24, 25, 26: Catching Up

I read these a few months ago, but they never made it into the blog. I know, it looks like I'm trying to sneak some in before the end of the year. Trust me, I'd be much more blatant. If you're gonna cheat, cheat big! War and Peace! Anna Karenina! Middlemarch! The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, totally unabridged and with lengthy, scholarly commentary, what?!

Jazz Anecdotes, Bill Crow

Funny, amusing, touching. You know. Like anecdotes often are.

The World of Swing: an Oral History of Big Band Jazz, Stanley Dance

Excellent. Essential reading if you're half-serious about the history of swing.

Swing That Music, Louis Armstrong

The first of Armstrong's two autobiographies, it covers the first 30 or so years of his life. It's a nice read, but not terribly deep. Still, read it. It's a quick one and the man deserves to be heard; he always did.