Celebrating the Duke & Louise, Bessie, Billie, Bird, Carmen, Miles, Dizzy & Other Heroes

xx, 280 pp. An overview of jazz featuring some of its most prominent musicians, with a particular focus on Duke Ellington. Includes a foreword by Studs Terkel, a chapter on the history of jazz, a chapter on Duke Ellington split into three sections; sections on: Bessie Smith; Louis Armstrong; Jimmie Lunceford; Billy Holiday (Lady Day); Pres: Lester Young; Charlie 'Bird' Parker; John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie; John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet; Carmen McRae; John Coltrane; Miles Davis; The Death of Albert Ayler; a selected list of available records; and an index.