Louis Armstrong Biography of a Musician, by Robert Hoskins. Mass Market paperback by Holloway House Pub. Co (1979). "His music made him an immortal that lives on in the heart of mankind, the book proclaims. Women problems, bad management, traditional prejudice and criticism from his own people plagued the father of jazz for many years." Not many copies of this little paperback around any more.

A Louis Armstrong quote: "Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them.

LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story, by Max Chilton/John Jones. Little, Brown (1971). First Edition. This book has been called the definitive story of Armstrong’s life and times. Tells of his brushes with mobsters and his version of his drug experiences—recollections that had never appeared in print prior to this book’s publication. In his last years, Louis said, he wanted them to be put on record. (Some 10,000 words of this book are his own words.) Features 250 pictures, many from Armstrong's private collection, and includes a chronology, film list and index.

Moonlight Serenade, a Bio-discography of the Glenn Miller Civilian Band, by John Flower. Arlington House (1972). (Not stated as such but appears to be the First Edition.) Book traces the Miller band from its first days in the mid-30s through to the last show in 1942.

More Dialogues in Swing, by Fred Hall, Pathfinder Pub. of California (1991 PB). Subtitled, "Intimate Conversations with the stars of the Big Band Era," this is a companion to the author's Dialogues in Swing, similarly subtitled.

Music Is My Mistress, by Duke Ellington & Edward Kennedy Ellington. Doubleday (1973). In this memoir, Ellington tells about all the times he had with the people he knew—and he knew everyone who was anyone in the music business. This book bursts with anecdotes and spirit, and includes essays and journal notes about his tours around the world and his "Sacred Concerts."

A Duke Ellington quote: "Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees."

Of Minnie the Moocher & Me, by Cab Calloway. Thomas Y. Crowell Co.(1976). First edition, 2nd printing. Calloway's autobiography includes more than 50 photos (many full-page size), a "Hepster’s Dictionary," Discography of Calloway’s works, and a textbook-like section at the end called "Swing Information Bureau."

A Cab Calloway quote:"My audience was my life. What I did and how I did it, was all for my audience."
 

A Pictorial History of Jazz –People and Places from New Orleans to Modern Jazz, by Orrin Keepnews & Bill Grauer, Jr. New Revised ed. Crown (1971) Book features 725 illustrations, with 200 additional photos not included in the 1955 edition (which was the first encyclopedic picture story of jazz ever published.) Includes updated developments and personal accounts and photos of the jazz greats.

POPS Paul Whiteman, King of Jazz, by Thomas A. DeLong. New Century Publishers (1983). This book is a journey backstage with the master showman of the 20th Century. Includes three signatures of B&W photos on glossy stock.

A Paul Whiteman quote: "Jazz is the folk music of the machine age."

Remembering Bix—Memoir of the Jazz Age, by Ralph Berton. Harper & Row (1974)First Edition. Bix Beiderbecke was a legendary figure of the Jazz Age, not only a great jazz cornetist and composer, but a skilled classical and jazz pianist. Although he was enormously gifted, Bix was a man who couldn’t find anything worth living for, and he died at the tender age of 28 from an alcoholic seizure. (See also Bix: Man and Legend)

Remembering Song–Encounters with the New Orleans Jazz Tradition, by Frederick Turner. Viking Press (1982). First Edition/First printing. Book presents the author’s nostalgic and affectionate look back at the history of New Orleans jazz.

A Count Basie Quote: "I don't dig that two-beat jive the New Orleans cats play. My boys and I have to have four heavy beats to the bar and no cheating."

Simon says: The Sights and Sounds of the Swing Era, 1935-1955, by George Thomas Simon, Arlington House (1971). First edition. This book includes the best writing of the author on the bands, singers, and musicians of the Golden Age of popular music and jazz, from Metronome Magazine. Hailed as the definitive work on the golden age of jazz and popular music, it features B&W photos throughout the book and on front rear endpieces.

Sportin’ House–New Orleans and the Jazz Story, by Stephen Longstreet. Sherbourne Press (1965). First Edition. This book is outstanding for its inclusion of over a hundred of the author's renowned original drawings and water colors that detail the "brawling, gaudy story of jazz, America’s only native art form."

The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930-1945, by Gunther Schuller. (Vol. II of The History of Jazz) Oxford University Press (1989). Reviewers called this one of the seminal works on American music, "a remarkable book unparalleled in the literature of jazz." Much of the book's focus is on the famous swing bands of the time, and on the great musical soloists who performed with them.

SWING, SWING, SWING: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman, by Ross Firestone. W.W. Norton (1993). First Edition/First Printing. This book paints a portrait of one of the most influential musicians and bandleaders of the big band era. Includes about three dozen B&W photos, an extensive “Sources” section and comprehensive index.