This Jazz Man

Book Description

In this toe-tapping jazz tribute, the traditional "This Old Man" gets a swinging makeover, and some of the era's best musicians take center stage. The tuneful text and vibrant illustrations bop, slide, and shimmy across the page as Satchmo plays one, Bojangles plays two . . . right on down the line to Charles Mingus, who plays nine, plucking strings that sound "divine."

Easy on the ear and the eye, this playful introduction to nine jazz giants will teach children to count--and will give them every reason to get up and dance!

Includes a brief biography of each musician.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Just Needs A Musical CD !!!!.......2007-04-23

I love this book! My son is 20 months and loves this book the rhythm of the words, the numbers, the clapping the sounds of the instruments. What would be excellent if there was an auditory accompaniment to the book. A taping of someone reading the book who can demonstrate the sounds or even better a taping that included musical instruments playing.
I know a lot of people would LOVE to hear it as well and it would be an excellent teaching tool. Please forward this to the appropriate individuals and if possible keep me updated on the release date of the cd. Thank YOU for writing such an awesome, entertaining and needed book!

Encore! We want more!.......2007-03-22

Oooh, this book made me what to rap and tap and beedle-di-bop! Which is quite somethin', since I don't have a musical bone in my body!
This is a great book-the text jives off the page and the illustrations thimp dumple thump right along. What a great way to teach kids about jazz legends!
Hats off to Ehrdhardt and Roth for a beautiful book!
Encore!

A great read aloud for kids!.......2007-03-07

I am an elementary school media specialist for grades 1 - 5. I read this book to my first and second graders. By the third jazz man they were chanting along with me. By the fifth man we were all singing along with the familiar song tune. They loved the scat phrases and repeated them over and over. What a bonus that these men are actual jazz legends. I highly recommend this book for a great musical read.

Jude's Review of Jazz Man.......2007-01-21

I'm 3 and my Grandmother Helene reads this book to me. She said that my Doctor Beth gave it to me and my sister Scarlett and the author signed it. That made me smile.

I really like this book. My grandmother sings me it and i like music and instruments and can name the saxophone and trumpet and drums.I like the pictures of the conga drums.

I usually say, " read it again" when she's done and I can almost pick out all the numbers now too. Jude Stulb, Pueblo Colorado

This Great Book! (More and More Honors!) .......2006-10-05

Note: Since writing the review below, I've discovered that "This Jazz Man" has received three (and counting) prestigious honors in the last month or so: A Nick Jr. Book of the Year for Children, one of the N.Y. Public Libraries Top 100 books to Read to Kids, and one of a very few named by National Public Radio as a best children's book of the year!

February 2007 Update: This Jazz Man is on the cover of the February "Crickets" magazine! In addition, it was shortlisted as a top book by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, and is being used as a teaching tool for a Smithsonian Museum (yes, that Smithsonian!) exhibit.

If you've bought this book, you and I share a certain nose for kids' books; if you haven't, you'll discover a book that's snappy and swinging, fun and informative. My original review follows.

"Doodly-doodly-Doot-doot! Toot-Toot!"

That's Karen Ehrhardt's delightful take on a Dizzy Gillespie trumpet line, and like the rest of this sparkling first book, every note rings joyous and true. In a somewhat daring move, Ms. Ehrhardt airs out the musty English poem, "This Old Man," with jazz-infused lyrics, and distills the essence of nine jazz giants: Louis Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Chano Pozo, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Mingus.

The improvisations in "This Jazz Man" are authentic and fun--the text is made for reading out loud! Listen to this evocation of Charlie Parker, for example:

This jazz man, he plays five,
He plays bebop, he plays jive,
With a Deedle-di-bop! Bebop!
Give the man a hand,
This jazz man blows with the band.

Within the 5-line format of the original song, the author conveys the sound and spirit of these artists, while keeping the tone light and understandable for her young, perhaps jazz-naive audience (about 3 to 7 years-old). Along with each Jazz Man's stanza are the sounds and rhythms of his performance -- depicted in text incorporated with each illustration. When drummer Art Blakey "plays solos with his sticks" and "beats with the band," the percussive sounds "Chikka-chee! Chikka-chee! Bubbuda-bubbuda-bubbuda-BOMP!" pulse over his vibrating cymbals. Following the `performance,' older readers (and adults) can learn more about Blakey -- his innovation of the "press roll" and his role in nurturing new talent -- in the book's afterward. Riffing on the customary introductions of band members at jazz gigs ("Playing 4, form Washington, D.C... Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington"), the book briefly spotlights the life of each Jazz Man.

