"Almost unbearably vivid ... James Gavin has brought us as close as life to his subject." --David Hajdu, New York Times Book Review "Definitive ... a haunting prose poem that's every bit as affecting as one of Baker's solos." --Entertainment Weekly "Superb ... unerring ... a stark, troubling portrait of both the artist and his times." --Publisher's Weekly This first major biography of the most romanticized icon in jazz thrillingly recounts his wild...

Traces John Coltrane's musical growth from his roots in the black church and rhythm and blues through his forty years of life and beyond, culminating in a musical meeting between Roscoe Mitchell and dervish musicians in Morocco's Western Sahara desert. The film also includes extensive performance footage of Coltrane.

"A flavorful account of New York City politics during the 1920s Jazz Age centering on the intersecting careers of the city's popular "Night Mayor," Jimmy Walker, and the state's patrician governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mitgang's extensive use of newspaper quotes and legal transcripts helps paint vivid portraits of Walker, Roosevelt and the large cast of characters who played a part in Walker's fall from grace and Roosevelt's meteoric rise to four-term...