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.

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.

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.

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.

New York: William H. Morrow, 1979. First edition - The first collection of his plays and prose, including four complete plays - Dutchman; The Slave; The Great Goodness of Life, and What Was the Relationship of the Lone Ranger to the Means of Production - as well as many essays. Nearly half of the works in this book had not been previously published, including What Was the Relationship and an essay on John Coltrane. 276 pp. ISBN: 0-688084958.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Navarro, CA: Wild Trees Press, 1987. Photo of Crowder and Cunard at the Hours Trees Press on front cover - 201 pgs. cover price 9.95. Very uncommon and interesting. A jazz musician whom Nancy Cunard met in Paris, Crowder was the dedicatee of (and inspiration for) Cunard's massive anthology 'Negro.' This is his frank perspective on their relationship, on the times, and on the production of the book 'Negro.' Fascinating reading - and one of the hardest to find titles produced by Alice Walker's and Robert Allen's small press. ISBN: 0-931125-057.

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.

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.

Wakefield, RI: Moyer Bell - Asphodel Press, 1994. dj. Hardcover first edition - A collection of 27 essays - several dealing with Chicago, others on Billie Holliday, jazz musician Roland Kirk, on Michael Jordan, the black Baptist church, sculptor Richard Hunt - book reviews and more, by this noted African American writer. ISBN: 1-55921-0680.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, (1991.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A complete discographical listing of all recordings issued on the Aladdin and Imperial labels from 1942 to 1974, arranged chronologically and ranging from jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues to popular music, folk & dance, Mexican folk and hillbilly. Ruppli includes every available detail relating to session recording dates and personnel. The discography also lists titles with both master numbers and issue numbers. Sessions include Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Billie Holiday, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Rivers, Lightnin' Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino, Joe Turner, Irma Thomas, Cher, Smiley Lewis, Art Pepper, the Five Keys and many others. Index. xiv, 727 pp. Discographies #42.

The Aladdin/Imperial Labels: A Discography (ISBN:)

Westport, C Greenwood Press, (1991.). ISBN: 0-313278210.

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.

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.

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.

New York: St Martin's Minotaur, (1999) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Mystery featuring chef and sometimes sleuth Heaven Lee, set in Kansas City, and complete with recipes. "When a big jazz festival rolls into Kansas City, big names and even bigger egos follow. Soul singer divas and renowned jazzmen take over the usually sleepy city, and Heaven Lee has to cook for them all. While Heaven is up to her elbows in hoppin' john and sweet potato pecan pie getting ready for the festivities, the events much despised organizer is murdered." INSCRIBED on the title page and dated in 2001. 242 pp plus recipe index. ISBN: 0-312206054.

Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Library. (1987). First edition - Introduction by Kimberly Chambers, afterword by Joan C. St. Crane, curator of American Literature Collection at UVA Library. Includes selections ranging from Frederick Douglass to Charles H. Rowell, including Houston Baker, Jay Wright, Albert Murray, Zora Hurston, Robert Stepto, Toi Derricote, Rita Dove, Gerald Barrax and more. Illustrated throughout with photographs. One of 2500 copies. Unpaginated (48 pp) A slim volume.

New York: Da Capo Press, (1980.). Illustrated with photographs. Discography. 235 pp. 1988. ISBN: 0-306-800438.

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2003.). SIGNED first edition - A massive sprawling novel - described on the cover as a 'symphonic novel' - covering 150 years of family history, by this Puerto Rican born, Brooklyn author. Vidamia Farrell, half Puerto Rican, half Irish, sets out in search of the father she never knew - once a gifted jazz pianist, he lost 2 fingers in Vietnam, and shut himself off from music, and is now living in Manhattan's East Village with his second family. A story about learning about yourself and about the complexities of roots - described as 'masterfully crafted and complex' by Ntozake Shange, and 'big, brave, boisterous and brawling' by Colum McCann, this is a great read. 640 pp.