Awaited/rumored jazz bio/books update thread

[ghost of miles]

Some off the top of my head:

Eagerly awaited!

Peter Pullman--his Bud Powell bio. I'll buy this one the day it lands in stores.

Robin Kelley--his Monk bio.

Mike--his Henry Grimes book.

Allen--his 1950s jazz book.

One for division:

Francis Davis--his Coltrane bio. (And is Baraka working on one as well?)

File in the "just curious, doubt I'd ever read" category:

Peter Keepnews--his Monk bio. (Did he finally give up?)

Stanley Crouch--his Parker bio.

And what's Scott Deveaux up to these days? When I interviewed him in 1998, he said he was contemplating taking on the hardbop period for his next project.

(I'm leaving out George Lewis simply because there are a couple of other threads about him specifically going on right now.)

[EKE BBB]

Chris Albertson´s bio of Lil Hardin/Armstrong.

[ghost of miles]

Chris Albertson´s bio of Lil Hardin/Armstrong.

Man--I didn't know Chris was doing that. Uh, add it to the "eagerly awaited" list, pronto.

[jlhoots]

Jack Chambers bio. on Richard Twardzik (Bouncin' With Bartok) is still on the radar screen. Last I saw is it's now projected for Sept. 2005.

The Claxton book (The Jazz Life) has also been "delayed". Now supposedly will be out Aug. 2005.

Here's hoping for both.

[EKE BBB]

Chris Albertson´s bio of Lil Hardin/Armstrong.

Man--I didn't know Chris was doing that. Uh, add it to the "eagerly awaited" list, pronto.

As far as I know, a lot of research work has been done, but this project is "temporarily forgotten", as he´s working on his autobiography.

Chris?

[montg]

The Norman Granz bio is due out by Christmas--it's written by Tad Hershorn. He's at Rutgers and wrote the very fine notes in the Verve Jam Session box set.

norman granz bio

[ghost of miles]

Jack Chambers bio. on Richard Twardzik (Bouncin' With Bartok) is still on the radar screen. Last I saw is it's now projected for Sept. 2005.

The Claxton book (The Jazz Life) has also been "delayed". Now supposedly will be out Aug. 2005.

Here's hoping for both.

Yes--another one I'd forgotten about and am definitely anticipating.

[GregK]

I'll snap up Albertson's autobio and his Armstrong book as soon as possible!

[Christiern]

Thanks for the encouragements, y'all. Here's a status report.

Lil Armstrong bio: I have, as EKE BBB points out, done research, but the main material I have is the work I did with Lil herself, not the least of which are wonderful pages of her own recollections and observations. A bio by James L. Dickerson was published in 2002, but it is so full of misinformation, ill-founded speculation and gratuitous fillers that it falls more into the category of bad fiction. Reading it prompted me to dust off the manuscript Lil and I worked on 30 years earlier, but it still needs a lot of work before it can become a book worthy of its subject. Unfortunately, I can't afford the time and money needed for research at this moments, so I have committed myself to finishing an autobiography.

Autobiography: I have been jotting down bits and pieces of this since the 1950s, and a good thing that is, for my papers contain many details that have since disappeared into the recesses of my memory. I have put this book on the front burner because it requires much less research and, thus, less time and money. My hope is that it will open the door for the Lil book.

The material for the autobiography is all there, much of it is already in the computer. The question now is: how candid should I be? My inclination is to not hold back on anything that might be of interest to a reader, but we shall see. In one sense, it would seem unfair of me to hold back after being so upfront when writing about Bessie Smith.

Apropos Bessie, the paperback will be out within a month.

As for bios in the works, I believe there is one on John Hammond coming up--I was interviewed for it (can't recall the author's name, but he seemed to be on the right track), and I hope George Avakian was, too. I really look forward to Peter Pullman's Powell book, one on Lonnie Johnson being written by Dean Alger, and Robin Kelley's Monk--I don't know if Peter Keepnews has given up on his Monk project, but it would probably be wise for him to do so, because I don't see him busting his father's exaggerations.

[GregK]

I wonder if there is any chance for a Nessa autobio?

[Chuck Nessa]

Very unlikely. Not even sure the family would read it.

[Christiern]

Just make up something, Chuck, and call it: "It Ain't Nessa....sarily So."

[AllenLowe]

thanks for the mention - I 'm determined to get my '50s book finished, but time has been quite scarce this year - as for new books, I'm going to start a whole thread on this, but just received Larry Gushee's book on the Original Creole Band, and it's monumental - will post more in a few days as I advance further through it -

[dave9199]

The book coming out about Miles, Ornette & Cecil Taylor. It keeps getting pushed back. Now it's Nov. 2005. Looks like a good 'un. It's listed at Amazon.

[epistrophy]

As soon as I finish the Mingus listener's guide I'm working on (due Oct. 2005, Praeger), I will be resuming work on the official biography of Jimmy Rowles. I've been helping the estate weed through a huge archive of photos, documents, drawings, manuscripts and other such goodies.

- Todd

[bertrand]

Paul Combs' bio of Tadd Dameron should be great. Paul has left no stone unturned in documenting Tadd's life. Should be a great book, and it will be out in the near future.

Bertrand.

[marcello]

I have this one that is nice to have but by no means definitive, I'm sure:

Tadd, The Life and Legacy of Tadley Ewing Dameron and it was written by Ian MacDonald, a journalist and editor who lives in Sheffield, England.

[Christiern]

When she decided to return to singing, Alberta Hunter auditioned accompanists in my apartment. One of them was Jimmy Rowles. I was a bit embarrassed by the fact that my piano needed tuning. Anyway, Alberta rejected him. The following day, she rejected Claude Hopkins. She ended up hiring a crook who, upon her death, stole all her money.

[sidewinder]

Simon Spillett is working on a bio of Tubby Hayes. Should be great - he's posting excerpts from it over at AAJ.

[AllenLowe]

that Ian McDonald looks exactly like Tadd Dameron - what were the chances?

[epistrophy]

Some of you might be familiar with the story of Cedric "Bozy" White, who was an officer of the International Assoc. of Jazz Record Collectors. Bozy spent decades exhaustively researching the life and career of Bunny Berigan. He was just about ready to publish a 1,600-page manuscript when he was murdered in Oakland last year, allegedly by one of his tenants. Fortunately some of his friends in the IAJRC were able to rescue his computer and manuscript, and they are presently working on preparing the book for publication. It's a huge task, but it might even be ready by the end of this year.

[Chuck Nessa]

He was just about ready to publish a 1,600-page manuscript when he was murdered in Oakland last year, allegedly by one of his tenants. Fortunately some of his friends in the IAJRC were able to rescue his computer and manuscript, and they are presently working on preparing the book for publication.

Geez, I hope they don't put it on the web as a pdf. I can't afford the paper and it would probably kill my HP.

Bozy was more than an officer in IAJRC (or "I a jerk" as it's known).

[reg]

Horace Silver’s forthcoming autobiography (co-author Phil Pastras? the man who wrote the Jelly Roll Morton book)

[montg]

Terry Teachout is working on a Louis Armstrong biography. The claim, that I've heard more than a few times, is that the world still awaits a definitive biography of Pops.

teachout interview

Edited September 22, 2005 by montg

[Fer Urbina]

From this side of the pond:

About to come out, from Equinox publishers,

Peter Ind: Jazz Visions - Lennie Tristano and His Legacy,

and

Brian Priestley: Chasin' The Bird - The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker

F

(London)