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  • [Armstrong, Louis, 1900-1971] Bergreen, Laurence.
    LOUIS ARMSTRONG: An Extravagant Life.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Broadway Books, (1997.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A definitive biography of this giant among jazz musicians - based on previously unexplored archives of Armstrong's writings. Photographs, discography, bibliography, endnotes, index. 564 pp. ISBN: 0-553-067680.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 54405
    View cart More details Price: $25.00
  • LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971. by [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971.

    Edition: First US printing.

    Boston: Little Brown, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - An account of the musician who towered over the world of jazz for 50 years. Illustrated with many photographs. Chronology, film list, index. Slightly oversized. 256 pages.

    Condition: Very good in very good+ dust jacket (previous owner's name mostly hidden by dj flap.)

    Book ID: 21638
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971. by [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971.

    Edition: First US printing.

    Boston: Little Brown, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - An account of the musician who towered over the world of jazz for 50 years. Illustrated with many photographs. Chronology, film list, index. Slightly oversized. 256 pages.

    Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 21701
    View cart More details Price: $25.00
  • LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971. by [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    [Armstrong, Louis] Jones, Max and Chilton, John.
    LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971.

    Edition: First US printing.

    Boston: Little Brown, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - An account of the musician who towered over the world of jazz for 50 years. Illustrated with many photographs. Chronology, film list, index. Slightly oversized. 256 pages.

    Condition: Ex-library with the usual markings, missing front endpaper, but overall tight and clean in a very good, unmarked dustjacket.

    Book ID: 39155
    View cart More details Price: $12.50
  • THE JAZZ BOOK: From New Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz. by Berendt, Joachim.
    Berendt, Joachim.
    THE JAZZ BOOK: From New Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz.

    Edition: Trade paperback.

    Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill and Co, (1975.). "An indispensable handbook for jazz today" - a comprehensive look at jazz history with chapters on jazz instruments, vocalists, combos, European jazz and more. Translated by Dan Morgenstern and Helmut and Barbara Bredigkeit Discography, index. xvi, 459 pp. ISBN: 0-882080288.

    Condition: Near fine in stiff wrappers.

    Book ID: 42229
    View cart More details Price: $12.00
  • LONESOME BOY. by Bontemps, Arna.
    Bontemps, Arna.
    LONESOME BOY.

    Edition: First printing.

    Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955. dj. Hardcover first edition - A short story set in the New Orleans country "simply and poetically told, of a young river boy who followed his music through a series of adventures until he came to the last and strangest of them all." Illustrated with drawings by Feliks Topolski. 28 pp.

    Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket - some toning to both the dj and the pages, original price of $2 on dj flap.

    Book ID: 87947
    View cart More details Price: $35.00
  • MIDDLE PASSAGES. by Brathwaite, Kamu.
    Brathwaite, Kamu.
    MIDDLE PASSAGES.

    Edition: 2nd printing - trade paperback.

    New York: New Directions, (1993.). A collection of poems on the effects of the middle passage of slavery on the New World, which celebrate great musicians (Ellington, Bessie Smith and others), poets, heroes of the resistance, and Third World leaders. 120 pp. ISBN: 0-8112-12327.

    Condition: Near fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 44710
    View cart More details Price: $9.50
  • RUINED TIME: The 1950s and the Beat. by Briggs, Robert (1929-2015)
    Briggs, Robert (1929-2015)
    RUINED TIME: The 1950s and the Beat.

    Edition: First printing, a large trade paperback original.

