Classic Jazz

Floyd Levin, an award-winning jazz writer, has personally known many of the jazz greats who contributed to the music's colourful history. In this collection of his articles, published mostly in jazz magazines over a 50-year period, Levin takes us into the night-clubs, the recording studios, the record companies, and, most compellingly, into the lives of the musicians who made the great moments of the traditional jazz and swing eras.;This collection of articles begins with Levin's first published piece and includes several new articles that were inspired by his work on this compilation. The articles are organised thematically, beginning with a piece on Kid Ory's early recordings and ending with a newly written article about the campaign to put up a momentum to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. Along the way, Levin gives in-depth profiles of many well-known jazz legends, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong, and many lesser-known figures who contributed greatly to the development of jazz.;The book readable and personable book extensively illustrated with previously unpublished photographs from Levin's personal collection, should be of interest to jazz scholars

"Levin is an engaging writer and met personally and wrote frequently about the musical legends who shaped jazz in America before and shortly after World War II. The collection is anecdotally rich.... Very worthwhile."-Booklist; "Offers good essays on lesser-known artists."-Library Journal; "Delightful and fascinating. Dozens of rare pictures (many by Levin) fill out this volume, which is obviously a labor of love and fine reading."-San Francisco Chronicle; "[A] fine addition to any collection on jazz."-Charlotte Observer; "I've known Floyd and his wife Lucille for more than fifty years. Floyd's book is a colorful, intimate account of his lifelong love affair with jazz. I'm especially facinated when he writes about his personal encounters with some of the jazz legends of the Century. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about jazz - its present, its past, and his evolution."-Milt Hinton

Floyd Levin has been published in many magazines, including Down Beat, Jazz Journal International,and American Rag. He has received several awards for his work, most recently the Leonard Feather Communicator Award given annually by the Los Angeles Jazz Society. He was voted Number One Jazz Journalist in a recent readers' poll in the Mississippi Rag.