Bangkok after Dark

“In this unique and important book, Benjamin Tausig tells the compelling journey of one Black, queer American man whose biography Tausig uses as a vehicle for another story about capitalist development in Thailand during the Cold War. We learn about the cultural effects of the US fiscal and military presence in Thailand, the development of and changes to colorism and to racial and farang identities in Thailand, the significance of the local and global circulation of musical genres, and much more. Bangkok after Dark is magnificent.” - Tamara Loos, author of Bones around My Neck: The Life and Exile of a Prince Provocateur

“Bangkok after Dark is a mysterious place, crowded with obscure forms, echoing with half-heard tales and forgotten melodies. Yet in the shadowed figure of Maurice Rocco, Benjamin Tausig brilliantly exposes the impacts of war, race, sexuality, performance, and identity in the multiple lives of a musician, a city, and a nation shaped at the margins of global history.” - David Novak, author of Japanoise: Music at the Edge of Circulation

"Benjamin Tausig... traces [Maurice] Rocco's enigmatic story in his fascinating new book. . . . By looking at how nightlife developed during the period of Maurice Rocco's life in Thailand, Tausig reveals the neo-colonial roots of Thailand's huge entertainment industry and how they persist to the present day." - John Clewley, Bangkok Post

"Tausig untangles the threads of musical history and US policy in Southeast Asia that strung this queer Black icon along from the pinnacle of stardom towards his demise. Bangkok After Dark is both a biography of the musician and a journey through the Southeast Asian archives of the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Tausig lifts the pianist up as a singular figure who cuts across these contexts to reveal insight into the machinations of the era." - Art Review

"This book is extremely well written but is not primarily about jazz. For jazz enthusiasts however some important points are made about assessment of a ‘live’ performance, with its visual impact, compared to the purely aural experience of listening to a record." - Graham Colombé, Jazz Journal

"Bangkok After Dark fills a significant gap, increasing the likelihood that both Rocco—with his first-rate talent and (for a time) high profile as a performer in the States—and the astonishing world he later inhabited in Thailand during the American war in Viet Nam, are remembered as we study jazz history." - Katchie Cartwright, All About Jazz

"This is a remarkable . . . book for a remarkable musician." - James Mitchell, Perfect Beat