Picture Books
Ackerman, Karen. Song and Dance Man.
Grandpa entertains his visiting grandchildren with the songs, dances and jokes he performed when he was a vaudeville performer. ( j )

Daly, Niki. Ruby Sings the Blues.
Ruby's loud voice annoys everyone around her until she learns to control her volume with the help of her new jazz musician friends. ( j )

Duncan, Alice Faye. Willie Jerome.
Willie Jerome's sister, the only one who appreciates his jazz trumpet playing, finally makes Mama listen to his music. (j Reading Rainbow)

Holiday, Billie. God Bless the Child.
An adaptation of Billie Holiday's song, illustrated with images of an African American family moving from the South during the Great Migration of the 1930s. Includes a CD of Holiday performing the song, bringing words, music, & art together. (K-2954 Compact Disc/Book)

Hughes, Shirley. Ella's Big Chance: a Jazz-Age Cinderella.
In this Cinderella-like tale set in the 1920s, Ella has two men courting her: the handsome Duke of Arc and Buttons, the delivery boy. ( j )

Hurd, Thacher. Mama Don't Allow.
Miles and the Swamp Band have the time of their lives playing at the Alligator Ball, until they discover the menu includes Swamp Band Soup! (j Reading Rainbow, and K-2811 Cassette/Book)

Isadora, Rachel. Ben's Trumpet.
Ben wants to be a trumpeter, but plays only an imaginary instrument until one of the musicians in a neighborhood night club discovers his ambition. (j Reading Rainbow)

London, Jonathan. Hip Cat.
Hip Cat journeys to the city by the bay to live out his dream of being a jazz musician. (j Reading Rainbow)

Myers, Walter Dean. The Blues of Flats Brown.
Flats, a junkyard dog, escapes an abusive master and makes a name for himself from Mississippi to New York City playing the blues. ( j )

Raschka, Christopher. John Coltrane's Giant Steps.
John Coltrane's musical composition is performed by a box, a snowflake, some raindrops and a kitten. ( j )

Roberts, Brenda C. Jazzy Miz Mozetta.
On a beautiful evening, Miz Mozetta puts on her red dress and blue shoes, and dances the jitterbug, just as she did many years before. ( j )

Schneider, Christine M. Saxophone Sam and His Snazzy Jazz Band.
The sound of toe-tapping dance band music from the radio leads Drew and his sister throughout their house. ( j )

Schroeder, Alan. Ragtime Tumpie.
Tumpie, a young black girl who later became famous as the dancer Josephine Baker, longs to find the opportunity to dance amid the poverty and vivacious street life of St. Louis in the early 1900s. ( j )

Shaik, Fatima. The Jazz of Our Street.
Two siblings dash from their porch one morning to join the parade stamping, swaying, and dancing behind the jazz band marching through their New Orleans neighborhood. ( j )

Gollub, Matthew. The Jazz Fly: Starring the Jazz Bugs: The Jazz Fly, Willie the Worm, Nancy the Gnat, Sammy the Centipede.
While seeking directions to town, a fly picks up the rhythm of the answers he gets from a frog, a hog, a donkey and a dog, and uses the sounds to jazz up his band's music. (K-2781 Compact Disc/Book)

Novels for Kids & Teens
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy.
10-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father: renowned bandleader H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. (Juv Fic, C-12556 Book on Tape Juv and D-9135 Book on Disc Juv)

Levine, Gail Carson. Dave at Night.
Sent to the Hebrew Home for Orphaned Boys, Dave is treated cruelly so he sneaks out at night and is welcomed into the music- and culture-filled world of the Harlem Renaissance. (Juv Fic)

Hentoff, Nat. Does This School Have Capital Punishment?
Sam's oral history project on a legendary jazz musician and his trouble with a classmate enliven his first year at Burr Academy. (YA Fic)

Tamar, Erika. Blues for Silk Garcia.
Daughter of the late jazz great Silk Garcia, Linda Ann discovers some unpleasant truths while delving into her father's past. (YA Fic)

