Description
Book SynopsisSwing is back in style, and with it a renewed interest in the Big Band Era. And few players dominated that era more than Harry James, whose soaring trumpet solos and romantic hit tunes influenced popular music for a generation. Now, Peter J. Levinson, who knew Harry James personally, has written a revealing biography of this jazz icon, based on nearly 200 interviews with musicians and friends. Harry James led a truly colorful life, and in Trumpet Blues Levinson captures it all. Beginning with James''s childhood in a traveling circus, we follow the young trumpeter''s meteoric rise in the 1930s and witness his electrifying performances with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. We see how James formed his own band in 1939, an incubator for many pop music stars of the 1940s and ''50s, including Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines, Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, and Kitty Kallen. Combined with James''s superb musicianship, peerless trumpet technique and talented sidemen, this stellar group dominated the war
Trade Reviewexcellent biography ... Music biographies really don't come any better than this superb book. * Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post *
Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgments ; Everette and Maybelle ; Louise and Ben ; The Kingdom of Swing ; Ciribiribin ; You Made Me Love You ; Trees, The Legs, and The Lip ; Hollywood Royalty ; The In-Between Years ; Back to Basie ; I Don't Want to Walk Without You ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
