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The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America
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53
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
67/100Critics
40/100Scholars
Author:
Larry Tye
Publisher:
Mariner Books
Date:
May 7, 2024
A portrait of the longtime kings of jazz â Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie â who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.
What The Reviewers Say
While one might wish for more musical detail about this transformation, it’s in describing people that Mr. Tye’s strengths shine.
With descriptions of such key venues as Ellington’s Cotton Club in Harlem, Basie’s Reno Club in Kansas City, and Armstrong’s Sunset Cafe in Chicago, Tye incisively portrays three seminal American artists..
Mesmerizing.
Tye does a nice job covering the high and low points of their careers, including deprived upbringings, audiences with presidents, personal quirks (Armstrong loved Swiss Kriss laxatives so much he had a picture of himself on the toilet on his business cards), many mistresses, and the racism they endured from hoteliers, critics, and even churches. If the structure of the book is repetitive, with chapters divided into an Armstrong section, a Basie section, and an Ellington section, the content is never dull, thanks to Tye's assured style and the unique lives these men lived. They weren't perfect, but there was nothing false about these idols..
