Ma Rainey’s Traveling Blues is the fullest and most nuanced portrait to date of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886-1939), once promoted as the “Mother of the Blues.” Although Rainey’s place in American music history is firmly ...

Dylan in Cincinnati takes a fresh approach to Bob Dylan’s performance art by asking what happens when we focus on a single city across six decades.

When we think of Dylan in concert, we imagine Newport, ...

Avenue Breakdown uncovers the rich yet often overlooked legacy of Black music in Shreveport, Louisiana—a city better known for country tunes and the Louisiana Hayride. This compelling history shines a s ...

Glenn Miller was already famous when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was one of the most popular and successful bands of the big band era. While the bands of the Dorsey ...

Whistle Stop traces the remarkable life of trumpeter and composer Kenny Dorham (1924–1972), whose journey from rural Texas to the forefront of modern jazz mirrors the broader story of Black resilience a ...

Clyde McPhatter (1932–1972) was the golden voice behind a musical revolution—a soaring tenor whose electrifying performances helped define the sound of early rock ‘n’ roll. From his breakthrough with the Dom ...

James P. Johnson (1894–1955) is one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American music. However, few people other than scholars and serious fans know of his life and work. Rare jazz aficionados k ...

Booker T. Pittman (1909-1969) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who played with greats like Louis Armstrong and Count Basie in the 1920s and 1930s. The maternal grandson of Booker T. Washington, ...

Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Visions, the culmination of a decade-long study of Ellington’s compositions for the symphony orchestra by author Luca Bragalini, is the first book entirely dedicated to Ellington’s s ...

Jazz legend Cootie Williams left home to start his career as a professional musician at the age of fifteen. In 1940, after eleven years as one of the major soloists with the Duke Ellington orchestra, ...