Townley, Rod. Sky: a Novel in Three Sets and an Encore.
In the New York City of 1959, 15-year-old Alec Schuyler, at odds with his widowed father over his love of music, finds a mentor and friend in a blind, black jazz musician. (YA Fic)

Winthrop, Elizabeth. The Red-Hot Rattoons.
After the death of their parents, five young rats decide to leave the barnyard to make a name for themselves in the big city, facing unscrupulous rivals and dangerous humans along the way. (Juv Fic)

Nonfiction
Dell, Pamela. Miles Davis: Jazz Master.
This biography describes Davis's family, education, interactions with other musicians and his self-destructive lifestyle. (j788.092)

Fahlenkamp-Merrell, Kindle. Louis Armstrong.
The life of African-American musician Louis Armstrong, focusing on his lifelong involvement with music, his family and his professional career. (j788.092)

Hill, Laban Carrick. Harlem Stomp!: a Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance.
Text and photographs provide a survey of the famous Harlem Renaissance and chronicle the work of artists, activists, and writers including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Sargent Johnson, and Marcus Garvey. (j973.0496)

Hughes, Langston. The First Book of Jazz.
An introduction to jazz, focusing on its historical development and its most famous performers. (j781.57)

Igus, Toyomi. I See the Rhythm: a Story of African American Music.
Chronicles and captures poetically the history, mood and movement of African American music. (j781.729)

Lester, Julius. The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World.
Ten renowned blues singers, ranging from the legendary Billie Holiday and Muddy Waters to diva Aretha Franklin and the "godfather of soul," James Brown. (j781.643)

Malone, Margaret Gay. Jazz is the Word: Wynton Marsalis.
The life & musical career of the African American trumpet player known for performances of jazz & classical music. (j921 M35m)

Marsalis, Wynton. Jazz A-B-Z: an A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits.
A collection of highly personal and stylized profiles of 26 legendary jazz performers, from Louis Armstrong to Dizzy Gillespie. (j781.65)

Mathis, Sharon Bell. Ray Charles.
An illustrated biography of African-American musician Ray Charles, following his life from the age of seven when he lost his sight, to age forty by which time he had earned international fame. (j784.092)

Monceaux, Morgan. Jazz: My Music, My People.
A tribute to the makers of jazz, with exuberantly original paintings, personal recollections and illuminating biographical sketches of 40 great jazz musicians. (j781.65)

Orgill, Roxanne. If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong.
How the famous jazz trumpeter began his musical career as a poor boy in New Orleans, singing songs on street corners and playing a battered cornet in a marching band. (j788.092)

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Duke Ellington: the Piano Prince and His Orchestra.
This noted jazz musician and composer, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category. (j781.65092)

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Ella Fitzgerald: the Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa.
Scat Cat Monroe, a feline fan, tells the story of Ella Fitzgerald's career as a singer. (j784.092)

Raschka, Christopher. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop.
Charlie Parker swings and spins all over the pages, while his cat waits for him to come home. (j788.092, and K-2676 Cassette/Book)

Raschka, Christopher. Mysterious Thelonious.
This visual jazz composition honors legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk, composer of "Mysterioso." (j782.4092)

Schroeder, Alan. Satchmo's Blues.
A fictional recreation of the youth of trumpeter Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. (j788.092)

Shange, Ntozake. Ellington Was Not a Street.
In a powerful poem accompanied by majestic paintings of influential men, Shange reflects on her childhood, when her home was often filled with visionary, talented artists like Ellington, DuBois, Gillespie, and Robeson. (j811.54, and K-3083 Compact Disc/Book)

Terkel, Studs. Giants of Jazz.
Brief biographies of thirteen jazz musicians who have made major contributions to the development of this form of music. (j920)

Venezia, Mike. Duke Ellington.
The life of the internationally acclaimed musician and composer who helped popularize jazz music (j781.65092)

Vigna, Giuseppe. Jazz and its History.
A history of jazz from its origins in the late nineteenth century through the 1980s. (j781.65)

Weatherford, Carole Boston. The Sound That Jazz Makes.
An illustrated history of the origins and influences of jazz, from Africa to contemporary America. (j781.65)

3/23/06
Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St., Duluth, MN