The first installment in the long-awaited portrait of one of the most talented and influential musicians of the twentieth century. Charlie Parker personified the tortured American artist: a revolutionary performer who used his alto saxophone to create a new music known as bebop even as he wrestled with a drug addiction that would lead to his death at 34. With the wisdom of a jazz scholar, the cultural insights of a social critic, and the narrative...

A one-hundredth birthday tribute to the late jazz artist explores his observations about humanity's discriminatory and violent behaviors as well as his efforts to forge world peace through music with the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Explores the childhood and early career of the noted jazz trumpeter who gained fame performing at the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1955.

A brief recounting of the career of this jazz musician and composer who, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category.

Louis Armstrong has been called the most important improviser in the history of jazz. Although his New Orleans neighborhood was poor in nearly everything else, it was rich in superb music. Young Louis took it all in, especially the cornet blowing of Joe "King" Oliver. But after a run in with the police, 11-year-old Louis was sent away to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys where he became a disciplined musician in the school's revered marching band....

"The long-awaited memoir by one of the most influential and beloved musicians of our time. In Herbie Hancock the legendary jazz musician and composer reflects on a thriving career that has spanned seven decades. A true innovator, Hancock has had an enormous influence on both acoustic and electric jazz, R&B and hip-hop, with his ongoing exploration of different musical genres, winning fourteen Grammy awards along the way. From his beginnings as a child...

A brief introduction to the life of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, who recorded more than 200 albums and performed at Carnegie Hall twenty-six times.

A landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator.

A biography of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald featuring full-page color illustrations. Describes her early life as a poor orphan and how she became a singing star.