This is NOT a complete bibliography nor a scholastic study on the topic. Listed here are just the books I always refer to when I work on articles for this blog. Some are more essential than others, but I’m grateful to their authors for the countless insights I’ve been able to learn and share thanks to their primary research.
About CaB CALLOwaY
Cab CALLOWAY and Bryant ROLLINS
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976
Cab’s autobiography, 1976. Full of personal insights, written as told « live » by Cab. With several testimonies from the family (Nuffie, Camay, Cabella, Lael, Chris) and musicians (Benny Payne, Milt Hinton). Rare pictures. Includes the complete text of ‘The Hepster’s Dictionary » and « Jiveformation, Please ». BUT… several errors in names and places.
Alyn SHIPTON
Oxford University Press, 2010
This is THE book, and it’s a must-read for any Cab Calloway fan and jazz aficionado. Perfectly documented, thanks to his previous work with former Cab musicians, Alyn Shipton tells the life of Cab as a wonderful journey from the roots of the family until his final years.
Dempsey J. TRAVIS
Urban Jazz Series, Vol. VI, 1994
(also published in An Autobiography of Black Jazz, Dempsey J. Travis, Urban Research Institute, 1983)
A 16-page interview of Cab Calloway by a first-hand writer who interviewed all the musicians of the Swing era.
CABU and PITET
Comic book, with 2 CDs
BD Music/Arte Editions, France, 2010
By or About Cab Calloway’s musicians
Danny BARKER, edited by Alyn SHIPTON
Oxford University Press, 1986
Danny BARKER
Historic New Orleans Collection, 2016
Garvin BUSHELL as told to Mark TUCKER
Da Capo Press, 1998
Adolphus ‘Doc’ Cheatham, edited by Alyn SHIPTON, discography by Howard RYE
Cassel, 1998
Dizzy GILLESPIE with Al FRASER
The University of Minnesota Press, 2009
Alyn SHIPTON
Oxford University Press, 1999
Donald L. MAGGIN
Harper Collins, 2005
Milt HINTON and David G. BERGER
Temple University Press, 1988
Milt HINTON, David G. BERGER, and Holly MAXSON
Pomegranate ArtBooks, 1991
Milt HINTON, David G. BERGER, Holly MAXSON
Vanderbilt University Press, 2008
Frank BÜCHMANN-MØLLER
The University of Michigan Press, 2006
Other bands and musicians
Louis ARMSTRONG
• « Stomp Off, Let’s Go – The Early Years of Louis Armstrong » – Ricky RICCARDI, Oxford University Press, 2025
• « Heart Full of Rhythm – The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong » – Ricky RICCARDI, Oxford University Press, 2020
• « Louis Armstrong – Master of Modernism » – Thomas BROTHERS, W.W. Norton & Company, 2014
Cholly ATKINS
• « Class Act – The Jazz Life of Choreographer Cholly Atkins » – Cholly ATKINS & Jacqui MALONE, Columbia University Press, 2001
Count BASIE
• « The World of Count Basie » – Stanley DANCE, Da Capo Press, 1980
• « Count Basie – A Bio-Discography » – Chris Sheridan, Greenwood Press, 1986
Clyde BERNHARDT
• « I Remember – Eighty Years of BLack Entertainment, Big Bands, and the Blues » – Clyde E.B. BERNHARDT and Sheldon HARRIS, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989
Bill ROBINSON
• « Mr. Bojangles – The Biography of Bill Robinson » – Jim HASKINS and N.R. MITGANG, Linus Multimedia, 1988
THE BLUES BROTHERS
• « The Blues Brothers » – Daniel DE VISÉ, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024
Harry DIAL
• « All This Jazz About Jazz – The Autobiography of Harry Dial – Harry DIAL? Storyville Publications, 1984
Vic DICKENSON
• « Ding! Ding! – A Bio-discographical Scrapbook on Vic Dickenson » – Manfred SELCHOW, Self-published, 1998
Duke ELLINGTON
• « Duke Ellington par lui-même et ses musiciens » – Stanley DANCE, Filipacchi, 1976
