Richard M. Sudhalter told Jeff Sultanof that he should write books. Five pages into Sultanof’s multi-faceted examination of big band jazz, I felt the same
History is not only about wars and revolutions, disasters and discoveries, the famous and the infamous. No, it’s also about the common people, working men
Clarinetist Jim Beatty is one of the last living links to the jazz revival of the 1940s and ’50s. Remarkably he has worked professionally in
Most readers of this column would have, at least, heard of pianist/ group-leader/ composer Fred Hersch. He is now a 61 year old artist who
Recently I saw a Quad-City Times story about yet another book purporting to enlighten the public about the life and career of Bix Beiderbecke. I
Growing up in Davenport, Iowa, Brendan Wolfe could not help but be familiar with the name Bix Beiderbecke. He was aware of this Davenport native
This book explores the relationship between religion or spirituality and its influence, if any, on American jazz musicians. Little has been done in attempts to
It’s hard to believe this was David Fulmer’s debut novel because it’s so taut the tension itself turns the pages. For lovers of early jazz,
“I don’t remember that there was ever any question of me doing anything but playing music. The only question for me was where I was
This is the third novel in the jazz series for juveniles. The reader follows a 19 year old African-American girl singer. In this fictional account,
While Ragged but Right relives the dusty days of tented minstrelsy, Lift Every Voice examines the music of the same time period from an academic
Ragged but Right musicologists Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff carry readers on a rousing roller-coaster ride from carnivals to tent shows to vaudeville as they
This elegant book, 8.75” x 11”, comes at a time when the 1930 early Technicolor movie about Paul Whiteman and his band, is undergoing a
This pre-publication book review is unusual in that it is on a work of fiction. It is the last of author Larry Karp’s four mystery
Michael Jarrett is a published author and jazz authority as well as an English professor at Pennsylvania State University at York, PA. He looks at
I was impressed immediately with this book’s physical presence. It’s hefty, and I momentarily thought it was sized to mimic a 1940s record album. Actually,
This is the second book of juvenile fiction by author Mick Carlon. His previous book, Riding on Duke’s Train was about a young African-American boy
Author of this book, David Hajdu, is a professor of journalism at Columbia University. He’s music critic for The Nation as well as a songwriter
Martin Torgoff—journalist, author and film-maker—has taken a unique point of view in this book. He has covered the use of recreational and hence illegal drugs
Tom Jacobsen has lived many lives. He’s an archeologist, an author, a teacher and one of America’s foremost experts on the subject of New Orleans
“You see, art is a matter of mastering the devices of expression. Just because you suffer doesn’t make you an artist. It’s the mastery of
Looking back on the 2016 Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival with all its usual joy and frivolity, I am reminded more and more of the
Over the years, I’ve suffered a certain number of headaches owing to musicians (and occasionally whole bands) who mounted the bandstand without the merest clue
Let me state personal bias at the beginning of this review. Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz is on my list of all-time favorites. He
