Biographies of Dave Brubeck, Nat King Cole and Ornette Coleman, the late Phil Woods’ autobiography, a study of jazz stories on film and a fictional trilogy about “jazz, intolerance and baseball” have been nominated for the JJA’s 2021 Jazz Book of the Year Award. Their authors will Zoom together on Sunday, March 21 at 1 pm Central Time in a discussion moderated by Bob Blumenthal, JJA board member and Book Award committee chair. The nominees are:
- Philip Clark, Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time (Hatchette)
Will Friedwald, Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole (Oxford University Press) - Maria Golia, Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure (Reaktion Books)
- Mark Ruffin, Bebop Fairy Tales: A Historical Fiction Trilogy on Jazz, Intolerance and Baseball (Rough In Creative Works)
- Kevin Whitehead, Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film (Oxford University Press)
- Phil Woods with Ted Panken, Life in E Flat: The Autobiography of Phil Woods (Cymbal Press)
They will be presented, along with nominees in more than three dozen categories recognizing accomplishments in jazz media and jazz music, on a finalists ballot in April, open voting by professional members of the JJA.
JJA members are invited to participate in the JJA Book Nominees Authors Zoom event on March 21, but must pre-register here. The event will be live-streamed to the general public at the JJA’s Facebook page and, later, archived on the JJA YouTube channel.
