Jazz Biographies

A selected list of biographies, autobiographies and single-artist essay collections. We list books about the following musicians:

Louis Armstrong Chet Baker Art Blakey Paul Bley Anthony Braxton Rosemary Clooney Nat King Cole John Coltrane Miles Davis Duke Ellington Terry Gibbs Dizzy Gillespie Grant Green Gigi Gryce Woody Herman Billie Holiday Rahsaan Roland Kirk Charles Mingus Thelonious Monk Oscar Peterson Sonny Rollins NEW Bessie Smith Billy Strayhorn Sun Ra Mary Lou Williams

buy Louis Armstrong, An Extravagant Life

Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life
Laurence Bergreen / Broadway Books / 592 pages / 1998 / $12.80 [pb]

Louis Armstrong, in His Own Words: Selected Writings
Louis Armstrong, Thomas David Brothers (editor)
Oxford Univ Pr / 256 pages / 1999 / $17.50 [hc]

Satchmo
Gary Giddins / Da Capo / 240 pages / 1998 / $15.96 [pb]

The Louis Armstrong Companion: Eight Decades of Commentary
Joshua Berrett (editor)
Music Sales Ltd / 312 pages / 1999 / $15 [pb]

As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir
Chet Baker / St Martin / 128 pages / February 1999 / $15.25 [hc] / $8.95 [pb]

Chet Baker: His Life and Music
Jeroen De Valk / Berkely Hills / 306 pages / August 2000 / $14.35 [pb]

Young Chet: The Young Chet Baker Photographed
William Claxton / te Neues / 112 pages / March 1999 / $15.25 [hc]

Hard Bop Academy: The Sidemen Of Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers
Alan Goldsher / Hal Leonard / 224 pages / 5 Dec 2002 / [hc]

— read the JAZZMATAZZ review

Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz
Paul Bley, David Lee (ed.) / Vehicule Pr / 160 pages / Dec 1999 / $19.96 [pb]

Forces In Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton
Graham Lock / 412 pages / Da Capo Pr / 1989 / $12.76 [pb]

Fascinating book of Graham Lock's conversation with Anthony Braxton and his quartet during his acclaimed tour of England in 1985.

Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter
Nick Catalano / Oxford Univ Pr / 224 pages / Apr 2000 / $18.75 [hc]

Girl Singer: An Autobiography
Rosemary Clooney / Doubleday / 356 pages / 1999 / $17.47 [hc]

Good Vibes: A Life in Jazz
Terry Gibbs with Gary Ginell / Scarecrow Press / 360 pages / Apr 2003 / [hc] /

Nat King Cole
Daniel Mark Epstein / Farrar Straus & Giroux / 400 pages / 1999 / $18.90 [hc]

John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Lewis Porter / 448 pages / Univ of Michigan Pr / 1998 / $23.96 [hc] $14.36 [pb]

Best biography of Coltrane to date

Chasin' The Trane: The Myth and Mystique of John Coltrane
J. C. Thomas / 252 pages / Da Capo Pr / 1988 / $11.96 [pb]

Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest
Eric Nisenson / Da Capo Pr / 1995 / $11.96 [pb]

The John Coltrane Companion: Four Decades of Commentary
Carl Woideck (editor) / 222 pages / Schirmer Books / 1995 / $12 [pb]

A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
Ashley Kahn / Viking Pr / 256 pages / Oct 2002 / [hc]

John Coltrane: A Discography and Musical Biography
Yasuhiro Fujioka, Lewis Porter, Yoh-Ichi Hamada / Scarecrow Pr / 1995 / $66 [hc]

Miles: The Autobiography
Miles Davis with Quincey Troupe / Touchstone / 441 pages / Sept 1990 / $18.40 [pb]

Milestones The Music and Times of Miles Davis
Jack Chambers / Da Capo / 816 pages / Sept 1998 / $18.40 [pb]

So What: The Life of Miles Davis
John Szwed / Simon & Schuster / 496 pages / Oct 2002 / [hc]

Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece
Ashley Kahn / Da Capo / 224 pages / Sept 2000 / $18.40 [hc]

The complete story of the creation of the legendary jazz album.

The Making of Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and His Masterpiece
Eric Nisenson / St Martins / 192 pages / Nov 2000 / $18.36 [hc]

Miles Beyond: Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991
Paul Tingen / Watson-Guptil / 352 pages / May 2001 / $19.96

Detailed exploration of Miles Davis's under-appreciated electric period.

