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Looking for Chet Baker by Bill Moody
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Bill Moody's fine murder mystery novel, LOOKING FOR CHET BAKER, features the adventures of jazz pianist Evan Horne on yet another involved crime adventure. Evan Horne is in search of a friend, Ace Buffington, who disappeared while in the process of writing an autobiography of Chet Baker. It gets involved quickly. This is Bill Moody's...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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My Father's Daughter by Tina Sinatra (with Jeff Coplon)
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To many, Frank Sinatra was the master of song and a fine actor. To those who knew him, there was another side of the man to consider. His career is well-documented. In this candid memoir by daughter Tina Sinatra, the readers can see what made Old Blue Eyes tick. The same man who was...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The Frank Sinatra Reader by Edited by Steven Petkov & Leonard Mustazza
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THE FRANK SINATRA READER is a delicious reading treat, filled with facts and observations by critics and people who followed his career from its beginning. The photos and extensive index allow the reader to search quickly.
That Frank Sinatra is an icon in both the music and movie worlds is without doubt. That Frank Sinatra made it...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Lookin' for Bird in the Big City by Robert Burleigh and Marek Los
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An inspired Marek Los illustration opens "Lookin." Miles Davis, young and alone, blows his trumpet with the New York skyline as backdrop . The back cover displays the well-known Gottlieb photo of Bird and Miles together . A journey lies between.
Miles's early search for Bird is documented in "Miles,the Autobiography." In this fictionalized account,...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Bill Falconer |
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A New History of Jazz by Alyn Shipton
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Jazz is arguably the most important music of the 20th century. But, as significant as jazz is, its history, like the music itself, is an inexact art. In his book, A New History of Jazz, Alyn Shipton challenges the conventional assertions about the development and spread of Jazz, delving deep into the annals of available documented history...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Larry Dane-Kellogg |
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Broadway, The Golden Years by Robert Emmet Long
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BROADWAY, THE GOLDEN YEARS has 2 parts, and 8 chapters, with an informative introduction, epilogue, notes, bibliography, and index. There is a photograph section which captures the essence of the individuals this book is concerned with.
In part one, there are 4 sections: "Agnes de Mille," Jerome Robbins: Early Fame," Jerome Robbins: 'West Side Story,'"...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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JK Rowling's Harry Potter Novels by Philip Nel
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JK ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER NOVELS by Philip Nel is a 96 page reader's guide to the popular novels, and to the numerous jazz fans who like these fantasy novels, this book gives much helpful information. The book is a reference work, and it gives a short biography of the novelist who created Harry Potter, studies of the novels...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Boston Boy by Nat Hentoff
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BOSTON BOY is a remarkable book, highly candid, and as a memoir, the book is an excellent example of what fine memoir writing can be. Nat Hentoff grew up in the Roxbury area of Boston in the 1930s and 1940s, and he was forced to confront many things, among them Judaism and anti-Semitism. Today, Hentoff is considered...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The Sammy Davis, Jr. Readers by Gerald Early (Editor)
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I was completely intrigued with the articles about Davis in this memorable collection, THE SAMMY DAVIS, JR. READER edited by Gerald Early. So much to read, so much to learn, and so much enjoyable reading! The introduction by Gerald Early is excellent, and it is something most fans of the late Davis will find beautifully done and will...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The Nearest Faraway Place by Timothy White
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I was surprised at what an in-depth book this was after I started reading it, and it will hold the reader's interest from start to finish. The Nearest Faraway Place by Timothy White is a highly candid and no-holds-barred look at the Southern California experience as reflected in the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. On page...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Chasing the Devil's Tail by David Fulmer
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What impressed me most about the novel, CHASING THE DEVIL'S TAIL, is the superb characterizations. If you read my review of Danny Barker's BUDDY BOLDEN AND THE LAST DAYS OF STORYVILLE published at jazzreview.com, you will find this novel as memorable, and enjoyable reading as well.
David Fulmer has created a fine novel and this is his first...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Teddy Wilson Talks Jazz by Teddy Wilson with Arie Ligthart and Humphrey Van L
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Congratulations to Continuum for
introducing its Bayou Jazz Lives series, which will bring back into print
classic autobiographies and biographies of important jazz and blues musicians.
The first in the series is TEDDY WILSON TALKS JAZZ.
Teddy Wilson
remains one of my all-time favorite jazz pianists, and those who like his style
or are new to him will...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Swing Shift by Sherrie Tucker
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Sherrie
Tucker's SWING SHIFT is going to excite a lot of jazz readers with its new
revelations concerning the "all-girl" bands of the 1940s. These all-girl bands
came from different ethnic backgrounds, and each contributed swing music in
many memorable ways. Two examples are Sharon Rogers and Ada Leonard.
