Overview

1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the seminal jazz album of all time Kind of Blue. 3 Shades of Blue is a magnificent, blended biography on the meandering paths which led Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and the aftermath. It's a book about music, business, race, addiction and the cities that gave jazz its home; from New York and LA to Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City. Kaplan meditates on creativity and the great forebears of this golden age who would take the music down strange new paths. Above all, this is a book about three very different men - their struggles, their choices, their tragedies, their greatness. The tapestry of their lives is, in Kaplan's hands, an American Odyssey, with no direction home.

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9781805302001

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Reviews

'Praise for Sinatra: The Chairman: Meticulously researched . . . Kaplan draws from previous biographies and the memoirs of Sinatra's lovers and fellow travellers, but the pithy narrative is his own, as are his persuasive critiques of the music' - Guardian 'Monumental' - Financial Times 'Endlessly engaging' - Wall Street Journal 'Hugely readable, vastly entertaining' - New Yorker '[Kaplan does a] nimble job of tracing the singer's continued rise to international fame, and credibly explicates the alchemy behind the singer's collaboration with Nelson Riddle and their amazing achievement during the Capitol Records year' - New York Times '' -

"Praise for Sinatra: The Chairman: Meticulously researched . . . Kaplan draws from previous biographies and the memoirs of Sinatra's lovers and fellow travellers, but the pithy narrative is his own, as are his persuasive critiques of the music * * Guardian * * Monumental * * Financial Times * * Endlessly engaging * * Wall Street Journal * * Hugely readable, vastly entertaining * * New Yorker * * [Kaplan does a] nimble job of tracing the singer's continued rise to international fame, and credibly explicates the alchemy behind the singer's collaboration with Nelson Riddle and their amazing achievement during the Capitol Records year * * New York Times * * 3 Shades of Blue is an instant classic, one that both jazz fanatics and casual fans will love. James Kaplan sweeps us into the dazzling world of Swing Street after World War II, a scene as mythical and magical as Pablo Picasso's Paris, Timothy Leary's San Francisco or Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord. It is an intimate, enthralling portrait of the titans of 20th-century music - ""friends and geniuses together"" - and the revolution they created -- DEBBY APPLEGATE, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of MADAM"

Praise for Sinatra: The Chairman: Meticulously researched . . . Kaplan draws from previous biographies and the memoirs of Sinatra's lovers and fellow travellers, but the pithy narrative is his own, as are his persuasive critiques of the music * * Guardian * * Monumental * * Financial Times * * Endlessly engaging * * Wall Street Journal * * Hugely readable, vastly entertaining * * New Yorker * * [Kaplan does a] nimble job of tracing the singer's continued rise to international fame, and credibly explicates the alchemy behind the singer's collaboration with Nelson Riddle and their amazing achievement during the Capitol Records year * * New York Times * *

Author Information

James Kaplan's essays, stories, reviews and profiles have appeared in numerous magazines, including the New Yorker,the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Esquire and New York. His novels include Pearl's Progress and Two Guys from Verona, a New York Times Notable Book for 1998. His nonfiction works include The Airport, You Cannot Be Serious (co-authored with John McEnroe), Dean & Me: A Love Story (with Jerry Lewis), Frank: The Voice, and Sinatra: The Chairman. He lives in Westchester, New York.

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