ms. Rövekamp would have been a desirable addition; however, since much of the material is available commercially, the author and the publisher decided against it. Now that this book on the autochthonous popular m usic of Amsterdam has appeared, we are eagerly awaiting publications on the music of the Turkish, Moroccan and other peoples living in Holland.