The women are identified and there are an abundance...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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A New History of Jazz by Alyn Shipton
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Alyn Shipton
has done a remarkable job of setting some facts straight in this monumental new
history of jazz and also successfully rebukes some of the myths about American
jazz as most recently seen in Ken Burns' jazz documentary. What is surprising
about many of his discoveries is that they were there all along and ignored by
jazz critics...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Marshal Royal: Jazz Survivor by Marshal Royal with Claire P. Gordon
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Marshal Royal was the heart of the saxophone in the Count Basie Orchestra for twenty years from the 1950s to the 1960s. He was among the jazz giants and a major pioneer in West Coast jazz.
MARSHAL ROYAL: JAZZ SURVIVOR is the story of West Coast big band jazz, and Royal's major role in it. On his own, Royal...
(Autobiography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Swing, That Modern Sound by Kenneth J. Bindas
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If you enjoy swing music, then this is certainly a winner of a book to have in
your home library for reference. You will find Artie Shaw, Anita O'Day, Benny
Goodman, and a host of characters that made swing really swing! This is 209
pages of information that is must reading about the era of swing music and its
...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Jazz In The Bittersweet Blues Of Life by Wynton Marsalis and Carl Vigeland
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From DeCapo Press, the
recently published JAZZ IN THE BITTERSWEET BLUES OF LIFE by musician, Wynton
Marsalis, and music writer, Carl Vigeland, intends to be a description of the
continuous intensity of the life of Marsalis' Septet from 1989 until 1994, the
tale starting and stopping in Northampton, Massachusetts where Vigeland first
met Marsalis. What this book becomes, however,...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lyn Horton |
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Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan by E. Taylor Atkins
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BLUE NIPPON is
going to open many eyes to what has been happening to Japanese jazz over the
decades, from its 1920s dancehalls to the present. Author E. Taylor Atkins
reveals in detail the ways in which the World War 2 situation forced new
concepts into acceptance, how the Japanese nationalists attempted to force a
ban on jazz which failed, and what happened after...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Music In Cuba by Alejo Carpentier
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MUSIC IN CUBA is
a first-rate, accurately written account of a subject that is at once
fascinating as well as mysterious. Written by Alejo Carpentier, translated by
Alan West-Duran, edited and with an Introduction by Timothy Brennan. For lovers
of Cuban music, this is one of the finest reference books to date on Cuban
music, and its clear and lucid prose takes the reader...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Life, On the Fence by Marvin 'Doc' Holladay
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Generally regarded as an outsized and
unwieldy instrument, the baritone saxophone has not always been accorded the
status of its more manageable sister instruments (soprano, alto, and tenor) in
the sonic continuum.
The huge horn has, however, been championed by
outstanding musicians whose contribution to jazz is nothing short of exemplary.
Numbered among the most notable of the 'bari' players (such as...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by John Stevenson |
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New York is Now! The New Wave of Free Jazz by Phil Freeman
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NEW YORK IS NOW! THE NEW WAVE OF FREE JAZZ is an exciting, well-written look at the free jazz movement in New York. It is written by Phil Freeman, the man who knows the movement, became involved in its development, and witnessed it grow into the huge following it has today. The photos of jazz musicians performing by Susan...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Yellow Music by Andrew F. Jones
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YELLOW MUSIC is a
reading treat, full of insights, and historically accurate. It is about the
Chinese Jazz Age, and it will inform and enlighten many readers who love jazz
and are curious about the affect and effect of American Jazz on the Chinese
culture. Andrew F. Jones deserves recognition for his excellent writing and
accuracy of detail.
...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Living With Music / Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings by Ralph Ellison
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THE ETHIC OF
INVISIBILITY
This article has been writing itself for the last couple
of days as I was finishing this book. It initially attracted me in the
bookstore because of a quote of Ellison's on the back cover: "In the swift
whirl of time music is a constant, reminding us of what we were and of that
toward which we aspire. Art...
(Autobiography)
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| Book Review by Lyn Horton |
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Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography Of The First Lady Of Jazz by Stuart Nicholson
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ELLA FITZGERALD: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE FIRST LADY OF JAZZ written by Stuart Nicholson is one of the finest jazz nonfiction books concerning a female jazz vocalist. Published in 1994 by Scribner's, this book is full of revealing facts and photographs of that great singer, Ella Fitzgerald. Stuart Nicholson is also the author of JAZZ: THE MODERN RESURGENCE.
...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The Bear Comes Home by Ravi Zabor
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Ravi Zabor is a musical journalist and jazz drummer living in Brooklyn who delights us with a comic and insightful story about a Shakespeare quoting, philosophic, beer drinking, alto sax playing, Coltrane-type, bear. The Bear comes from a long line of European circus performing bears and through some genetic twist of fate, the Bear can talk.
The story...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Suzi Price |
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