During the 1930s, swing bands combined jazz and popular music to create large-scale dreams for the Depression generation, capturing the imagination of America's young people, music critics, and the music business. Swingin' the Dream explores that world, looking at the racial mixing-up and musical swinging-out that shook the nation and has kept people dancing ever since. "Swingin' the Dream is an intelligent, provocative study of the big band era, chiefly during its golden hours in the 1930s; not merely does Lewis A. Erenberg give the music its full due, but he places it in a larger context and makes, for the most part, a plausible case for its importance."—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World "An absorbing read for fans and an insightful view of the impact of an important homegrown art form."—Publishers Weekly "[A] fascinating celebration of the decade or so in which American popular music basked in the sunlight of a seemingly endless high noon."—Tony Russell, Times Literary Supplement

Louis Armstrong was not only a virtuoso musician, singer, composer and actor, but also a dedicated writer who typed hundreds of letters and reminiscences, carrying a typewriter with him on his constant travels around the globe. The man never stopped creating, and constantly communicated with friends and acquaintances. His unique verbal, musical and visual content and style permeated everything he touched. Included in this extensive career biography are the major events of his life, his artistic innovations and cultural achievements, a detailed survey of his recordings and live performances, and in-depth discussions of his screen performances--not only his Hollywood feature film appearances, but his performances in short films, European concert films, and dozens of television shows broadcast from Hollywood, New York and Europe.

Nearly 50 years after his death, Louis Armstrong remains one of the 20th century's most iconic figures. Popular fans still appreciate his later hits such as "Hello, Dolly!" and "What a Wonderful World," while in the jazz community, he remains venerated for his groundbreaking innovations in the 1920s. The achievements of Armstrong's middle years, however, possess some of the trumpeter's most scintillating and career-defining stories. But the story of this crucial time has never been told in depth until now. Between 1929 and 1947, Armstrong transformed himself from a little-known trumpeter in Chicago to an internationally renowned pop star, setting in motion the innovations of the Swing Era and Bebop. He had a similar effect on the art of American pop singing, waxing some of his most identifiable hits such as "Jeepers Creepers" and "When You're Smiling." However as author Ricky Riccardi shows, this transformative era wasn't without its problems, from racist performance reviews and being held up at gunpoint by gangsters to struggling with an overworked embouchure and getting arrested for marijuana possession. Utilizing a prodigious amount of new research, Riccardi traces Armstrong's mid-career fall from grace and dramatic resurgence. Featuring never-before-published photographs and stories culled from Armstrong's personal archives, Heart Full of Rhythm tells the story of how the man called "Pops" became the first "King of Pop."

Today's Retro Swing bands, like the Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Brian Setzer Orchestra, all owe their inspiration to the original masters of Swing. This rich reference details the oeuvre of the leading Swing musicians from the WWII and post-WWII years. Chapters on the masters of Swing (Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Billy Strayhorn), the legendary Big Band leaders (such as Les Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Vaughan Monroe, etc.), vocalists (including Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington), and Small Groups (Louis Jordan, Art Tatum, Charlie Ventura, etc.) introduce these timeless musicians to a new generation of musicians and music fans. An opening chapter recounts how the cultural changes during the war and postwar years affected performers-especially women and African-Americans-and an A-to-Z appendix provides synopses of almost 700 entrants, including related musicians and famous venues. A bibliography and subject index provide additional tools for those researching Swing music and its many roles in mid-century American culture. This volume is a perfect sequel to Dave Oliphant's The Early Swing Era: 1930 to 1941. Together, these books provide the perfect reference guide to an enduring form of American music.

A picture book biography of African-American baseball player Hank Aaron.

"Includes a companion CD with 30 archival recordings made from 1939 to 2015, produced by Voyager Recordings and Publications."

Return to the City of Splendors—where even dreams can be bought and sold for the right price—in this Song & Swords series finale The famed city of Waterdeep brims with magic and mystery, and everything imaginable is for sale. In this melting pot of human wizards, elves, dwarves, and more, even dreams can be purchased if one is willing to pay the price—and many are unable to resist the temptation, no matter the danger. So when the sale of dream spheres threatens the life of his newfound half sister, Danilo Thann joins forces with Airlyn Moonblade to uncover the source of this deadly trade. Their search leads them into the dark heart of Waterdeep, and to personal secrets that could destroy them both.