The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America
May 07, 2024 | 21 MB
English | EPUB | 416 pages
This is the tale of three groundbreaking American musicians, the jazz maestros who crafted the melodies that pulse through the heart of twentieth-century America.
Duke Ellington, born Edward Kennedy Ellington, was the descendant of slaves. His life, like his music, was richly complex and transcendent of labels.
Louis Daniel Armstrong emerged from the tough streets of New Orleans, known as The Battlefield. At seven, he acquired his first musical instrument—a ten-cent tin horn—that would become his ticket to reshaping jazz into a vibrant expression of spontaneity and liberation.
William James Basie, raised in a world alien to many white audiences, was the son of a coachman and laundress. Dreaming of escape, he found his path with assistance from Fats Waller during the transient carnival seasons.
What's often overlooked about these innovators is their shared defiance of racial barriers. Beyond their music, they challenged discrimination, illuminating America with the brilliance of their artistry. In doing so, they composed the anthem for the civil rights movement.
Drawing from over 250 interviews, this meticulously researched book paints a vivid portrait of Black America in the early-to-mid 1900s, spotlighting its most talented, charismatic, and enduring African-American musicians.
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