Author(s): Robert Nippoldt

Music | History

Swing in the city. This title deals with big bands and big sounds in the New York jazz scene of the 1920s. It's the roaring twenties, and New York is exploding with jazz fever. People flock to the night clubs and dance halls in Harlem to see the likes of Louis Armstrong with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra playing at the Kentucky Club, or Duke Ellington at the Roseland Ballroom or the world-famous Cotton Club. Jazz critic Hans-Jurgen Schaal and illustrator Robert Nippoldt have teamed together to pay homage to this exceptional era, via an entertaining blend of illustrations, facts, and amusing anecdotes presenting 24 leading lights of New York's jazz scene of the 1920s, complete with an accompanying CD containing some of their best tunes. Schaal's text gives a vivid account of the club scene and the "bandbattles," as well as legendary recording sessions and a complete list of the big band musicians involved. This is a splendid read, an enjoyable CD - and not strictly for jazz fans only!