The Jazzmen
How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America
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The Jazzmen
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Narrated by:
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Dominic Hoffman
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By:
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Larry Tye
About this listen
From the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.
This is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America.
- Duke Ellington, the grandson of slaves who was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington, was a man whose story is as layered and nuanced as his name suggests and whose music transcended category.
- Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in a New Orleans slum so tough it was called The Battlefield and, at age seven, got his first musical instrument, a ten-cent tin horn that drew buyers to his rag-peddling wagon and set him on the road to elevating jazz into a pulsating force for spontaneity and freedom.
- William James Basie, too, grew up in a world unfamiliar to white fans—the son of a coachman and laundress who dreamed of escaping every time the traveling carnival swept into town, and who finally engineered his getaway with help from Fats Waller.
What is far less known about these groundbreakers is that they were bound not just by their music or even the discrimination that they, like nearly all Black performers of their day, routinely encountered. Each defied and ultimately overcame racial boundaries by opening America’s eyes and souls to the magnificence of their music. In the process they wrote the soundtrack for the civil rights movement.
Based on more than 250 interviews, this exhaustively researched book brings alive the history of Black America in the early-to-mid 1900s through the singular lens of the country’s most gifted, engaging, and enduring African-American musicians.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Larry Tye (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43,904
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38,696
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38,559
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
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2 out of 5 stars
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It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
Into the Madness
- A Killer’s Game, a Woman’s Obsession, a Dark Conspiracy
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 406
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 399
On July 4, 2022, a shooter climbed onto a rooftop in Highland Park, Illinois, and opened fire on a Fourth of July parade below, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. Prosecutors charged Robert “Bobby” Crimo III with the mass shooting. But this attack was part of something even more insidious. Bobby had created an elaborate game—complete with cryptic videos, a book of numbers, and an eerie online presence—designed to seed a conspiracy theory about the massacre.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting story and perspectives.
- By B. Felix on 02-25-25
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 216,054
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 195,458
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 194,490
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
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You Will Not Recognize Your Life
- By: Micaela Blei
- Narrated by: Micaela Blei
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,385
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,378
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,378
It’s 2006. After a string of rejections from men who tell her they could never, ever, ever see her “that way,” awkward third-grade teacher Micaela Blei signs up for a mysterious course called “The Divine Feminine,” and feels like she might have found the key to the perfect life. Turns out if you’re an A student, you can get an A in anything–including men. Pretty soon she’s learning to "conjure" her desires with vision boards, flirtations, and even a daring jumbotron viewing party for her, ahem ... "divine center."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Humor, Humanity, and the Heart of Self-Love
- By David on 12-12-24
By: Micaela Blei
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Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,206
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,973
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,971
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
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1 out of 5 stars
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
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I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56,127
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 50,558
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50,302
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell
- By: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 366
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 359
Join Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell as they bypass pleasantries and promotional banter to deliver raw, unfiltered conversations with some of today’s most influential figures. Featuring titans across a spectrum of professions (from Olympic gold medalists to trailblazing Fortune 500 CEOs and everything in between), The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell pulls back the curtain to offer listeners unprecedented access to the minds of the world’s most extraordinary individuals and their distinct paths to success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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UNusually Great!
- By Angela C. on 01-30-25
By: Kenya Barris, and others
-
The Madman's Hotel
- By: Niall Breslin
- Narrated by: Niall Breslin
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 913
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 884
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 884
In the heart of the rolling green hills of Ireland a huge abandoned psychiatric asylum looms large and holds its secrets close, until one family fights to find the truth about their long lost great grandmother. Presented by Irish celebrity and mental health advocate Niall Breslin - this is the untold story of the quest to find patient Julia Leonard, alongside many others, who came to die in St Loman’s Hospital near Dublin. Why was Julia in St Loman’s? And what happened to her and other patients who found themselves within its walls?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heart felt Remembrance
- By RosaInGlousta on 11-05-24
By: Niall Breslin
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20,044
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16,579
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16,575
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
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My Mom's Murder
- By: AYR Media
- Narrated by: Lauren Malloy
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,779
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,746
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,745
When a mysterious stranger unveils a long-hidden truth, Lauren Malloy’s life is thrown into chaos. For years, Lauren believed her mother, Lori, died of natural causes, but the shocking reality is that her loving mother was brutally murdered when Lauren was just an infant. Now, 30 years later, Lauren is on a relentless quest for justice. Over the past four years, she’s embarked on an emotional journey filled with unexpected twists, recording hundreds of hours of interviews with law enforcement, family, friends, and even potential suspects.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
The raw interviews.
