Book Reviews
of Jazz and American Popular Music


An occupational blessing (and hazard) of being an English teacher
is that--if you hang around long enough--editors start sending
you books to review. I have reviewed a bunch of them in the last
few years. I offer the reviews here to help guide your reading and stimulate your thinking.

Of course these reviews represent only one opinion. Most were
written for The Mississippi Rag, which is a magazine devoted to
traditional and mainstream jazz.


Books About American Songwriters



Harold Arlen


Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows and Blues
by Edward Jablonski (569 words)


Irving Berlin

As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin
by Lawrence Bergreen (692 words)


Irving Berlin: Songs From the Melting Pot:
The Formative Years: 1907-1914
by Charles Hamm (594 words)


Irving Berlin: A Daughter's Memoir
by Mary Ellin Barrett
and
Irving Berlin: A Life in Song
by Philip Furia
and
Irving Berlin: American Troubador
by Edward Jablonski (1,318 words)


Hoagy Carmichael

Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael
by Richard M. Sudhalter (606 words)


George and Ira Gershwin

The Music of Gershwin, by Steven E. Gilbert
and
Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, by Philip Furia
(393 words)


The Memory of All That, by Joan Peyser
and
George Gershwin, by Rodney Green
(1,078 words)


Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner

The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner
by Stephen Citron (276 words)


Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers
by William G. Hyland (1,030 words)


Billy Strayhorn

Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn
by David Hajdu (431 words)



Books About Musicians and Singers



Louis Armstrong


Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life
by Lawrence Bergreen (1,139 words)


Nat "King" Cole

Nat King Cole
by Daniel Mark Epstein (678 words)


Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams: The Early Years, 1903-1940
by Gary Giddins (828 words)


Michael Feinstein

Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme
by Michael Feinstein (531 words)


Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz,
by Stuart Nicholson (781 words)


Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman and the Swing Era,
by James Lincoln Collier (435 words)


Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman
by Ross Firestone (675 words)


Woody Herman

Leader of the Band: The Life of Woody Herman
by Gene Lees (407 words)


Billie Holiday

Wishing on the Moon: The Life and Times of Billie Holiday
by Donald Clarke
and
Billie Holiday, by Stuart Nicholson
(1,135 words)


Harry James

Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James
by Peter J. Levinson (694 words)


Frank Sinatra

Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art
by Will Friedwald (692 words)


Sinatra: A Complete Life, by J. Randy Taraborrelli
and
All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra, by Michael Freedland
(511 words)



Books About Jazz and Popular Music History


Lost Chords:
White Musicians and Their Contributions to Jazz: 1915-1945
by Richard M. Sudhalter
(1,345 words)


Twelve Lives in Jazz, by Duncan Schiedt
(360 words)


The Song Is Ended: Songwriters and American Music, 1900-1950
by William Hyland (289 words)


Singing Jazz: The Singers and Their Styles
by Bruce Crowther and Mike Pinfold (272 words)