Illustrator R. G. Roth complements Ehrhardt's narrative pictures with multi-media illustrations that are playfully retro yet fresh and child-friendly. Airy compositions help children see the relaxed, expansive pose of the smiling Louis Armstrong, the verve and rhythmic creativity of "Chano" Pozo (how many times have you seen him in a jazz book for kids?), the playful attack of Fats Waller, and the stature and majesty of Charles Mingus. Roth displays a repertoire of textures and soft, engaging colors, and makes subtle references to Birdland, the Newport Jazz Festival, and other venues along the edges of book's `stage. For the small fry, a cute and playfully elusive mouse plays hide and seek throughout the book. "This Jazz Man" has an exhilarating finale -- after each man plays (1 through 9), all of the jazz icons appear on stage together:

This jazz band, they play ten,
We beg them to play again,
With an "Encore, we want more!"
Give them all a hand"
These jazz men make one great band!

"This Jazz Man" gets it right, rhymes it tight, and entertains without misrepresenting. (To put this achievement in context, too many kids' "jazz" books really focus on the blues--usually the rural blues, seen through an awkward sentimentalism--or solely on dance. Sometimes they confuse eras, portraying any jazz singer as a combination of Bessie Smith, post-WWII hep cats, and 1950's beats, with a dash of oddly misplaced 1970's styles.)

"This Jazz Man" is a natural for school or library audiences, rambunctious group singing, the first efforts of beginning readers, or as a bedtime treat for toddlers. One doesn't need to know one lick about jazz to enjoy the musicality of the rhymes and the understated but compelling jazz portraits: They stand on their own. In addition, teachers can easily adapt "This Jazz Man" to language units, numbers and counting, music appreciation, art, solo and group singing. Older students may delve further into the lives and times of the musicians through Ehrhardt's rich yet compact biographical sketches in the afterward. (Offhand, I can't think of any book--for kids or adults--that so succinctly and eloquently describes each musician's significance.) For readers who'd like to sample the actual music, Ehrhardt recommends recorded works for each Jazz Man: a couple tracks for each musician, and even two feature films (available on video) that display Bojangles' tapping talents. (Perhaps in future editions of this book, the publishers could include a companion CD/DVD.)

With apologies to the author--though inspired by her:

This jazz fan, I count one,
"This Jazz Man" is lots of fun!
With a smile and a nod and an "ain't that grand!"
Let's give Ehrhardt a great big hand!

What a Wonderful World (Jean Karl Books)

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Wonderful
Classic! Wonderful!
What a Wonderful World
WONDERFUL!
It's a Wonderful Book!

What a Wonderful World (Jean Karl Books)
George David Weiss , and Bob Thiele
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689800878

Book Description

What simpler way could there be to express to children the beauty and the harmony in the world around them than through the lyrics of this song by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, made famous by the great Louis Armstrong? And what better visual accompaniment than the bright colorful artwork by award-winning Ashley Bryan depicting children of many backgrounds (and Louis Armstrong himself) performing a puppet show that brings the lyrics to life. Here is a book of brightness, wonder, and hope to be shared by all.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2007-05-22

My baby is 9 months old. A few weeks ago our teacher read this book to us in our mom and baby class and all the babies were mesmorized by it's beautiful pictures, accompanied by the music of Louis Armstrong that was playing in the background. I quickly found it on Amazon and ordred it for my baby. We've read it together several times and he always lights up and squeals excitedly when he sees it. I love how versatile it is because I can read it, talk about the pictures, "sing" it, or play the song and just follow along with him. I am planning to enjoy this book with my son for a long time to come. The only minor issue for us is that the book has regular paper pages (I couldn't find a board book version) so if I let my baby play with it he would instantly destroy it and he sometimes gets frusterated when I hold it in front of him but out of his reach.

Classic! Wonderful!.......2007-04-03

As a K-5 music teacher, I use this book to provide a visual aid as I sing "What a Wonderful World" to the kids. They love it, I love it, and it is a wonderful way to learn song! The pictures are a little on the hokey side and illustrate a puppet show (Satchmo included!), but for K-3, it is age-appropriate and enjoyable.

What a Wonderful World.......2007-03-28

This book, filled with gorgeous illustrations, puts pictures to the song made famous by Louis Armstrong. This book is a wonderful tool to use accompanying the song, and emphasizes the wonderful differences in our world.

WONDERFUL!.......2007-02-17

The pictures and presentation of the words only accentuate the beauty of the song.

It's a Wonderful Book!.......2007-01-11

This beautifully illustrated book is magical when paired with a recording of Louis Armstrong singing "It's a Wonderful World". I'm using the book and recording with my kindergarten and 1st grade music classes as an introduction to the world of jazz. We'll be using it as a take off point to explore jazz and illustrate our own books based on our favorite jazz compositions.