    Scappoose, OR: RBA Publishing, 2006. First edition - A memoir of the 1950s and the Beat era, the pivotal decade of the 20th Century in which a Beat Generation revised the awareness of consciousness at the same time as a deceptive military-industrial complex was corporatizing the Cold War. Poet David Meltzer commented that this "is the book within the book, the history within the mystery, the mythology of the '50s, the so-called Beat Generation. Briggs reveals the real deal as a participant in that confounding history. His work is a remarkable embodiment of the personal as the political; a brave demonstration of tough insight, survival and triumph. Briggs brings it all into play - as the ongoing and complex…

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    Scappoose, OR: RBA Publishing, 2006. First edition - A memoir of the 1950s and the Beat era, the pivotal decade of the 20th Century in which a Beat Generation revised the awareness of consciousness at the same time as a deceptive military-industrial complex was corporatizing the Cold War. Poet David Meltzer commented that this "is the book within the book, the history within the mystery, the mythology of the '50s, the so-called Beat Generation. Briggs reveals the real deal as a participant in that confounding history. His work is a remarkable embodiment of the personal as the political; a brave demonstration of tough insight, survival and triumph. Briggs brings it all into play - as the ongoing and complex struggle all dissident spirits had to contend with in dark yet illuminated days." Illustrated with photographs, notes, bibliography, index. Large format. 326 pp. ISBN: 0-931191213.

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    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 88693
    View cart More details Price: $35.00
  • BILLIE'S BLUES: Billie Holiday's Story, 1933-1959. by Chilton, John.
    Chilton, John.
    BILLIE'S BLUES: Billie Holiday's Story, 1933-1959.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Stein & Day, (1975) dj. Hardcover first edition - A biography of Billie Holiday by a friend and musician, one that focuses on the contradictions of her artistry as an accomplished jazz singer and her struggles as a drug addict, as a woman who earned the adulation of fans and suffered the humiliations of Jim Crow and incarceration. Foreword by Buck Clayton. Illustrated with photographs. Selected bibliography, index. 264 pp. ISBN: 0-812818210.

    Condition: Near fine in very good dust jacket (some wear to the dj at the ends of the spine)

    Book ID: 76831
    View cart More details Price: $28.50
  • RAT CITY. by Colbert, Curt.
    Colbert, Curt.
    RAT CITY.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    Los Angeles: Uglytown Productions, (2001). SIGNED first edition - The first book in this series set in Seattle in the years after World War II and featuring private investigator Jake Rossiter and his assistant Miss Jenkins (who is eager to be an investigator herself). A young Negro jazzman has gone missing and his proud father will not give up hope. "SIGNED on the title page. 361 pp. ISBN: 0-966347358.

    Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (in a protective cover).

    Book ID: 74124
    View cart More details Price: $25.00
  • THE ARTIFICIAL WHITE MAN: Essays on Authenticity. by Crouch, Stanley.
    Crouch, Stanley.
    THE ARTIFICIAL WHITE MAN: Essays on Authenticity.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Civitas / Basic Books, (2004). First edition - A collection of essays, some previously unpublished, in which "the notoriously contrarian critic of race-based cultural politics examines the problem of ethnic authenticity in contemporary America. Writing in a characteristically peeved style, Crouch is perhaps most cogent in an essay entitled 'Most Vote for Literary Segregation, Others Don't,' in which he asserts that contemporary American writers, wary of being labeled politically incorrect, rarely write about life beyond the boundaries of their own race and class." (Publisher's Weekly)" 226 pp.

    Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers. An uncommon advance issue.

    Book ID: 87007
    View cart More details Price: $21.50
  • THE WORLD OF DUKE ELLINGTON. by [Ellington, Edward Kennedy 'Duke', 1899-1974] Dance, Stanley.
    [Ellington, Edward Kennedy 'Duke', 1899-1974] Dance, Stanley.
    THE WORLD OF DUKE ELLINGTON.

    Edition: Trade paperback.

    New York: Da Capo Press, (2002.). The life of jazz great Ellington in his own words and those of the musicians who played with him. Illustrated throughout with photographs. Discography, chronology, index. 310 pp. ISBN: 0-306-810158.

    Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated covers (remainder line)

    Book ID: 41977
    View cart More details Price: $10.00
  • DUKE ELLINGTON: A Spiritual Biography. by [Ellington, Edward Kennedy 'Duke', 1899-1974] Steed, Janna Tull .
    [Ellington, Edward Kennedy 'Duke', 1899-1974] Steed, Janna Tull .
    DUKE ELLINGTON: A Spiritual Biography.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, (1999.) dj. Hardcover first edition - An "interpretive biography" by Steed, an ordained minister who is a recognized authority on Ellington's Sacred Concerts. Part of a series of short biographies in the Lives & Legacies series, which focus on the spiritual growth of significant artists. Photographs, notes, chronology, index. 192 pp. ISBN: 9780824523510.

