books

Does any one know if there are any good books on the lesser known jazz musicians e.g baby dodds, Zutty Singleton, George Lewis, Benny goodman ect. Whether that be books on the individuals themselves or it be a general book on jazz musicians?

There is a recent jazz history book that I have read about three times now, and its called "The History of Jazz" by Ted Gioia. The title is not very creative, but the book is an interesting read all the way through.

Of all the music books I've read recently, one stand out is "The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock n Roll". This book tells the story of small clubs in the US south where jazz and blues morphed into RnB and rock. There is plenty of drama and humorous stories and the author makes it clear that the people at the joints didn't care what the music was called, they just wanted to party.

^ No, not fiction at all, it tells the true story of how RnB and rock developed in these small clubs over the years. You meet the performers, the promoters, the club owners, the racist city officials, the police etc.