FromtheNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorofSatchelandBobbyKennedy,asweepingandspellbindingportraitofthelongtimekingsofjazz--DukeEllington,LouisArmstrong,andCountBasie--who,bornwithinafewyearsofoneanother,overcameracistexclusionandviolencetobecomethemostpopularentertainersontheplanet.ThisisthestoryofthreerevolutionaryAmericanmusicians,themaestrojazzmenwhoorchestratedthechordsthatthrobatthesouloftwentieth-centuryAmerica.DukeEllington,thegrandsonofslaveswhowaschristenedEdwardKennedyEllington,wasamanwhosestoryisaslayeredandnuancedashisnamesuggestsandwhosemusictranscendedcategory.LouisDanielArmstrongwasborninaNewOrleansslumsotoughitwascalledTheBattlefieldand,atageseven,gothisfirstmusicalinstrument,aten-centtinhornthatdrewbuyerstohisrag-peddlingwagonandsethimontheroadtoelevatingjazzintoapulsatingforceforspontaneityandfreedom.WilliamJamesBasie,too,grewupinaworldunfamiliartowhitefans--thesonofacoachmanandlaundresswhodreamedofescapingeverytimethetravelingcarnivalsweptintotown,andwhofinallyengineeredhisgetawaywithhelpfromFatsWaller.Whatisfarlessknownaboutthesegroundbreakersisthattheywereboundnotjustbytheirmusicoreventhediscriminationthatthey,likenearlyallBlackperformersoftheirday,routinelyencountered.EachdefiedandultimatelyovercameracialboundariesbyopeningAmerica’seyesandsoulstothemagnificenceoftheirmusic.Intheprocesstheywrotethesoundtrackforthecivilrightsmovement.Basedonmorethan250interviews,thisexhaustivelyresearchedbookbringsalivethehistoryofBlackAmericaintheearly-to-mid1900sthroughthesingularlensofthecountry’smostgifted,engaging,andenduringAfrican-Americanmusicians.