    Condition: Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 41976
    View cart More details Price: $15.00
  • BLUE LIGHTNING. by Harvey, John, editor; Gary Phillips and Walter Mosley, signed.
    Harvey, John, editor; Gary Phillips and Walter Mosley, signed.
    BLUE LIGHTNING.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    London: Slow Dancer Press, (1998). SIGNED first edition - An unusual anthology which collects eighteen stories by a diverse group of authors united by "music" as the authors - jazz, rock, country, Japanese classical, blues and more - for their characters and plots. SIGNED by TWO authors: Gary Phillips at his story "Stone Cold Killah" and Walter Mosley at "Blue Lightning." Also includes contributions from Charlotte Carter, Ian Rankin, , Liza Cody, Jeffery Deaver, Peter Robinson, James Sallis, Julie Smith and more. 399 pp plus "Musical notes and otherwise" from the contributors. ISBN: 1-871033438.

    Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (usual toning to edges of textblock).

    Book ID: 78728
    View cart More details Price: $37.50
  • STREETS OF GOLD. by Hunter, Evan.
    Hunter, Evan.
    STREETS OF GOLD.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Harper & Row, (1974) dj. Hardcover first edition - Novel set in East Harlem in the 1920s, the story of a blind jazz pianist, the grandson of an Italian immigrant who came to NY to find his fortune on the 'streets of gold.' Hunter is also, of course, well known for the mysteries which he writes under the name of Ed McBain. 471 pp plus author's brief note. ISBN: 0-06-0120126.

    Condition: Good in a good dust jacket (blank bookplate on front endpaper, some small chips and minor edgewear to dj.)

    Book ID: 73907
    View cart More details Price: $17.50
  • Lees, Gene.
    YOU CAN'T STEAL A GIFT: Dizzy, Clark, Milt, and Nat.

    Edition: First printing.

    New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, (2001.) dj. Hardcover first edition - From the dustjacket: 'A jazz chronicler writes of his encounters with four great black musicians - Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton and Nat 'King' Cole. Equal parts memoir, oral history and commentary, each of the main chapters is a minibiography weaving together conversations with the musicians and their families, friends and associates over a period of several decades... Lee begins the book with an essay that tells of his introduction to the world of jazz and his reaction to racism in the United States when he emigrated from Canada in 1955. The underlying theme in his book is the impact racism had on the four musicians'…

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    New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, (2001.) dj. Hardcover first edition - From the dustjacket: 'A jazz chronicler writes of his encounters with four great black musicians - Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton and Nat 'King' Cole. Equal parts memoir, oral history and commentary, each of the main chapters is a minibiography weaving together conversations with the musicians and their families, friends and associates over a period of several decades... Lee begins the book with an essay that tells of his introduction to the world of jazz and his reaction to racism in the United States when he emigrated from Canada in 1955. The underlying theme in his book is the impact racism had on the four musicians' lives and careers and their determination to overcome it.' Foreword by Nat Hentoff. Photographs, index. 269 pp. ISBN: 0-300-089651.

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    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket (a new copy.)

    Book ID: 30103
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • CALIBAN 6. by (McClure, Michael, signed.) Smith, Lawrence R. editor.
    (McClure, Michael, signed.) Smith, Lawrence R. editor.
    CALIBAN 6.

    Edition: First printing.

    Ann Arbor: Caliban, 1989. SIGNED first edition - An innovative literary journal of fiction, essays, poetry and photographs. This issue includes works by William Stafford, Gerald Vizenor, Janet Kauffman, Toi Dericotte, James Tate, Charles Baxter and more. SIGNED by Michael McClure at his poem "Politics of the Soul." Notes on contributors. 217 pp plus advertisements. ISBN: 0890-7269.

    Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 72919
    View cart More details Price: $40.00
  • NO EYES: LESTER YOUNG. by Meltzer, David.
    Meltzer, David.
    NO EYES: LESTER YOUNG.

    Edition: First printing in wrappers, issued simultaneously with hardcover.

    Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 2000. First edition - A sequence of poems which form a prolonged mediation on jazz saxophonist Lester Young's last year of life. In addition to writing poetry, Meltzer also edited two anthologies on jazz. Photographs. 181 pp plus colophon. ISBN: 1-57423-1294.

    Condition: Just about fine in printed wrappers.

    Book ID: 68923
    Keywords: jazz, Poetry
    View cart More details Price: $15.00
  • Moody, Bill.
    BIRD LIVES!

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Walker, (1999.). SIGNED first edition - The 4th in the excellent series of mysteries featuring jazz pianist Evan Horne, all of which draw upon the author's own knowledge of music as a professional jazz drummer and critic. SIGNED on the title page.

    Condition: Very near fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 31850
    View cart More details Price: $50.00
  • BIRD LIVES! by Moody, Bill.
    Moody, Bill.
    BIRD LIVES!

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Walker, (1999.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The 4th in the excellent series of mysteries featuring jazz pianist Evan Horne, all of which draw upon the author's own knowledge of music as a professional jazz drummer and critic. INSCRIBED on the title page. 248 pp. ISBN: 0-8027-33271.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 52149
    View cart More details Price: $40.00
  • [Morton, Jelly Roll] Charters, Samuel.
    JELLY ROLL MORTON'S LAST NIGHT AT THE JUNGLE INN.

    Edition: Trade paperback.

    New York & London: Marion Boyars (1994.). Described as an imaginary memoir, this is an interesting blend of fiction and fact, presented in the form of a monologue by the self-professed inventor of jazz: pianist, composer and lyricist extraordinary. Illustrated with photographs. 153 pp. ISBN: 0-7145-28978.

    Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (as new)

    Book ID: 26456
    View cart More details Price: $10.00
  • CONJUGATIONS AND REITERATIONS: Poems. by Murray, Albert.
    Murray, Albert.
    CONJUGATIONS AND REITERATIONS: Poems.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Pantheon, (2001). Hardcover first edition - The rather uncommon first book of poetry by this Black author whom The New Yorker described as "possessed of the poet's language, the novelist's sensibility, the essayist's clarity, the jazzman's imagination, and the gospel singer's depth of feeling." A small slim volume. 73 pp. ISBN: 0-375421416.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket (appears unread.)

    Book ID: 86753
    View cart More details Price: $21.50
  • Ondaatje, Michael.
    COMING THROUGH SLAUGHTER.

    Edition: First US printing.

    New York: Norton, 1976. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Author's second novel, set in New Orleans early in this century- the story of Buddy Bolden, the first of the great jazz trumpet players. SIGNED on the title page.

    Condition: Near fine in a near fine dustjacket (fragile dj has light rubbing, 2 short closed tears)

    Book ID: 14107
    View cart More details Price: $145.00
  • KANSAS CITY LIGHTNING: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. by [Parker, Charlie] Crouch, Stanley.
    [Parker, Charlie] Crouch, Stanley.
    KANSAS CITY LIGHTNING: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Harper Collins, (2013). First edition - Biography of the jazz great which focuses on his early years in Kansas City. 334 pp.

    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 58508
    View cart More details Price: $26.50
  • BLACK AND BLUE: The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf. by [Razaf, Andy, 1895 -1973] Singer, Barry.
    [Razaf, Andy, 1895 -1973] Singer, Barry.
    BLACK AND BLUE: The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Schirmer Books / Macmillan, (1992) dj. Hardcover first edition - A book which chronicles the life and Prohibition-era times of this legendary songwriter and whose musicals pioneered a distinctive African-American musical theater on Broadway, but who has been almost forgotten. "The 1920s were thrilling years for Broadway and Tin Pan Alley. Uptown in Harlem, talented musicians and composers were working to shed the image of minstrelsy and to find mainstream success within the structures of that particularly African American music known as jazz. The subject of this biography was lyricist for hundreds of songs, including 'Honeysuckle Rose' and 'Ain't Misbehavin'.' His contemporaries formed a Who''s Who of jazz greats, from Louis Armstrong to Razaf's most noted collaborator,…