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Satchmo Trumpets onto the Scene
Embrace the Genius
written with love and understanding
LOUIS !!!!!
purejoy - like the man himself

Satchmo
Garry Giddens
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385244282
Release Date: 1988-11-01

Book Description

"A valuable, jubilant look at a great man and artist."-New York Times Book Review Gary Giddins has been called "the best jazz writer in America today" (Esquire). Louis Armstrong has been called the most influential jazz musician of the century. Together this auspicious pairing has resulted in Satchmo, one of the most vivid and fascinating portraits ever drawn of perhaps the greatest figure in the history of American music. Available now at a new price and size, this text-only edition is the authoritative introduction to Armstrong's life and art for the curious newcomer, and offers fresh insight even for the serious student of Pops.

Customer Reviews:

Satchmo Trumpets onto the Scene.......2005-02-19

Who knew that someone from such humble beginnings could become one of the greatest trumpeters and entertainers of all time? Well, meet Louis Armstrong. He came from the wrong side of the tracks, in a "red light district." Only in Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong by Gary Giddens can this be discovered. This book was published by De Capo Press on January 16, 2001. The story is inspirational, showing that anyone can become famous, from the most humble beginnings.

Louis Armstrong's story is an example of the life one can create in America. Being born into such poor conditions, it was amazing he could rise from pennies to diamonds. However, he had another disadvantage, being black. This story demonstrates anyone can be successful, no matter what race or ethnicity.

The story opens with a description of the doonies of New Orleans. The time was 1908, the year of Louis Armstrong's birth. The neighborhood was horrible, nothing but criminals and prostitutes. His own sister became a prostitute. However, even though most in his family were failures, he would show the world that he would not become one.

The following is a list of the main characters:

Louis Armstrong: Jazz trumpeter, and soon to become one of the most unforgettable voices in the world.

Mayann: Louis' older sister, who helped raise him, became a prostitute, but then repented as her brother became more famous.

There are many other characters, including his first wife, Daisy. He later married three more times. His home life was not so hot. He had many fights with his wives, and ended-up leaving each one for another.

Louis' life grew more successful as he moved on. Even when Rock and Roll the big hit on the pop charts, he was able to make a huge comeback. He had many hits, such as "What a Wonderful World." Earlier in his career, he would seldom be allowed to sing. He would play second fiddle to many different bands. Whenever Louis had the chance to play and sing in front of an audience, they adored him. However, his bandleaders always held him back.

The best part of the book was when he finally got his chance. He quit the band he was a member of and started his own group. He recorded his first song, "Lazy River." The people running the studio thought this man will not go anywhere. However the song hit number one. An overnight sensation was born.

Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong will stay popular because it is a loving portrait of a man who would change the face of music forever. It is a wonderful example of the American Dream, with a happy ending.

Embrace the Genius.......2003-08-25

Shouldn't the term "genius" be reserved for names like Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven? Does the term even come close to fitting Louis Armstrong? Absolutely. If you have any doubt as to Armstrong's place in music history, pick up this book and dive in. Giddins embraces not only the talent and genius of Armstrong, but also the humor, warmth, and generosity of the man. `Satchmo' is not so much a biography of the jazz pioneer as it is a celebration of the man's gift to the world: his music.

Giddins follows Armstrong's early days in New Orleans to his final days of touring and recording. The book focuses heavily on Armstrong's music, but readers won't need a degree in music to understand what Giddins is saying. The author quotes copiously from Armstrong himself, giving us an in-depth look at who Armstrong was and how he thought about music, race relations, friends, wives, and his philosophy on life.

`Satchmo' is a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of Louis Armstrong. If you want to know if a piece of non-fiction works, ask yourself after reading if you'd like to learn more about the subject. I warn you - after reading `Satchmo' you'll want to read more AND listen to each recording mentioned by Giddins...over and over and over. And you'll do it. And the songs won't ever grow stale. And you'll hear something different each time. That's the sign of genius.

190 pages

written with love and understanding.......2002-12-04

This is one of the best books about Louis I've read and the reason is simple. Giddins clearly lays out the reasons why Pops was the greatest influence on modern music that this country has produced. His love for the man and the music comes through on every page. This is a wonderful almost poetic homage to a great and deserving artist. I loved the Bergreen biography and rated that 5 stars as well. That book is a fine chronological story of a fascinating life. This book is a musical biography that truly captures the essence of Louis Armstrong as well as anything written posthumously can be expected to. If you're a fan of Louis Armstrong you cannot afford to miss this. If you are curious as to why Louis Armstrong has become such an American icon this book will provide the answer.

