George Willis' "jazz trilogy"

[ghost of miles]

I'm almost always interested in reading fictional depictions of jazz musicians written during the 1935-65 era (swinging roughly from Benny to late Trane). Tonight at our downtown used bookstore I came across a 1947 novel called LITTLE BOY BLUES, the third in a "jazz trilogy" by a Mr. George Willis, author of the previous jazz novels TANGLEWEED & THE WILD FAUN. Evidently Willis was a drummer with some small midwestern bands who drew on his experience to write the novels (this according to the dustjacket copy... of course Mr. Willis could be an absolute construct, or at the very least a pseudonymn). Here's some copy from the jacket... "George Willis writes with intense vitality and artistic skill of the tough and exciting, sordid and glamorous world of the jazzman. Here are the one-night stands, the hurried loves, the smoke-filled jam sessions, the constant, heartbreaking struggles to make the big time...Based on authentic, firsthand information every line of LITTLE BOY BLUES beats with the throbbing, insistent compulsion of bigtime jazz."

(Smokin'!) The writing in the book seems to about match the jacket copy... in the sense of capturing that overblown Hardy Boys style of yore. Anybody else ever come across this writer in any survey of mid-20th century American jazz literature?

[garthsj]

I'm almost always interested in reading fictional depictions of jazz musicians written during the 1935-65 era (swinging roughly from Benny to late Trane). Tonight at our downtown used bookstore I came across a 1947 novel called LITTLE BOY BLUES, the third in a "jazz trilogy" by a Mr. George Willis, author of the previous jazz novels TANGLEWEED & THE WILD FAUN. Evidently Willis was a drummer with some small midwestern bands who drew on his experience to write the novels (this according to the dustjacket copy... of course Mr. Willis could be an absolute construct, or at the very least a pseudonymn). Here's some copy from the jacket... "George Willis writes with intense vitality and artistic skill of the tough and exciting, sordid and glamorous world of the jazzman. Here are the one-night stands, the hurried loves, the smoke-filled jam sessions, the constant, heartbreaking struggles to make the big time...Based on authentic, firsthand information every line of LITTLE BOY BLUES beats with the throbbing, insistent compulsion of bigtime jazz."

(Smokin'!) The writing in the book seems to about match the jacket copy... in the sense of capturing that overblown Hardy Boys style of yore. Anybody else ever come across this writer in any survey of mid-20th century American jazz literature?

I agree that LITTLE BOY BLUES is a hoot! I read it many years ago ... and now I am tempted to find the other two books. I have checked at ABE, and they are still available. I know that, like me, you enjoy jazz fiction ... Have you ever read SOLO (1955) by Stanford Whitmore ... highly recommended in the fifties jazz genre, as is SECOND ENDING (1956) by the late Evan Hunter (a.k.a. Ed McBain).

Two other interesting "jazz novels" from the sixties that are fun are: GIG (1969) by James Houston, and a fine English book, STRIKE THE FATHER DEAD (1962) by John Wain.

[ghost of miles]

I have an Evan Hunter/Ed McBain novel about a junkie trumpeter, but I can't recall its title. I'll keep an eye out for those books... I'd be interested in a lengthy survey or article about this subject. I think the recent book on jazz in literature focuses more on the treatment of jazz in mainstream fiction, as opposed to fiction that's jazz-based.

Edited June 13, 2006 by ghost of miles