• « Beyond Category – The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington » – John Edward HASSE, Simon & Schuster, 1993
• « Duke Ellington » – James Lincoln COLLIER, Michael JOSEPH, 1987
• « Music is my mistress – Mémoires inédits » – Duke ELLINGTON, Slatkine & Cie, 2016
• « The Duke Ellington Reader » – edited by Mark TUCKER, Oxford University Press, 1993
• « Duke Ellington’s America » – Harvey G. COHEN, The University of Chicago Press, 2010
Adelaide HALL
• « Underneath a Harlem Moon – The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall ) Iain Cameron WILLIAMS, Continuum, 2002
Lionel HAMPTON
• « Hamp – An Autobiography » – Lionel HAMPTON with James HASKINS, Warner Books, 1989
Fletcher HENDERSON
• « Hendersonia – The Music of Fletcher Henderson and his Musicians, A Bio-Discography » – Walter C. ALLEN, Self-published, 1973
• « The Uncrowned King of Swing – Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz » – Jeffrey MAGEE, Oxford University Press, 2005
Earl HINES
• « The World of Earl Hines » – Stanley DANCE, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1977
Claude HOPKINS
• « Crazy Fingers – Claude Hopkins’ Life in Jazz » – Warren W. VACHÉ, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992
Lena HORNE
• « Stormy Weather – The Life of Lena Horne » – James GAVIN, Atria Books, 2009
Andy KIRK
• « Twenty Years on Wheels » – Andy KIRK and Amy LEE, Ann Arbor, 1989
• « The Recordings of Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy » – George BURROWS, Oxford Studies in Recorded Jazz, 2019
Jimmy LUNCEFORD
• « Rhythm is Our Business – Jimmie Lunceford and the Harlem Express » – Eddy DETERMEYER, The University of Michigan Press, 2006
Frankie MANNING
• « Frankie Manning – L’ambassadeur du Lindy Hop » – Frankie MANNING et Cynthia R. MILLMAN, Rolland Éditions, 2009
Jimmy McHUGH
• « I Feel a Song Coming On – The Life of Jimmy McHugh » – Alyn SHIPTON, University of Illinois Press, 2009
McKINNEY’S COTTON PICKERS
• « McKinney’s Music -A Bio-Discography of MacKinney’s Cotton Pickers » – John CHILTON, Bloomsbury Book Shop, 1978
Norma MILLER
• « Swingin’ at the Savoy – The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer » – Norma MILLER and Evette JENSEN, Temple University Press, 1996
The NICHOLAS BROTHERS
• « Brotherhood in Rhythm – The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers » – Constance Valis HILL, Cooper Square Press, 2002
Andy RAZAF
• « Black and Blue – The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf » – Barry SINGER, Schirmer Books, 1992
Timme ROSENKRANTZ
• « Harlem Jazz Adventures – A European Baron’s Memoir, 1934-1969 » – The Scarecrow Press, 2012
Noble SISSLE and Eubie BLAKE
• « Reminiscing with Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake » – Robert KIMBALL and William BOLCOM, Cooper Square Press, 2000
Fats WALLER
• « Fats in Facts »- Laurie WRIGHT, Storyville, 1992
• « Fats Waller on the Air – The Radio Broadcasts & Discography » – Stephen TAYLOR, The Scarecrow Press, 2006
• « Ain’t Misbehavin’ – The Story of Fats Waller » – Ed KIRKEBY, Da Capo Press, 1966
• « Fats Waller – The Cheerful Little Earful » – Alyn SHIPTON, Continuum, 2002
Chick WEBB
• « Rhythm Man – Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America » – Stephanie STEIN CREASE, Oxford University Press, 2023
• « Spinnin’ the Webb – Chick Webb, the Little Giant » – Chet Flzerano, Center Stream, 2014
To be continued…
About the Era
Rapaël IMBERT, « Jazz Supreme, Initiés, Mystiques et Prophètes », Éditions de L’éclat, 2018
To be continued…
About the Society
To be continued…
About Jazz in general
To be continued…
