NIGHT PEOPLE PB

Download or read book NIGHT PEOPLE PB written by Dicky Wells and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1991-10-17 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1974, this book is Dicky Well's account of his life as a jazz musician during the Swing era. A trombonist and soloist, Wells played alongside Lester Young and Billie Holiday in the Count Basie Orchestra during the 1930s and 1940s, and later with B. B. King and Ray Charles. In vivid, vernacular style, Wells recounts conversations on the band bus and the lively business of rehearsals, focusing not so much on himself as on the texture of the jazz life and the nature of the men and women who made the music. He describes the entertainment business of the era, the easy freedoms that drew musicians to it, and the tension between pleasing the crowd and meeting the standards set by fellow musicians and one's own musical conscience. This revised and expanded edition of The Night People includes new introductory chapter remarks that place Wells's memories in the context of his life and jazz history, as well as a critical appreciation by André Hodeir and a Wells discography compiled by Chris Sheridan.