LOUIS !!!!!.......2000-07-10

This book is brilliantly put together with great photos, newly found and well-crafted biographical information, and personal writings from Armstrong himself. It's a joy to read from cover to cover. Amazingly, it gets more interesting and fun to read a second, and third time. For any lover of Louis Armstrong this book is a must! Gary Giddins has written a great book. Look for his biography on Bing Crosby (Volume one)!!!

purejoy - like the man himself.......1998-12-21

Louis Armstrong is one of the central figures along with Duke Ellington of Giddins's incredible Visions of Jazz, and that sent me to Satchmo, a mindblowing collection of photographs and a biographical and musical discussion that brings the man and his work to life. Although Giddins covers some of the same ground here as in Visions, it is a far more expansive study built on the idea that Armstrong was at once a great artist and a great entertainer and that his role in one area did not diminish his role in the other. The pictures are remarkable, and numerous excerps from Armstrong's own writing show what a decent and joyful man he was. Highly recommended.

Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words: Selected Writings

Average customer rating:

Satchmo in his own words
A GENIUS IN MUSIC... AND IN WORDS
Quite revealing
Armstrong hits a high C on his typewriter.

Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words: Selected Writings
Louis Armstrong
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195119584

Book Description

Louis Armstrong has been the subject of countless biographies and music histories. Yet scant attention has been paid to the remarkable array of writings he left behind. Louis Armstrong: In His Own Words introduces readers to a little-known facet of this master trumpeter, band leader, and entertainer. Based on extensive research through the Armstrong archives, this important volume includes some of his earliest letters, personal correspondence with one of his first biographers in 1943-44, autobiographical writings, magazine articles, and essays. Here are Armstrong's own thoughts on his life and career--from poverty in New Orleans to playing in the famous cafes, cabarets, and saloons of Storyville, from his big break in 1922 with the King Oliver band to his storming of New York, from his breaking of color barriers in Hollywood to the infamous King of the Zulus incident in 1949, and finally, to his last days in Queens, New York. Along the way Armstrong recorded touching portraits of his times and offered candid, often controversial, opinions about racism, marijuana, bebop, and other jazz artists such as Jelly Roll Morton and Coleman Hawkins. Indeed, these writings provide a balanced portrait of his life as a musician, entertainer, civil rights activist, and cultural icon. Armstrong's idiosyncratic use of language and punctuation have been preserved to give the reader an unvarnished portrayal of this compelling artist. This volume also includes introductions to the writings, as well as an annotated index of names and places significant to Armstrong's life.

Customer Reviews:

Satchmo in his own words .......2006-05-24

He was the greatest of all jazz-musicians. He was a founding father of the form. No one could play the horn like him, and no one could sing his gravelly voiced songs like him.
"I'm white inside
that can't help my case
cause I can't hide
what is on my face.

Old feather bed,
Filled up with lead
Feel like Ole Ned
Wish I wuz dead,

What did I do to be so black and blue?

One of the finest music critics writing today, Terry Teachout, says that this book is true Satchmo and he would have loved it to be twice as long as it is. The more Satchmo the better.

While it is true that he knew problems with the black-community in later years because some held him to be serving the 'Man' the truth was he brought great honor and dignity to not only blacks in America but all Americans.
And above all he brought joy and beauty through his music into the lives of so many.

A GENIUS IN MUSIC... AND IN WORDS.......2004-07-22

Of the 21 books I have collected which are either by or about Louis Armstrong, this is definitely the one I would choose if I was allowed to keep only one. Basically a collection of autobiographical pieces, interviews, letters and so on, it reveals more of Armstrong as a man than all the other books put together. It also proves that, just as Armstrong had his own unique voice as a musician, so he has virtually invented his own language when doing his "typing" as he modestly called it. Grammar and punctation have been used this way nowhere else. Particularly moving are Armstrong's lengthy reminiscences of his early life in New Orleans, Chicago and elsewhere. Yes, his childhood was severely deprived but he recalls it not just without self-pity but with a kind of joy - joy in his family, in the friends who helped him along the way and, of course, his discovery of his own innate talent for both playing and singing. The book is filled with affectionate pen-portraits, as well as sharp social comment and, at times, with indignation at the injustices of life, whether suffered by himself or others. Equally moving are the pieces written when his life was nearing its end yet still exuding that same extraordinary open-ness and generosity of spirit which are humbling to experience. If anyone wants to know what Louis was like, and if they can take a little time to tune in to his vivid and utterly unself-conscious style, this is the book they should read.

Quite revealing.......2004-06-16

Satch fans will find a whole lot more to our hero than we knew before. For one thing,his 1954 bio was severely edited and we get some of the raw stuff here. Satch wrote as eloquently (and uniquely) as he sang. He does not hold back on his views of race (see "Louis Armstrong and the Jewish Family" (1970) which may shock some people and outrage others, as is true with almost everything else here. He holds forth on his love of "Swiss Kriss" and its after effects and delivers a heartfelt letter to a fan in Vietnam closing with the lyrics of "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Would be nice if the complete unedited documents were here in a multivolume series,but this will suffice. Swiss Krissly yours.

