Books in the Studies in Jazz series

Timme Rosenkrantz (19111969) was a Danish journalist, author, concert and record producer, radio show host, and entrepreneur with a consuming passion for jazz and little head for business. Known in Denmark and New York as the ';Jazz Baron' because of his noble lineage, he was the first European journalist to cover the jazz scene in Harlem. Harlem Jazz Adventures: A European Baron's Memoir, 19341969 recounts Rosenkrantz's happy years in New York City, where he would produce jazz concerts, record top musicians and bands in his midtown apartment, organize a ';dream band' for Timme Rosenkrantz and His Barrelhouse Barons, a 1938 RCA Victor recording, (DL) live in Harlem and run a record shop with his life companion, journalist and singer Inez Cavanaugh. A good friend of jazz impresario John Hammond, Rosenkrantz would become the James Boswell of the Harlem jazz scene. Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holidaythere wasn't a New York jazz musician unknown to ';Honeysuckle Rosenkrantz,' as christened by Fats Waller. Drawing on the published Danish-language original Dus med Jazzen, and an unpublished English free translation (DL) by Rosenkrantz and Cavanaugh, translator-adapter Fradley Hamilton Garner gives polish and context to Rosenkrantz's stories of meetings with Cecile and Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Willie ';The Lion' Smith, Eddie Condon, Erroll Garnerwhom Rosenkrantz discovered and was first to recordand many others. This book is a must-have for jazz lovers. Social historians interested in the intersection of race and the music business will find in Rosenkrantz's memoir an invaluable primary source on Harlem's social scene and its musical legacy.

Jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden once referred to Ruby Braff as the ';Ivy Leagues Louis Armstrong.' That legacy of great trumpet performance and recording is brought to readers in Thomas Hustad's Born to Play: The Ruby Braff Discography and Directory of Performances. Braff's uncompromising standards, musical taste, and creative imagination informed his consummate artistry in creating music beautifully played. He achieved swiftly what few musicians accomplish in a lifetime by developing a unique and immediately recognizable style. For a reminder of that we need but play any of the more than 150 released recordings on which he appears. These records span a total of 54 years, from 1949 to 2002, a feat almost unmatched in jazz recording. This was five years longer than even Louis Armstrong.Although prepared in discographical style, capturing information about both commercial recordings and previously undocumented performances, Born to Play serves as a biography of the artist, detailing the path he paved as a performer and featuring personal recollections of his musical career with commentary from other figures. Images over the course of his half century of playing fill out this comprehensive survey of Braffs performing and recording career. This bio-discography of the man who jazz drumming legend Buddy Rich declared ';one of my favorite trumpeters' and singing giant Tony Bennett described as ';my great friend who now holds the reigning position of the best cornet player in the world' is sure to be of interest to jazz fans and scholars alike.

Jazz Child: A Portrait of Sheila Jordan is the complete biography of the first female jazz vocalist to record on the prestigious Blue Note record label. In this book, biographer Ellen Johnson reveals the challenges Jordan confronted to become an influential recording artist and performer, working with many famous jazz luminaries of the era.

Martin provides a new overall assessment of the importance of Charlie Parker through an analysis of his improvisations in a variety of genres. Earlier studies of Parker argue that his style is based on an extensive network of melodic formulas that are combined to create solos. Because the same formulas appear throughout his improvisations regardless of the theme, these studies concluded that the solos do not usually relate to the original melodies. Charlie Parker and Thematic Improvisation provides a much-needed reassessment by showing that Parker's solos are often related to the original themes in unexpected and sometimes ingenious ways. The conclusion sums up features of Parker's style and discusses his contribution in the context of Western music history. Numerous transcriptions are provided. This groundbreaking technical study will be of interest to musicologists and serious students of jazz.

The world's fascination with New Orleans stems from the allure of the music of the city_music that owes its origins and development to many sources. Until now, popular and scholarly books, dissertations, and articles that attempt to explain these sources have failed to recognize the unsung heroes of the New Orleans jazz scene: the teachers in its public schools. Through more than 90 original interviews and extensive research in New Orleans' historical collections, Dr. Kennedy documents ways that public school teachers pushed an often unwilling urban institution to become an important structure that transmitted jazz and the other musical traditions of the city to future musicians. Music legends from Louis Armstrong to Ellis Marsalis Jr._who also provides the foreword_are just two of the many well-known former students of the New Orleans public schools. Chord Changes on the Chalkboard shows that, particularly after the 1920s, public school students benefited not only from the study of instrumental music and theory, but also from direct exposure to musicians, many of whom were invited to perform for the students. The impact the teachers had on generations of musicians and music fans is undeniable, yet their teaching techniques are only part of the story. In addition to the successes enjoyed with their students, the teachers' own musical experiences, recordings, and performances are also examined. The interaction between teachers and students in New Orleans public school classrooms opens a new field of research for music historians, and this book is the first to document ways in which public school teachers acted as mentors to shape the future of jazz and the music of New Orleans. An important addition to its field, Chord Changes on a Chalkboard will provide invaluable information for jazz fans and historians, music scholars and students, and it is also useful reading for any public school teacher. A must for any music library, it should also be a welcome addition to any collection supporting African-American history or popular culture.