Jazz Tales from Jazz Legends – a distillation of more than 325 interviews recorded over two decades with jazz greats, their band members and critics– has just been released by Couper Press. Written by Director of the Fillius Jazz Archive Monk Rowe, the book includes interviews with Dave Brubeck, Steve Allen, Marian McPartland, Joe Williams, Bela Fleck, Maria Schneider and Lionel Hampton, among many others, as well as with former members of bands led by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton.
Excerpts are organized into categories including first-hand accounts of life on the road, inspiration, race and jazz, improvisation, and work inside the studios. Along with the words of recognized jazz leaders are stories from unsung sidemen offering a rare perspective on the life and times of artists who balanced the love of music with the sacrifice inherent in the jazz life style. Rowe provides informative commentary with personal insights into the accomplishments and personalities of more than one hundred of these performers. Jazz Tales from Jazz Legends is derived from Hamilton’s Fillius Jazz Archive, which Rowe has directed for more than 20 years.
Related to this, Rowe will teach a six-week edX online course Jazz: The Music, the Stories, The Players that will begin on Feb. 2.