Armstrong hits a high C on his typewriter........2000-02-26

If you like jazz, Armstrong, "Potato Head Blues," or life itself, read this book.

Average customer rating:

A very, very great book
Satchmo and the context of New Orleans
A Good Dose of Music Theory

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans
Thomas Brothers
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039333001X

Book Description

"The best book ever produced about Louis Armstrong by anyone other than the man himself."—Terry Teachout, Commentary

In the early twentieth century, New Orleans was a place of colliding identities and histories, and Louis Armstrong was a gifted young man of psychological nimbleness. A dark-skinned, impoverished child, he grew up under low expectations, Jim Crow legislation, and vigilante terrorism. Yet he also grew up at the center of African American vernacular traditions from the Deep South, learning the ecstatic music of the Sanctified Church, blues played by street musicians, and the plantation tradition of ragging a tune.

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans interweaves a searching account of early twentieth-century New Orleans with a narrative of the first twenty-one years of Armstrong's life. Drawing on a stunning body of first-person accounts, this book tells the rags-to-riches tale of Armstrong's early life and the social and musical forces that shaped him. The city and the musician are both extraordinary, their relationship unique, and their impact on American culture incalculable. 16 pages of illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A very, very great book.......2007-06-08

Thomas Brothers has pulled off the near-impossible for a youngish man living in the 21st century. He has managed to dissect and explain most of the complex social and musical interactions in New Orleans as they existed in the years when Louis Armstrong was growing up, coming of age, and learning his way around the horn and the music business. He adroitly explains how the social and cultural climate of New Orleans was exactly right for not only the formation of the music we call jazz, but also how it trickled down from the uptown African-Americans to the downtown Creoles.

I only give the book four stars, however, for one reason. Mr. Brothers does not include or describe the jazz music created by Jack "Papa" Laine, Tom Brown and THEIR bands in the further downtown white districts. Laine was leading jazz bands from the mid-1890s on, and his graduates included virtually all the better-known white jazz musicians such as Nick La Rocca, Larry Shields, Eddie Edwards and Alcide "Yellow" Nunez. While it is true that the "Original" Dixieland Jazz Band claimed credit for music that was not their own, the same was true of "blues composer" W.C. Handy, whose wholesale theft of folk material was exposed by Jelly Roll Morton in 1938; of Clarence Williams, who routinely stole songs from everyone (Brothers even blithely credits him with stealing "I Wish That I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" from Armstrong); and of Benjamin and Reb Spikes, who stole songs from EVERYBODY, black, Creole or white. As a matter of fact, the ODJB's original clarinetist, Alcide "Yellow" Nunez, even stole "Livery Stable Blues" from his former bandmates, copyrighting it under his name and that of white bandleader Vincent Lopez! So much for honor among thieves.

Despite this oversight, the book is excellent in every respect. Armstrong's development, musically, intellectually and socially, is explained in painstaking detail. (One of my few complaints is that Mr. Brothers overuses the word "hegemony" as much as Gene Santoro overuses th word "zeitgeist.") Very well written, thoroughly researched, and a full explanation of exactly "how" jazz developed, especially in New Orleans, and how this development affected the greatest early jazz soloist of them all. Highly recommended.

Satchmo and the context of New Orleans.......2006-10-14

It is amazing, beautiful, and triumphant that African Americans, who at the beginning of the 20th-century were mostly despised by the dominant White culture and subject to wanton and homicidal violence in the South, should at the same time have created jazz -- the only original American music and which, in its origins, is essentially happy and upbeat.

In Mr. Brothers's superb new book, he examines the reasons for this aspect of jazz, as well as many other aspects. As he says in his introduction to "Louis Armstrong's New Orleans", it is not so much a biography of Satchmo as it is an attempt to place him and jazz in the historical, social, political, and musical contexts into which the man and the music were born.

Satchmo was the perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time. The aftermath of the defeat of Reconstruction and the institution of Jim Crow laws was the impetus for 40,000 ex-slaves to flee the plantations and move to New Orleans. Among their possessions they brought their music. This music and its players fused African rhythms and tonalities with Western instruments. The old plantation bands, which were composed mostly of string instruments, began the tradition of "ragging" the tune; that is, taking the melody, breaking it apart, and riffing on it.

When this music arrived in New Orleans, it was translated into wind instruments such as the clarinet and trombone, but especially the cornet. Blues structure also developed at the same time. At the beginning of the 20th century, brass bands were flourishing in New Orleans. Buddy Bolden, a cornetist who played the blues, became the first jazz soloist. The music took off. Into this fecund world, Louis Armstrong was born (1901).

