Duke Ellington's Symphonic Visions, the culmination of a decade-long study of Ellington's compositions for the symphony orchestra by author Luca Bragalini, is the first book entirely dedicated to Ellington's symphonic music. Duke Ellington's Symphonic Visions unfolds across five chapters, each dedicated to a distinct composition, concluding in a ......
Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move-it was ......
Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, Williams was lured away to the band of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular bands in the country. At the time, it was a controversial move-it was ......
Over a period of just six months, eminent jazz vocalist and composer Nnenna Freelon's life changed irrevocably. Her soulmate and husband of nearly forty years, the renowned architect Phil Freelon, passed away from ALS, her sister Debbie succumbed to cancer, and the family dog, Basie, died as well. In the immediate wake of these compounding losses, ......
The Extraordinary Life and Music of Frank Sinatra, Jr.
As an American singer, conductor, composer, and actor, Frank Sinatra, Jr. (1944-2016) had a long and successful music career and was recognized for his many contributions to American popular song. Yet, his own star has often been overshadowed by his world-famous father. The first book ever published about Frank Sinatra, Jr., Let Me Be Frank: The ......
Have Horn, Will Travel is the first full-length biography of tenor saxophone virtuoso and in-demand sideman Herman "Junior" Cook, chronicling his life and impact from his Pensacola, Florida, origins to his New York City-based career. Best known for his association with pianist Horace Silver's iconic quintet from 1958 to 1964, Cook continued as a ......
In On the Way to the Sky: Remembering Bob Brookmeyer, author Michael Stephans has created a rich, multifaceted paean to jazz icon Bob Brookmeyer, the much-beloved musical genius who passed away in 2011, four days short of his 82nd birthday. On the Way to the Sky is a hybrid book in that it's part memoir, part biography, with over a dozen essays by ......
Don Byas (1913-1972) may be lesser known than the counterparts he played with-Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others-but he was an enigma. He never stayed with a band for long, and eventually went solo partly to make more money and partly due to his inability to work with bandleaders. Often drinking to excess, alcohol ......
Don Byas (1913-1972) may be lesser known than the counterparts he played with-Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others-but he was an enigma. He never stayed with a band for long, and eventually went solo partly to make more money and partly due to his inability to work with bandleaders. Often drinking to excess, alcohol ......
