It’s the Roaring Twenties, and New York is exploding with jazz fever. Crowds flock to the nightclubs and dance halls in Harlem to see the likes of Louis Armstrong with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra playing at the Kentucky Club, or Duke Ellington at the Roseland Ballroom or the world-famous Cotton Club. Designed, illustrated, and edited by Robert Nippoldt, this award-winning book pays homage to this exceptional era, via an entertaining blend of illustrations, facts, and amusing anecdotes presenting 24 leading lights of New York’s jazz scene in the 1920s, complete with a CD containing some of their best tunes. The texts, contributed by Hans-Jürgen Schaal, give a vivid account of the club scene and the “band battles,” as well as the legendary recording sessions. A splendid read, a groovy CD—and not strictly for jazz fans only!
Awards for the original German edition:
- European Design Award, 2008, Stockholm
- Institute for Book Arts: “The Most Beautiful Book of Germany” 2008, Frankfurt
- Illustrative: “One of the Most Beautiful Books of Europe” 2007, Berlin
The illustrator:Robert Nippoldt is a German graphic designer, illustrator, and book artist. He is best known for his award-winning books
Jazz,
Hollywood and
Gangster about America in the 1920s and 1930s. His studio is located at the very hip old depot of Muenster.
The author:Hans-Jürgen Schaal, born in 1958, studied German philology, sociology, and dramatics. He works as a freelance music journalist for various magazines and has published numerous books about jazz.
