Books Autobiographies, Biographies and books on Music and Musicians

[Young Col]

Among many others...
Duke -the life of Duke Ellington by Terry Teachout is a good read.

Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism by Thomas Brothers concentrates on Louis' development into a dazzling World class trumpeter through the 1920s. Lots of good information, but strangely repetitive though as the writer keeps returning to two of Louis' recordings - Cornet Chop Suey (admittedly a great one) and Big Butter and Egg Man (very good by any standards but not in my view one of his greatest).

Lester Leaps In - the life and times of Lester Young by Douglas Henry Daniels. Good factual information about Pres' life, but it's set in a social context rather than a musical one and the analysis of his musical achievement isn't as complete as I expected; I think what musical analysis there is has been supplied by others. Lewis Porter's Lester Young Reader may be better in this respect but I've yet to read it.

John Hammond On Record is a very interesting autobiography by the wealthy Vanderbilt descendent with a social conscience who discovered Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Pete Seager, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and others. Seen by some as aggressive and exploitative, he was certainly assertive and perhaps sometimes foolhardy, but he made a major difference to both music and social relations.

Trombonist Dicky Wells' autobiography (I forget the name now) is a very readable and personal account of life in big bands and his own battle with alcoholism, including some very funny anecdotes. Likewise Count Basie's own autobiography Good Morning Blues is worth a read.

Like Trimmy I keep a copy of Alyn Shipton's New History of Jazz. It's the best reference work I have read and I often go back to it. Likewise the Rough Guide to Jazz as a reference to musicians.

 

[Dibbs]

A couple of British jazz musos bios.

Dizzy Gillespie Was At My Wedding : An Autobiography by Dick Pearce - Dick's not much of a writer but I forgive him that because the book is full of hilarious anecdotes. It had me embarrassing myself by laughing out loud on train. There are some very sad bits too.

Flying High, A jazz life and beyond - Peter King. I've heard Peter play many times but never realised quite how much he's struggled with drug addiction. It turns out that he's a world class model aircraft designer too.

 

[Keep Blowing]

This is a great book, well worth a read.

The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah

 

[Halfers]

@Jeanette Any chance we could move this thread into the new 'Good Reads' section?

 

[Jeanette]

@Jeanette Any chance we could move this thread into the new 'Good Reads' section?

Every chance

Jx

 

[mizmar]

Think I'll post this in this thread

I've started reading (20%)

Graeme Lawson
Sound Tracks: Uncovering Our Musical Past
​

It's about the archaeology of music stuff. Just published so, I guess, quite Start of the Art. I find it well written, just enough detail to keep things moving, fascinating bits and pieces from the start.

 

[wakyct]

It's about the archaeology of music stuff. Just published so, I guess, quite Start of the Art. I find it well written, just enough detail to keep things moving, fascinating bits and pieces from the start.

Thanks for posting, I'll have to check it out. I haven't done any archaeology since I was a student but have always enjoyed it.

 

[thomsax]

I'm struggling to give new words/meaning (in Swedish) to the song "The Snake" so I read "Ormen" by Stig Dagerman again. I read it in school back in the early 70's for the first time. I think a text/words makes it easier for me to play a vocal song on the saxophone. Something more than just tones .... . I just pick a sentence or a part of the text and get it into the song.

 

[skeller047]

I’ve read two books in the last few months (well, many more than two, but on this topic) about big band arrangers, since I am writing (again) for this ensemble. Both were fascinating and worth the time.

The Uncrowned King of Swing - Fletcher Henderson, by Jeffrey Magee. I read this on Kindle, not sure if it is available in print or not. If you are interested in big bands and arranging, it’s really quite good. Not only for the facinating stories of the birth of the jazz age, but for the detailed analyses of many of Mr Henderson’s arrangements. I read this along with listening to recordings of the analyzed material, and was constantly amazed at how much influence on modern day writing that this man and his music still has.

September in the Rain - The Life of Nelson Riddle, by Peter J. Levinson. A good read, and a really fascinating story of a supremely talented, yet deeply flawed, man. One of the standout stories is about one of Frank Sinatra’s biggest hits, I’ve Got You Under My Skin. Riddle was given less than 24 hours to create three new arrangements; at the end of a night time recording session Sinatra wanted to do some more, and they booked the studio and orchestra for the following evening. Nelson Riddle got 2 of them done overnight, and wrote the arrangement for the third, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, in the van on the way to the studio, his wife was driving. Under an hour. The copyists in the studio prepared the parts while the first two were being recorded. It’s a stunning arrangement, instantly recognizeable, one of the best of all time.

View: https://youtu.be/xz5W5bKLj_4