The son of a teenage mother and absent father, Louis roamed the streets of New Orleans selling newspapers, carrying the instruments of band players, and getting himself into trouble occasionally. Trouble sent him to school where he got his own instrument and emerged as a cornetist who, at the age of 14, was good enough to be a substitute in bands. By 17 he was renowned in his hometown and by his mid-twenties he had moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration of Blacks to the north. He had come to Chicago by invitation of his cornet mentor, Joe "King" Oliver. Soon, Satch would be cutting the records -- with his Hot Five and Hot Seven bands -- that first made his reputation and then made him a planetary legend.

All of this Mr. Brothers tells in a literate, compulsively readable style. But he brings more to the table. What is crucial in his book is the understanding of the many strands of context so important to a full picture of any artist's achievement. One example: Mr. Brothers highlights how important the cornet was to the origins of jazz in New Orleans because it was a brass instrument that could be played LOUD and with dexterity. In fact, everybody who remembered Buddy Bolden remarked on the fact that he played loudly (Bolden went insane around 1907 before he could be recorded). This was important because the music mostly took place outdoors in the streets and could be heard a mile or two away. Thus audiences flocked to the bands. Of equal importance in this analysis is that jazz developed before there were automobiles; consequently, cities were quiet enough so that a band could be heard from two miles away.

Another thread of analysis Mr. Brothers foregrounds: The established Creole musicians of New Orleans. They lived downtown on the west side of Canal Street. They were of French heritage and classically trained because of it. They looked down on the "raggy" people, i.e., Blacks, who lived uptown on the other side of Canal. Eventually the Jim Crow laws caught up with the Creoles, and so there grew some empathy between the groups as outsiders trapped by White racism. This social and political dynamic eventually brought the musicians together and benefited both ethnic groups. Many Black musicians learned to read music from the Creole example, and many Creole musicians learned how to "rag time," i.e., play jazz. Sidney Bechet (note the French last name), the greatest of early jazz clarinetists, is the most famous example of a Creole jazz musician. Jelly Roll Morton may have been partly Creole as well.

There is some examination of jazz in Mr. Brothers's book that requires an understanding of very basic music theory. It is helpful to know the fairly rigid and repetitive musical structure of 12-bar blues. It is also of use to know that 4/4 "flat" time means that every beat in a 4-bar measure is of equal weight -- unlike European music in which the first and third beats are accented. Knowing what a melody is and that the heart and soul of jazz is to take the melody apart ("rag" it) is also necessary. I confess to being a musician, but still, these are minor matters, not major ones in appreciating this terrific book. Finally: One highly recommended companion to "Louis Armstrong's New Orleans", is Lee Friedlander's book of photographs, "The Jazz People of New Orleans."

A Good Dose of Music Theory .......2006-08-18

I'd really rate this book at a 3+ stars. It was a great deal more music theory than I had expected. There were just enough really interesting history tidbits buried in the explanation of arpeggio's, syncopation to keep me reading. New Orleans at the turn of the century must have been much like a musical, folks burst into song at every opportunity!

Average customer rating:

Too "elementary for the 9-12" set

Who Was Louis Armstrong? (Who Was...?)
Yona Zeblis McDonough
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0448433680

Book Description

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs' Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville. But it was Louis Armstrong's own passion and genius that pushed jazz into new and exciting realms with his amazing, improvisational trumpet playing. His seventy-year life spanned a critical time in American music as well as black history.

Customer Reviews:

Too "elementary for the 9-12" set.......2006-03-10

While my son, age 10 and in fifth grade, is a good reader, he doesn't necessarily pick up books to read unless he has to do a book report. This was extremely easy for him to polish off although the content was excellent. His teacher allowed the book when he showed what the age range was supposed to be. This needs to be for younger readers. Louis Armstrong is worthy of a more advanced book for the 10-12 range. Our problem was it was either this or a 300-500 tome!

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Subtitled "An Extravagent Life"
It's a won'derful book!
The best biography on Louis Armstrong, by far
WOW!!
Encore for Louis!

Louis Armstrong
Laurence Bergreen
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0553067680
Release Date: 1997-06-16

Amazon.com

The author of a terrific Irving Berlin biography (As Thousands Cheer), Laurence Bergreen produces a similarly astute character analysis of the renowned trumpet player, too often viewed as a musical genius but an Uncle Tom in race relations. On the contrary, Bergreen shows, Louis Armstrong (1901-71) was that rarest of human beings, someone who could respond to injustice with a determination to overcome that never included bitterness. Slightly stronger on milieu than music, Bergreen conveys such zest for the material and such obvious fondness for Armstrong that his book is a delight to read.

Book Description

Louis Armstrong was the founding father of jazz and one of this century's towering cultural figures.  His musical innovation and exuberance made him a household name, yet the full story of his extravagant life has never been told.  Now, drawing on a vast, previously unexplored archive of Armstrong's writings and recordings, acclaimed biographer Laurence Bergreen presents an intimate, provocative, and definitive portrait of the legendary Pied Piper of American music.