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    New York: Schirmer Books / Macmillan, (1992) dj. Hardcover first edition - A book which chronicles the life and Prohibition-era times of this legendary songwriter and whose musicals pioneered a distinctive African-American musical theater on Broadway, but who has been almost forgotten. "The 1920s were thrilling years for Broadway and Tin Pan Alley. Uptown in Harlem, talented musicians and composers were working to shed the image of minstrelsy and to find mainstream success within the structures of that particularly African American music known as jazz. The subject of this biography was lyricist for hundreds of songs, including 'Honeysuckle Rose' and 'Ain't Misbehavin'.' His contemporaries formed a Who''s Who of jazz greats, from Louis Armstrong to Razaf's most noted collaborator, Thomas 'Fats' Waller. Razaf brought a sensitivity and sophistication to his lyrics that ensure the timelessness of his best work. The poignant 'Black and Blue,' dealing with the plight of being Black in a white world, may be the first racial protest song."" (Library Journal) Illustrated with photographs. Notes, songs, discography, index. xvii, 444 pp. ISBN: 0-028723953.

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    Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket (a bit of light discoloration to outer edges of back of textblock.)

    Book ID: 88678
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • DREAMTIME ALICE: A Memoir by Sayer, Mandy
    Sayer, Mandy
    DREAMTIME ALICE: A Memoir

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Ballantine, (1998.). First edition - Award winning Australian novelist's story of the years she spent performing on the streets of New York and New Orleans with her father, jazz drummer, Gerry Sayer.

    Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (rear corner bent.)

    Book ID: 8549
    View cart More details Price: $18.00
  • DREAMTIME ALICE: A Memoir by Sayer, Mandy
    Sayer, Mandy
    DREAMTIME ALICE: A Memoir

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Ballantine, (1998.). First edition - Award winning Australian novelist's story of the years she spent performing on the streets of New York and New Orleans with her father, jazz drummer, Gerry Sayer.

    Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers

    Book ID: 51763
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • EARLY BRIGHT. by Silber, Ami.
    Silber, Ami.
    EARLY BRIGHT.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New Milford, CT and London: The Toby Press, (2008). First edition - The author's first novel "a captivating downhill ride through the alleys and clubs of LA's 1948 bebop scene, crafting a fascinating antihero who will do just about anything to keep his fingers on the ivories. At first, Jewish musician Louis Greenberg seems downright courageous, using his charm and piano skills to earn a place in the black jazz clubs of Watts; he's even pursuing an impossible love affair with a beautiful black regular, Beatrice. But soon it becomes apparent that his outsider status is deserved: his day job is swindling war widows out of their money, using the memories of their departed husbands as bait." (Publishers Weekly) 348 pp.

    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 88813
    View cart More details Price: $18.00
  • BODY AND SOUL. by Smith, J. P.
    Smith, J. P.
    BODY AND SOUL.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Grove Press, (1987) dj. Hardcover first edition - Author's second novel, set in the criminal underworld of Paris, and featuring Jerzy Wozzeck, a Polish emigree who plays the piano in a Paris bistro, once known for its jazz, but which has now been taken over by a Corsican gangster. 215 pp. ISBN: 0-802100201.

    Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket (some shelfwear to bottom edge)

    Book ID: 82320
    View cart More details Price: $16.50
  • Spaeth, Sigmund.
    THEY STILL SING OF LOVE.

    Edition: First edition.

    New York: Horace Liveright, 1929. Hardcover first edition - A series of essays, ranging from the light-hearted to the more serious, on popular music - ranging from love songs, to songs of travel, barbershop quartets and more. Includes chapters on 'jazzmania,' primitive music, etc. 234 pp.

    Condition: Good in tan cloth with red and black lettering (some soiling to the covers, stamp of previous owner on front endpaper.)

    Book ID: 33514
    View cart More details Price: $20.00