In a film Variety called an "elegantly crafted and illuminating portrait of the singular jazz legend," director John Scheinfeld explores the life, spiritual journey and music of John Coltrane, whose recorded works range from deeply expressive ballads to wildly expressive "sheets of sound." Scheinfeld crafts a story that reveals and affirms the impact Trane had on a variety of musicians, politicians, educators and artists - including Kamasi Washington,...

"This immersive new autobiography provides insight into the early life and illustrious career of the late great Ramsey Lewis, one of the most popular jazz pianists of all time. Beginning with his childhood growing up in Chicago's Cabrini Green neighborhood Lewis recounts his memories of the music in his parents' church and his early piano lessons. As he learned classical technique, Lewis also absorbed countless jazz records and heard gospel music...

In February 1972, celebrated jazz musician Lee Morgan was shot dead by his common-law wife Helen during a gig at a club in New York City. The murder sent shockwaves through the jazz community, and the memory of the event still haunts those who knew the Morgans. This feature documentary by filmmaker Kasper Collin is a love letter to two unique personalities and the music that brought them together.

"Whether in the compositions of foundational figures like Jelly Roll Morton, Thoman 'Fats' Waller, and Earl 'Fatha" Hines; swing pioneers such as Teddy Wilson and Joe Bushkin; torch-bearers like Mary Lou Williams and her student Thelonious Monk; technical masters including Bud Powell and Bill Evans; or modern mixologists such as Sun Ra and Keith Jarrett, the piano has been the site of historic innovations in jazz, and the vehicle with which some of...

"If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville. But it was Louis Armstrong's own passion and genius that pushed jazz into new and exciting realms with his amazing, improvisational trumpet playing. His seventy-year...

"Miles Davis's Bitches Brew is one of the most iconic albums in American music, the preeminent landmark and fertile seedbed of jazz-fusion. Fans have been fortunate in the past few years to gain access to Davis's live recording from this time, when he was working with an ensemble that has come to be known as the Lost Quintet. In this book, jazz historian and musician Bob Gluck explores the performances of this revolutionary group--Davis's first electric...

Meet Ella Fitzgerald, one of the most influential jazz singers of all time! New in the Little People, Big Dreams series, this inspiring and informative little biography follows the inspirational life of the First Lady of Song, from her early singing days on the streets of Harlem, to her success as a jazz legend, with the message: 'It's not where you come from, but where you're going that counts.' With stylish and quirky illustrations and a facts and...

"In Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories, Elijah Wald takes readers on a journey into the hidden and censored world of early blues and jazz, guided by the legendary New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Morton became nationally famous as a composer and bandleader in the 1920s, but got his start twenty years earlier, entertaining customers in the city's famous bordellos and singing rough blues in Gulf Coast honky-tonks. He recorded...

The revelatory origin story of one of America's most beloved musicians, Louis Armstrong How did Louis Armstrong become Louis Armstrong? In Stomp Off, Let's Go, author and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi tells the enthralling story of the iconic trumpeter's meteoric rise to fame. Beginning with Armstrong's youth in New Orleans, Riccardi transports readers through Armstrong's musical and personal development, including his initial trip to Chicago to...