Miles Davis and American Culture
Gerald Early, editor / University of Missouri Press / 200 pages / May 2001 / $23.96 [hc] / $15.96 [pb] Collection of essays and papers.

The Miles Davis Companion: Four Decades of Commentary
Gary Carner, editor / Schirmer Books / 300 pages / Dec 2000 / $12 [pb]

Miles and Me
Quincey Troupe / Univ Cal / 200 pages / Feb 2000 / $13.97 [hc]

"Quincy Troupe's candid account of his friendship with Miles Davis is a revealing portrait of a great musician and an intimate study of a unique relationship."

Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington
John Edward Hasse / Da Capo Pr / 1995 / $14 [pb]

A comprehensive biography of one of the century's premier musicians focuses on his accomplishments as a composer rather than his popularity as a bandleader.

The Duke Ellington Reader
Mark Tucker (editor) / Oxford Univ Pr / 1993 / $35 [hc]
Oxford Univ Pr / 1995 / $14.36 [pb]

Tucker offers the first historical anthology of writings about a brilliant composer and musician. Featuring over 100 selections--interviews, critical essays, reviews, memoirs, and over a dozen writings by Ellington himself--this sourcebook illuminates Ellington's work and reveals the profound impact his music has made on listeners over the years.

Music Is My Mistress
Duke Ellington / Da Capo Pr / 1988 / $14 [pb]

Groovin' High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie
Alyn Shipton / Oxford Univ Pr / 416 pages / 1999 / [pb]

Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genuis of Jazz Guitar
Sharony Andrews Green / Miller Freeman Books / 274 pages / 1999 / $16.07 [hc]

Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce
Noal Cohen & Michael Fitzgerald / Berkeley Hills Books / 456 pages / Feb 2002 / [pb]

Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon
Donald Clarke / DaCapo / 480 pages / June 2002 / [pb] /

Leader of the Band: The Life of Woody Herman
Gene Lees / Oxford / 448 pages / 1995 / $35 [hc] / $15.95 [pb]

Bright Moments: The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk
John Kruth / Welcome Rain / Feb 2000 / $28.95 [hc]

Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus
Gene Santoro / Oxford Univ / June 2000 / $24 [hc]

The Thelonious Monk Reader
Rob Van Der Bliek, ed. / Oxford Univ Pr / 320 pages / Feb 2001 / $24 [pb]

Brilliant Corners: A Bio-Discography of Thelonious Monk
Chris Sheridan / Greenwood / 560 pages / May 2001 / $99 [hc]

Oscar Peterson: The Will To Swing
Gene Lees / Cooper Square / 328 pages / June 2000 / $15.16 [pb]

Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation
Eric Nisenson / St Martins / 256 pages / March 2000 / $18.71 [hc]

New book written with Rollins' participation.

The Cutting Edge: The Music of Sonny Rollins
Richard Palmer / Hull University / Dec 2000 / $19.95 [pb]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.

NEW Bessie
Chris Albertson / Yale Univ Pr / 314 pages / June, 2003 / [pb] /

— revised edition of Albertson's biography of Bessie Smith

Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn
David Hajdu / Farrar Straus & Giroux / 1996 / $19.25 [hc]
North Point Press / 1997 / $12 [pb]

"A 1996 nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, this perceptive, meticulously researched biography rescues from obscurity the gifted Billy Strayhorn (1915-67), Duke Ellington's arranger and composer of many popular Ellington Orchestra tunes, including "Take the `A' Train."

"Worshipped by jazz aficionados as the creative power behind the Ellington throne, Strayhorn preferred to live quietly while his friend/boss took the bows.

"In clear prose and with careful attention to nuance, David Hajdu documents Strayhorn's contributions to the Ellington magic and delineates an attractive personality who found good in almost everyone he met." -- Biographies Editor's Recommended Book

Space Is The Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra
John F. Szwed / 320 pages / Pantheon Books / 1997 / [pb]

Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams
Linda Dahl / Pantheon / 528 pages / 2000 / $21 [hc]

Lester Young Reader (Smithsonian Readers in American Music)
Lewis Porter (Editor), Lester Porter, Lester Young / Smithsonian Institution Press / 1991 / $15.96 [pb]

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Please send comments to Alan Lankin <lankina@att.net>.

last update 4 July 2003