Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains,
achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's
identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles
Times
Excellent.... Jazz fans have waited 30 years for a trained musicologist such as Mr. Magee...to create a book that evaluates Henderson's strengths and weaknesses and attempts to place him in the history of American music. --Will Friedwald, New York Sun
Nobody--not Ellington, nor Basie, nor Goodman--was more thoroughly involved with the beginnings of the Swing Era than Fletcher Henderson. Jeff Magee's book gives this jazz giant what he deserves: a sensitive and balanced examination of the pianist and arranger's personal history as well as a
judicious evaluation of his music. --Scott K.Deveaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History
Magee does an excellent job of placing his subject in the context of uncertain social changes in the African American community. Well researched and highly readable. --Library Journal
Magee paints a vivid portrait of the central figures of early jazz and swing (Louis Armstrong is a 'strong streak of color in a crazy quilt') as well as the business of recording and touring in the 1920s and '30s. While Benny Goodman is lauded as the major force behind the Big Band sound, Magee
argues convincingly that Henderson was equally important in 'building the kingdom of swing.' --Publishers Weekly
Magee's treatment of Henderson and jazz music here is a loving, erudite and welcome one on a giant of the form. --Charleston Post & Courier
Fletcher Henderson occupies such a vital role in the evolution of American music that it comes as a shock that we had to wait this long for a superlative biography such as this. Jeff Magee has not only discovered hitherto unknown connections between Henderson's life and music, but has also linked
them to the cultural scene in which they existed. The jazz world owes Jeff Magee a big thank-you for undertaking such a massive project and for doing it so well. --Loren Schoenberg, Executive Director, The Jazz Museum in Harlem
A good musical study of Henderson has been long needed, and this is well researched, thorough, and well written. Of particular value is Magee's sensible and realistic view of the music business, which affords the reader a view into the lives of African-American musicians of the day. This is an
important study of the jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. --LewisPorter, Professor of Music, Rutgers-Newark University, and author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
The Uncrowned King of Swing is the definitive biography of this musical legend. Magee's argument is well laid out and his writing style inviting. -- Popular Music and Society
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains,
achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's
identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles
Times
Excellent.... Jazz fans have waited 30 years for a trained musicologist such as Mr. Magee...to create a book that evaluates Henderson's strengths and weaknesses and attempts to place him in the history of American music. --Will Friedwald, New York Sun
Nobody--not Ellington, nor Basie, nor Goodman--was more thoroughly involved with the beginnings of the Swing Era than Fletcher Henderson. Jeff Magee's book gives thisjazz giant what he deserves: a sensitive and balanced examination of the pianist and arranger's personal history as well as a
judicious evaluation of his music. --Scott K. Deveaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History
Magee does an excellent job of placing his subject in the context of uncertain social changes in the African American community. Well researched and highly readable. --Library Journal
Magee paints a vivid portrait of the central figures of early jazz and swing (Louis Armstrong is a 'strong streak of color in a crazy quilt') as well as the business of recording and touring in the 1920s and '30s. While Benny Goodman is lauded as the major force behind the Big Band sound, Magee
argues convincingly that Henderson was equally important in 'building the kingdom of swing.' --Publishers Weekly
Magee's treatment of Henderson and jazz music here is a loving, erudite and welcome one on a giant of the form. --Charleston Post & Courier
Fletcher Henderson occupies such a vital role in the evolution of American music that it comes as a shock that we had to wait this long for a superlative biography such as this. Jeff Magee has not only discovered hitherto unknown connections between Henderson's life and music, but has also linked
them to the cultural scene in which they existed. The jazz world owes Jeff Magee a big thank-you for undertaking such a massive project and for doing it so well. --Loren Schoenberg, Executive Director, The Jazz Museum in Harlem
A good musical study of Henderson has been long needed, and this is well researched, thorough, and well written. Of particular value is Magee's sensible and realistic view of the musicbusiness, which affords the reader a view into the lives of African-American musicians of the day. This is an
important study of the jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. --Lewis Porter, Professor of Music, Rutgers-Newark University, and author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
The Uncrowned King of Swing is the definitive biography of this musical legend. Magee's argument is well laid out and his writing style inviting. -- Popular Music and Society
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains,
achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's
identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles
Times
Excellent.... Jazz fans have waited 30 years for a trained musicologist such as Mr. Magee...to create a book that evaluates Henderson's strengths and weaknesses and attempts to place him in the history of American music. --Will Friedwald, New York Sun
Nobody--not Ellington, nor Basie, nor Goodman--was more thoroughly involved with the beginnings of the Swing Erathan Fletcher Henderson. Jeff Magee's book gives this jazz giant what he deserves: a sensitive and balanced examination of the pianist and arranger's personal history as well as a
judicious evaluation of his music. --Scott K. Deveaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History
Magee does an excellent job of placing his subject in the context of uncertain social changes in the African American community. Well researched and highly readable. --Library Journal
Magee paints a vivid portrait of the central figures of early jazz and swing (Louis Armstrong is a 'strong streak of color in a crazy quilt') as well as the business of recording and touring in the 1920s and '30s. While Benny Goodman is lauded as the major force behind the Big Band sound, Magee
argues convincingly that Henderson was equally important in 'building the kingdom of swing.' --Publishers Weekly
