Cornetist/pianist/composer Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke (1903-1931) was jazz's man who got away - the James Dean, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain of his day. Born in Davenport, Iowa into an upper-middle-class family, Beiderbecke became a legend even in his short lifetime, bringing amazing new energy and unprecedented maturity to the music and influencing generations of musicians. After a bout battling alcoholism, Bix died in Sunnyside, Queens on August 6,...

This is the colourful account of swing trumpeter Max Kaminsky's life on the road in the formative years of jazz. Originally published in 1963, Kaminsky reminisces about playing with many notables, including Bix Beiderbecke, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, James P. Johnson, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Russell, Artie Shaw and Jack Teagarden. A wonderful autobiographical work. Max Kaminsky has written so realistically about the music world...

Louis Armstrong arrives in New York from Chicago where, during a brief stay with the Fletcher Henderson band, he amazes his fellow musicians and teaches the city to swing. Follow musicians Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Sidney Bechet, Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington, who begins his incomparable career as the pre-eminent composer in jazz history.