- By knapper on 11-12-24
By: AYR Media
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The Demon Next Door
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 31,209
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 27,985
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 27,877
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough recently made a shocking discovery: The small town of Temple, Texas, where he had grown up, had harbored a dark secret. One of his high school classmates, Danny Corwin, was a vicious serial killer. In this chilling tale, Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Odd narration choice
- By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
By: Bryan Burrough
-
Evil Has a Name
- The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
- By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 21,452
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 19,285
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19,188
For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. Amazingly, it seemed, evil finally had a name. Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Audible Raises The Bar On True Crime Genre
- By R. Squyres on 11-16-18
By: Paul Holes, and others
-
Elvis and Me
- By: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Narrated by: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,273
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,955
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
The inspiration for the major motion picture Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola, this New York Times best seller reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a story!
- By Pen Name on 08-28-22
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12,727
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11,327
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 11,268
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
The Wonder of Stevie
- By: Wesley Morris
- Narrated by: Wesley Morris, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,034
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 957
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 957
The year 1972 saw the beginning of a five-year span in which Stevie Wonder released five groundbreaking, critically acclaimed albums, garnering him more than half a dozen Grammys and more than 10 million albums sold, securing his place as one of the most important American musicians and songwriters in history. For the first time, uncover the untold story of an extraordinary artistic journey that shaped the greatest creative era in popular music history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good but not great
- By Anonymous User on 09-14-24
By: Wesley Morris
-
The Story of Grunge
- By: Michael Stewart Foley, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael Stewart Foley
- Length: 3 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 37
You can’t truly understand the last decade of the 20th century without a look at the muddy, electrifying rock music that would come to define it: grunge. For such a short-lived genre—at least in the mainstream—grunge had a lasting impact on American music and culture. It also provides a unique lens through which to examine the post-Reagan, pre-internet America of the 1990s. In the six lectures of The Story of Grunge, you’ll explore the rise and evolution of the genre, tracing it from Seattle subculture to MTV and the Billboard charts, all the way to its decline and evolution into new forms.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
A Scholarly Study of Grunge
- By Mark on 03-07-25
By: Michael Stewart Foley, and others
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,038
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,873
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,858
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
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Ted Gioia's History of Jazz has been universally hailed as a classic - acclaimed by jazz critics and fans around the world. Now Gioia brings his magnificent work completely up-to-date, drawing on the latest research and revisiting virtually every aspect of the music, past and present. Gioia tells the story of jazz as it had never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great info, but not ideal in audio format
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By: Ted Gioia
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Jazz
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
The story of jazz encompasses the story of American courtship and show business; the epic growth of cities, and the struggle for civil rights and simple justice that continues into the new millennium. If you haven't already, download the accompanying audio to Ken Burns' remarkable documentary!
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good content but reading not clear
- By Ken on 02-07-03
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
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3 Shades of Blue
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- By: James Kaplan
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story5 out of 5 stars 81
In 1959, America’s great indigenous art form, jazz, reached the height of its power and popularity. James Kaplan’s magnificent 3 Shades of Blue captures how that golden era came to be, and its pinnacle with the recording of Kind of Blue. It’s a book about music, and business, and race, and heroin, and the cities that gave jazz its home, and the Black geniuses behind its rise. It’s an astonishing meditation on creativity and the strange environments where it can flourish most.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great deep dive into a pinnacle of jazz, marred by author bias against later jazz years
- By Michael J. Anderson on 04-08-24
By: James Kaplan
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Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
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- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The definitive bio of Monk
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How to Listen to Jazz
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In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premier art forms. He tells us what to listen for in a performance and includes a guide to today's leading jazz musicians. From Louis Armstrong's innovative sounds to the jazz-rock fusion of Miles Davis, Gioia covers the music's history and reveals the building blocks of improvisation. A true love letter to jazz by a foremost expert.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Kind of useless as an audiobook.
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2 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great info, but not ideal in audio format
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good content but reading not clear
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1 out of 5 stars
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Kind of useless as an audiobook.
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Miles
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Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles Davis was one of the most important and influential musicians in the world. Here, Miles speaks out about his extraordinary life. Miles: The Autobiography, like Miles himself, holds nothing back. For the first time Miles talks about his five-year silence. He speaks frankly and openly about his drug problem and how he overcame it. He condemns the racism he encountered in the music business and in American society generally. And he discusses the women in his life.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A man untroubled by his own contradictions
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Duke
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was the greatest jazz composer of the twentieth century - and an impenetrably enigmatic personality whom no one, not even his closest friends, claimed to understand. The grandson of a slave, he dropped out of high school to become one of the world's most famous musicians, a showman of incomparable suavity who was as comfortable in Carnegie Hall as in the nightclubs where he honed his style.
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4 out of 5 stars
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This audiobook needs music
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Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism
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The definitive account of Louis Armstrong - his life and legacy - during the most creative period of his career. Thomas Brothers picks up where he left off with the acclaimed Louis Armstrong's New Orleans, following the story of the great jazz musician into his most creatively fertile years in the 1920s and early 1930s, when Armstrong created not one but two modern musical styles. Brothers wields tremendous skill in making the connections between history and music accessible to everyone.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very in-depth look at Armstrong's crucial years.
