Ride, Red, Ride

John Chilton divides his time between being a professional jazz trumpeter and writing books on jazz. In 2000 he won the British Jazz Award for Writer of the Year. His books include Billie's Blues (on Billie Holiday), The Wizard of Jazz (on Sidney Bechet), and Let the Good Times Roll (on Louis Jordan). Both his Who's Who of Jazz (Storyville to Swing Street) and his Who's Who of British Jazz have been hailed as the best reference works of their kind. Down Beat magazine calls Chilton "a master of the craft of research."

• New Orleans joys; a trip to the north; riverboat days; a musical furnace; star soloist; the blueprints of swing; the great understudy; bold bandleader; super showman; metropole magic; European debut; four's company; triumphant tours; a Valian farewell.

"The book is enlivened by the author's piquant and most readable style....This is definitely a jazz volume that belongs in your personal library."--The Mississippi Rag, February 2001