Presents a short study of singer, songwriter, and jazz musician Louis Armstrong and chronicles his childhood in New Orleans and rise in the entertainment industry.

This book describes the life and achievements of Louis Armstrong, renowned trumpeter and outstanding figure in the history of jazz.

Presents information about Ella Fitzgerald, from her youth mired in tragedy to her rise to stardom as one of the top jazz singers of all time.

Presents a chapter-book biography of Louis Armstrong that describes the musician's life and times through the eyes of his closest companion--his horn.

"The other great Renaissance of black culture, influence, and glamour burst forth joyfully in what may seem an unlikely place--Pittsburgh, PA--from the 1920s through the 1950s. Today black Pittsburgh is known as the setting for August Wilson's famed plays about noble but doomed working-class strivers. But this community once had an impact on American history that rivaled the far larger black worlds of Harlem and Chicago. It published the most widely...

An introduction to the life of Louis Armstrong, the musician and singer who helped popularize jazz throughout the world.

"J is for Jazz is a riotous romp through the alphabet featuring the history and living creativity of this special music!"--

Ever since she was a young girl, Lil Hardin played music with a beat. She jammed at home, at church, and even at her first job in a music store. At a time when women's only place in jazz was at the microphone, Lil earned a spot playing piano in Chicago's hottest band.

The musical language and highly idiosyncratic style of Thelonious Monk-so avant-garde in its day-is in many ways still considered avant-garde today. This program seeks to understand Monk's innovative music by tracing the Harlem-born jazzman's career. His childhood debut as accompanist for a touring preacher, years of searching for his own style, gradual acceptance by the public who had neglected him, eventual critical acclaim as a musical genius,...