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Stomp Off, Let's Go
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In Stomp Off, Let's Go, author and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi tells the enthralling story of the iconic trumpeter's meteoric rise to fame. Beginning with Armstrong's youth in New Orleans, Riccardi transports listeners through Armstrong's musical and personal development, including his initial trip to Chicago to join Joe "King" Oliver's band, his first to New York to meet Fletcher Henderson, and his eventual return to Chicago, where he changed the course of music with the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings.
By: Ricky Riccardi
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Becoming Ella Fitzgerald
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) possessed one of the twentieth century's most astonishing voices. Historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational artist. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald clears up long-enduring mysteries. Archival research and in-depth family interviews shed new light on the singer's difficult childhood, the tragic death of her mother, and the year she spent in a girls' reformatory school—where she sang in its renowned choir and dreamed of being a dancer.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Thorough history. but I couldn't finish it. I'll have to get the book.
- By CapitalHeel on 01-14-24
By: Judith Tick
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Dangerous Rhythms
- Jazz and the Underworld
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story5 out of 5 stars 83
Dangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America’s most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. By offering artists like Louis Armstrong, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald a stage, the mob, including major players Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, provided opportunities that would not otherwise have existed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Keep your YouTube handy
- By Vikon on 09-12-22
By: T. J. English
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Delta Blues
- The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story5 out of 5 stars 72
The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioia - the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazz - brings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A well-researched history of the blues
- By Joselo on 08-19-21
By: Ted Gioia
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Kansas City Lightning
- The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker
- By: Stanley Crouch
- Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker is the first installment in the long-awaited portrait of one of the most talented and influential musicians of the twentieth century, from Stanley Crouch, one of the foremost authorities on jazz and culture in America. Throughout his life, Charlie Parker personified the tortured American artist: A revolutionary performer who used his alto saxophone to create a new music known as bebop even as he wrestled with a drug addiction that would lead to his death at the age of thirty-four.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A Disappointment
- By Stephen on 01-04-19
By: Stanley Crouch
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Sophisticated Giant
- The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon
- By: Maxine Gordon
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, Terria Joseph, Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Sophisticated Giant presents the life and legacy of tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon (1923-1990), one of the major innovators of modern jazz. In a context of biography, history, and memoir, Maxine Gordon has completed the book that her late husband began, weaving his “solo” turns with her voice and a chorus of voices from past and present. Reading like a jazz composition, the blend of research, anecdote, and a selection of Dexter’s personal letters reflects his colorful life and legendary times.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully Told
- By Light Mentat on 03-23-21
By: Maxine Gordon
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The History of Rock & Roll
- Volume 1: 1920-1963
- By: Ed Ward
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
Ed Ward covers the first half of the history of rock & roll in this sweeping and definitive narrative - from the 1920s, when the music of rambling medicine shows mingled with the songs of vaudeville and minstrel acts to create the very early sounds of country and rhythm and blues, to the rise of the first independent record labels post-World War II, and concluding in December 1963, just as an immense change in the airwaves took hold and the Beatles prepared for their first American tour.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Author's blindspots mar this book
- By Mark Clark on 03-28-17
By: Ed Ward
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Saxophone Colossus
- The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins
- By: Aidan Levy
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 31 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2
Sonny Rollins has long been considered an enigma. Known as the "Saxophone Colossus," he is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time. His seven-decade career has been well documented, but the backstage life of the man once called "the only jazz recluse" has gone largely untold—until now. Based on more than 200 interviews with Rollins himself, family members, friends, and collaborators, as well as Rollins' personal archive, Saxophone Colossus is the comprehensive portrait of this legendary saxophonist and composer, civil rights activist and environmentalist.
By: Aidan Levy
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Mozart
- The Reign of Love
- By: Jan Swafford
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 30 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 135
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Like Jan Swafford’s biographies Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, Mozart is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: A man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music. As Swafford reveals, it’s nearly impossible to understand classical music’s origins and indeed its evolutions, as well as the Baroque period, without studying the man himself.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive Bio
- By Judy on 01-07-21
By: Jan Swafford
What listeners say about The Jazzmen
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Migueldinho
- 03-12-25
Purchase this book
A thorough and detailed contextual analysis of the past provides insight into the lives of what made three American icons who they were and the impact they had.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- unhae campbell
- 05-23-24
Well Organized and Themed
Larry Tye did a great job writing this, and the performance is very pleasant and entertaining. Top marks all around!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- GRUSA
- 02-08-25
Outstanding jazz history
Loved it all and could visualize the characters and the story as I heard it
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