Books by James Sallis

Ain't Long Fore Day are poems that carry on in the spirit of the blues. With music and enigma, James Sallis delivers lyrical and narrative poems steeped in the beauty of the every day.

Presents the history and development of the guitar as a jazz instrument. This volume traces the evolution of jazz guitar playing, from the pioneering styles of Nick Lucas and Eddie Lang through the innovations of such contemporary masters as Jim Hall and Ralph Towner.

The guitar and American music are inexorably intertwined. In this book, the author notes that 'American music was built on the backs of black slaves'. It shows how folk music and a cross-fertilization of traditions and techniques resulted in blues, ragtime, jazz, rock 'n' roll, and country-western.