Trumpet Kings »

Yanow (jazz writer and editor) reveals the personal and musical lives of 479 outstanding trumpeters in the jazz world, both past and present. The biographical profiles trace the artist's life (unique traits, interesting life experiences, relationships with other players, career milestones, and key recordings) and explore why they have had such impact on the development of jazz. The book contains several b&w photographs of the musicians.

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Library Journal

Yanow wants his most recent work (after Afro-Cuban Jazz, LJ 3/15/01) to read like "a series of short stories," and readers will indeed often forget that they are perusing what boils down to an encyclopedia. A prolific and respected jazz writer, Yanow manages to cover the gamut of styles from Dixieland to avant-garde in 479 short biographies, which are accurate (if sometimes opinionated) as well as refreshingly entertaining. Featured are Red Allen, Chet Baker, Fats Navarro, and King Oliver. Also included are an essay on the history of the jazz trumpet, a bibliography of other important reference works, and 29 additional short biographies of other famous musicians/composers who recorded with the trumpet (e.g., Benny Goodman). Some of the entries may be found in more general references like The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (St. Martin's, 1994. reprint) or Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler's The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford Univ., 2001. 2d ed.), but neither of these works contains all the entries found here. Recommended for large public and academic libraries as well as libraries with a jazz focus. Ronald S. Russ, Arkansas State Univ., Beebe Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.