The musical talents of Satchmo--as Armstrong became universally known--were prodigious and groundbreaking.  After learning to blow his horn in the bordellos and honky-tonks of Storyville, New Orleans's bustling red-light district, he honed his sound on a Mississippi riverboat and later became a featured solo trumpeter in the nightclub bands of Chicago and New York, where his stunning musicianship, gravelly voice, and irrepressible personality captivated audiences and critics alike.  Countless recordings, nonstop touring of America and Europe, a radio show--the first ever hosted by a black man--and film appearances catapulted him to international stardom, yet he always remained true to himself and loyal to his roots.  Despite his successes, Armstrong's career was also marked by intense struggle--against the Depression, against the Chicago gangsters of the 1930s, and, above all, against racial prejudice.

A revolutionary musician and entertainer, Louis Armstrong was also a character of epic proportions.  Born in 1901 to the sixteen-year-old daughter of a slave, he came of age, joyfully, among the prostitutes, pimps, and rag-and-bone merchants of New Orleans.  He married four times and enjoyed countless romantic involvements in and around his marriages.  Throughout his rich and varied life, he was a believer in marijuana for the head and laxatives for the bowels; a prolific diarist and correspondent; a devoted friend to celebrities from Bing Crosby to Ella Fitzgerald; a perceptive social observer; and, in his later years, an international goodwill ambassador.  Even as segments of the black community scorned him as a sellout to the white establishment, Armstrong broke color barriers wherever he went and helped other blacks to find equality and identity in modern America.  "You see that horn?" he would ask his adversaries.  "That horn ain't prejudiced.  A note's a note in any language."

Filled with insights and information gleaned from Armstrong's voluminous reminiscences and featuring a superb collection of photographs, this remarkable book brings to life as never before the charismatic figure who forever changed the face of music.  In vivid detail and with warmth, wit, and breathtaking sweep, Laurence Bergreen's Louis Armstrong reveals a man of passion, courage, humor, and genius.

Customer Reviews:

Subtitled "An Extravagent Life".......2006-08-26

This book is subtitled "An Extravagant Life," and is available in hardcover. Laurence Bergreen also wrote "Louis Armstrong: An Extrodinary Life" Unfortunately I got the impression that Mr. Bergreen became a little disillusioned with his subject. He glosses over Armstrong's flaws. For instance, Bergreen seems to accept Louis' infidelities were the result of bad advice about women he received in his adolescence! His relationship and treatment of his mentor Joe Oliver is also rather quickly dismissed. I wish more time was spent on these parts of Armstrong's life. I can't fault the research and musical analysis, though.

It's a won'derful book!.......2006-07-27

You get not only a bio of a great musician & person, you get a detailed description how Blacks lived New Orleans through the turn of the century. From it you get a better understanding of how the pre-recording (and therefore unrecorded) sounds of untutored musicians became the roots of the New Orleans musical genre and how the odds were stacked against Louis. You come to understand his workaholism and his deference to his eventual agent, who probably exploited him.

As the book progresses, the historical descriptions are not as detailed but you feel the music and the person developing. Ironically, the two best known pieces "Hello Dolly" & "It's a Wonderful World", were late stage, not representative, but somehow routine work for the prolific Louis.

It's hard to imagine from the impoverished roots, the raw deals and the omnipresent daily racism (even to his death in 1971 segregation both de facto and Jim Crow continued), how Louis kept his optimism and exhuberance. It was not self deceptive, when the chips were down, he supported the Brown v Board of Ed decision, not just in his heart, but words and actions.

He was an unfaithful lover and husband. We don't know if he ever promised otherwise... all his wives but the first (who was common law married) knew he was a married man when they started "dating" him. The world owes Mrs. Armstong the 2nd (Lil) a debt. She gave him confidence and a platform to be the star he became.

In the Acknowledgments the author says this is the first bio he's written where his admiration for his subject grows.

Louis Armstrong blazed a trail. He was a tough cat, much tougher than all the supposedly macho dudes who posture now. He doesn't have to posture because he's dealt with the mob and prostitutes who slash with the knifes in their shoes, and somehow reminds us, that despite all this, it's a wonderful world.

The best biography on Louis Armstrong, by far.......2004-08-27

I believe I've read them all and nothing ever written about Louis Armstrong is as detailed as this book. Moreso than the "tired old stories" you see repeated in version after version of other tales of Armstrong, this one actually delves into the personal life as well as the persona of the man. Every Armstong fan needs to read this book - it's an awakening!

WOW!!.......2003-06-08

This book was amazingly well written! It wonderfuly portrays the life of a very talented and amzing man. Please, for your own sake, read this book!