Magee's treatment of Henderson and jazz music here is a loving, erudite and welcome one on a giant of the form. --Charleston Post & Courier
Fletcher Henderson occupies such a vital role in the evolution of American music that it comes as a shock that we had to wait this long for a superlative biography such as this. Jeff Magee has not only discovered hitherto unknown connections between Henderson's life and music, but has also linked
them to the cultural scene in which they existed. The jazz world owes Jeff Magee a big thank-you for undertaking such a massive project and for doing it so well. --Loren Schoenberg, Executive Director, The Jazz Museum in Harlem
A good musical study of Henderson has been long needed, and this is wellresearched, thorough, and well written. Of particular value is Magee's sensible and realistic view of the music business, which affords the reader a view into the lives of African-American musicians of the day. This is an
important study of the jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. --Lewis Porter, Professor of Music, Rutgers-Newark University, and author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
The Uncrowned King of Swing is the definitive biography of this musical legend. Magee's argument is well laid out and his writing style inviting. -- Popular Music and Society
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains, achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
Excellent.... Jazz fans have waited 30 years for a trained musicologist such as Mr. Magee...to create a book that evaluates Henderson's strengths and weaknesses and attempts to place him in the history of American music. --Will Friedwald, New York Sun
Nobody--not Ellington, nor Basie, nor Goodman--was more thoroughly involved with the beginnings of the Swing Era than Fletcher Henderson. Jeff Magee's book gives this jazzgiant what he deserves: a sensitive and balanced examination of the pianist and arranger's personal history as well as a judicious evaluation of his music. --Scott K. Deveaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History
Magee does an excellent job of placing his subject in the context of uncertain social changes in the African American community. Well researched and highly readable. --Library Journal
Magee paints a vivid portrait of the central figures of early jazz and swing (Louis Armstrong is a 'strong streak of color in a crazy quilt') as well as the business of recording and touring in the 1920s and '30s. While Benny Goodman is lauded as the major force behind the Big Band sound, Magee argues convincingly that Henderson was equally important in 'building the kingdom of swing.' --Publishers Weekly
Magee's treatment of Henderson and jazz music here is a loving, erudite and welcome one on a giant of the form. --Charleston Post & Courier
Fletcher Henderson occupies such a vital role in the evolution of American music that it comes as a shock that we had to wait this long for a superlative biography such as this. Jeff Magee has not only discovered hitherto unknown connections between Henderson's life and music, but has also linked them to the cultural scene in which they existed. The jazz world owes Jeff Magee a big thank-you for undertaking such a massive project and for doing it so well. --Loren Schoenberg, Executive Director, The Jazz Museum in Harlem
A good musical study of Henderson has been long needed, and this is well researched, thorough, and well written. Of particular value is Magee's sensible and realistic view of the music business, which affords the reader a view into the lives of African-American musicians of the day. This is an important study of the jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. --Lewis Porter, Professor of Music, Rutgers-Newark University, and author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
The Uncrowned King of Swing is the definitive biography of this musical legend. Magee's argument is well laid out and his writing style inviting. -- Popular Music and Society
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains, achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's identity as both a creative fa
Excellent. --Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com
The Uncrowned King of Swing is the definitive biography of this musical legend. Magee's argument is well laid out and his writing style inviting. -- Popular Music and Society
Magee has written an important book, illuminating an era too often reduced to its most familiar names. Goodman might have been the King of Swing, but Henderson here emerges as that kingdom's chief architect, an innovative musician who played a crucial role in building music that, Magee maintains, achieved 'a delicate consensus joining teenagers and adults, black and white, oral and written music, Tin Pan Alley and jazz.' --Boston Globe
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los AngelesTimes
Excellent.... Jazz fans have waited 30 years for a trained musicologist such as Mr. Magee...to create a book that evaluates Henderson's strengths and weaknesses and attempts to place him in the history of American music. --Will Friedwald, New York Sun
Nobody--not Ellington, nor Basie, nor Goodman--was more thoroughly involved with the beginnings of the Swing Era than Fletcher Henderson. Jeff Magee's book gives this jazz giant what he deserves: a sensitive and balanced examination of the pianist and arranger's personal history as well as a judicious evaluation of his music. --Scott K. Deveaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History
Magee does an excellent job of pla
Magee does an excellent job of placing his subject in the context of uncertain social changes in the African American community. Well researched and highly readable. --Library Journal
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
Magee paints a vivid portrait of the central figures of early jazz and swing (Louis Armstrong is a 'strong streak of color in a crazy quilt') as well as the business of recording and touring in the 1920s and '30s. While Benny Goodman is lauded as the major force behind the Big Band sound, Magee argues convincingly that Henderson was equally important in 'building the kingdom of swing.''--Publishers Weekly
An invaluable survey of Henderson's life and music. Detailed analyses of numerous musical scores are juxtaposed against a view of the roller-coaster progress of Henderson's career in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Perhaps most important, Magee deals with the complex issue of Henderson's identity as both a creative facilitator of other musicians' efforts and the frustrated composer-arranger of music that was a foundational element in the Swing Era--bringing triumphs that had eluded his groups to leaders such as Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Isham Jones. --Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times