The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America

Even if one doesn't think of jazz as a religion, as many fans do, one can appreciate Larry Tye (Superman) referring to Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington as "jazz's Holy Trinity" in his admiring biography The Jazzmen. Tye is only slightly hyperbolic when he writes that this book is about "three revolutionary American maestros, the jazzmen whose music throbs at the soul of twentieth-century America." All three defined jazz in the 1920s and '30s, and did so in wildly, sometimes controversially, different ways. "Armstrong was over-the-top and genuine," which is a nice way of describing what detractors called "minstrel-like mugging." Ellington was more aristocratic, always in an elegant suit with "a matching tie perfectly knotted and neck tight." Basie was "reticent and heartfelt" yet knew how to electrify a crowd. Audiences listened to Armstrong and Ellington, but with Basie, "they danced."

Tye does a nice job covering the high and low points of their careers, including deprived upbringings, audiences with presidents, personal quirks (Armstrong loved Swiss Kriss laxatives so much he had a picture of himself on the toilet on his business cards), many mistresses, and the racism they endured from hoteliers, critics, and even churches. If the structure of the book is repetitive, with chapters divided into an Armstrong section, a Basie section, and an Ellington section, the content is never dull, thanks to Tye's assured style and the unique lives these men lived. They weren't perfect, but there was nothing false about these idols. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

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