Encore for Louis!.......2003-02-04

This was one of the best biographies I have ever read. By far the best one of the life of Louis Armstrong. It took me only 2 days to read this book, I could hardly put it down. Not being much of a fan of Dixieland, New Orleans Jazz, etc...after reading this book I was hooked. I wanted to listen to every Louis recording available. Bergreen paints Armstrong as such an amazing character which he completely was. Even if you aren't a jazz fan this is just a great book about a great man.

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Just someone showing off about how much he read about jazz History
The definitive Satchmo biography

Louis Armstrong: An American Genius
James Lincoln Collier
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195037278

Book Description

Louis Armstrong. "Satchmo." To millions of fans, he was just a great entertainer. But to jazz aficionados, he was one of the most important musicians of our times--not only a key figure in the history of jazz but a formative influence on all of 20th-century popular music. Set against the backdrop of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York during the "jazz age", Collier re-creates the saga of an old-fashioned black man making it in a white world. He chronicles Armstrong's rise as a musician, his scrapes with the law, his relationships with four wives, and his frequent feuds with fellow musicians Earl Hines and Zutty Singleton. He also sheds new light on Armstrong's endless need for approval, his streak of jealousy, and perhaps most important, what some consider his betrayal of his gift as he opted for commercial success and stardom. A unique biography, knowledgeable, insightful, and packed with information, it ends with Armstrong's death in 1971 as one of the best-known figures in American entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

Just someone showing off about how much he read about jazz History.......2006-11-02

I was completely disapointed by this book. SInce the begining the author is only taking advantage of the trapped reader to show him how much he knows about the origins of technical jazz. There is really little about Louis and his lif per se. The author rather gives a rough background stating that little is known (he shouldn't have written a book about such a personality if little was known about him)and the few facts that he states he refutes arguing they are not true or completely true. Even refering to Louis autobiography trying to demonstrate that the artist himself was wrong in his own words.

Just a well written account of Jazz origins dressed up as a Louis Armstrong Biography, maybe the only way James Lincoln Collier could sell a copy. Disguising the buyer and cheating on the reader.

Strongly not recomended !!!

The definitive Satchmo biography.......2004-12-11

Collier did a great job! His historiography is as brilliant as ever. It seems to me that the mainstream of Jazz so-called "scholars" don't like Collier because he's got no race bias and because of his impartiality. Actually, Mr. Collier is the best American writer on the subject, as he knows musical theory and is also a fine researcher.

All of Me: The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong (Studies in Jazz)

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All of Me: The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong (Studies in Jazz)
Jos Willems
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810857057

Book Description

A discography of jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong's groundbreaking musical career, with detailed information about all his works, from professionally made commercial releases to amateur and unissued recordings.

If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong

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Louis plays the cornet
A possible choice.
Excellent picture book biography of the jazz musician.

If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong
Roxane Orgill
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 061825076X

Book Description

Roxane Orgill's vivid words and Leonard Jenkins's dramatic pictures combine to tell the story of a boy who grew up to be a giant of jazzthe legendary and beloved Louis Armstrong. As a poor boy in New Orleans, where music was everywheredancing out of doorways, singing on street corners, crying from the cornet of the great Joe Oliver for all to hearLouis longed for a horn so that he too could sing, bring home pennies, and, most of all, tap happy-feet blues till the sun rose. It wasn't going to be easy. Many things, not all of them good, had to happen before he got his horn. But when at last he did, he sent music spiraling up into the New Orleans night sky like a spinning top gone crazy.

Customer Reviews:

Louis plays the cornet.......2007-01-10

This book is a bit long for younger children, but works well for 3-4th graders. If you paraphrase the wording, it might work better to keep the kids' attention. I teach music classes and found this helped the students. There is a part of book that says Louis fired his Uncle's gun off in the street for New Years, so we had to discuss why it was dangerous to do that. Luckily, the book also describes Louis' getting caught by the police in the act. This is a touching story which I hope is true. I'm not sure whether it is or not, but the end is very moving and my students were engaged by it.

A possible choice. .......2006-02-23

This book is a good buy if you want to share one of the stories of Louis Armstrong with a child. I reitterate, ONE of the stories. When reading about Louis Armstrong, I have come across three different versions of how Satchmo attained his trumpet/cornet. This story suggests that the band directer at the colored-waiffs home for boys gave him his first cornet. This book is a good portrayal of this book if this is the story you believe. If reading for strictly the purpose of introducing a musical legend and/or instrument to a child, this is a great story. If teaching about the person, I wouldn't rely solely on this tale regarding Louis Armstrong.

Excellent picture book biography of the jazz musician........1998-03-20

One of the best picture book biographies I've seen, the rich text and earthy pictures evoke the soul of the jazz artist, pictured here as a boy. A lovely introduction to a jazz master for very young readers from six years and older.

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