The author of this book, an award-winning jazz writer, has personally known many of the jazz greats who contributed to the music's colorful history. This book, which contains works published mostly in jazz magazines over a fifty-year period, takes us into the nightclubs, the recording studios, the record companies, and, most compellingly, into the lives of the musicians who made the great moments of the traditional jazz and swing eras. Weaving anecdotal material, primary research, and music analysis into every chapter, the book is a mine of information on a rich segment of American popular mus ... More

The author of this book, an award-winning jazz writer, has personally known many of the jazz greats who contributed to the music's colorful history. This book, which contains works published mostly in jazz magazines over a fifty-year period, takes us into the nightclubs, the recording studios, the record companies, and, most compellingly, into the lives of the musicians who made the great moments of the traditional jazz and swing eras. Weaving anecdotal material, primary research, and music analysis into every chapter, the book is a mine of information on a rich segment of American popular music. This collection begins with the author's first published piece and includes several new chapters that contain material inspired by his work on this compilation. The chapters are organized thematically, beginning with a piece on Kid Ory's early recordings and ending with a newly written chapter about the campaign to put up a monument to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. Along the way, the book gives in-depth profiles of many well-known jazz legends, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong, and many lesser-known figures who contributed greatly to the development of jazz.