THE JAZZMEN | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

THE JAZZMEN is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America:

Duke Ellington, the grandson of slaves who was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington, was a man whose story is as layered and nuanced as his name suggests and whose composing, piano playing, and band leading transcended category.

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in a New Orleans slum so tough it was called The Battlefield and, at age seven, got his first musical instrument, a ten-cent tin horn that drew buyers to his rag-peddling wagon and set him on the road to elevating jazz into a pulsating force for spontaneity and freedom.

William James Basie, too, grew up in a world unfamiliar to white fans—the son of a coachman and laundress who dreamed of escaping every time the traveling carnival swept into town, and who finally engineered his getaway with help from Fats Waller.

In THE JAZZMEN, Tye paints a vivid and immersive portrait of the birth of jazz, highlighting the resilience of its trailblazers as they opened America’s ears and souls to the magnificence of their melodies. Each insisted he was a music maker first and last, when in reality all three were cultural and racial insurgents. Whereas previous biographies focused on their music-making, Tye digs deeply into their lives off the bandstand, showing how this threesome framed their times even as they were framed by them. He conducted 250 interviews, including with bandmates, relatives, and friends, and drew on new materials unearthed from archives, libraries, and private collections.

Larry Tye is joining us on the Busboys stage with the host and DJ of Morning Brew- Classic Jazz Edition, Craig Williams, to share his knowledge about these revolutionary jazzmen and the complexities of their lives. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Tye will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THE JAZZMEN will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

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Larry Tye is the New York Times bestselling author of Bobby Kennedy and Satchel, as well as Demagogue, Superman, The Father of Spin, Home Lands, and Rising from the Rails, and coauthor, with Kitty Dukakis, of Shock. Previously an award-winning reporter at the Boston Globe and a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, he now runs the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship. He lives on Cape Cod. Follow Larry’s book tour at www.larrytye.com and @LarryTye.

Craig Williams is the host/programmer/DJ of Morning Brew – Classic Jazz Edition on WPFW, community-supported Jazz and Justice radio, broadcasting from Washington, DC. Lacking even one iota of musical talent, he directed his musical attention to listening and connoisseurship.  Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, his first interest was the rock and roll of that era.  However, he was also influenced by his parents’ Jazz records, and affinity that grew stronger in his college years and early twenties.

Professionally, Mr. Williams spent forty-plus years practicing architecture in Washington, working on projects throughout the country, while never losing his interest in music. He was the project manager for several major preforming arts venues including the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas; the renovation and expansion of Severance Hall for the world-renown Cleveland Orchestra; the Schermerhorn Symphony Center for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra; The Palladian concert hall at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana; and the Charleston Gaillard center in South Carolina.

Mr. Williams’ involvement with WPFW began as a listener at the station’s onset in 1977, while he was still in architecture school. In 2016, while beginning to ramp down his architectural career, his radio-sister, the venerable Miyuki Williams, offered to train him in studio operations.  He became a substitute programmer, first flying solo by sitting in at Robyn’s Place in December of that year.  In January of 2018, first on an interim then permanent basis, he became the host of Morning Brew – Classic Jazz Edition.  A bit incongruent with its title, Morning Brew – Classic Jazz Edition features straight-ahead Jazz from bebop to current releases, yet Mr. Williams doesn’t shy away from musical tangents into related genres like blues, avant-garde, gospel, fusion, and even Americana 

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