The ghosts of Harlem

About this book

"The history of jazz is anecdotal"-this insight by O'Neal, a photographer and the president of independent jazz label Chiaroscuro Records, inspired him to assemble this historical portrait of jazz in Harlem. Between 1985 and 2007, O'Neal interviewed 42 jazz greats, only four of whom are still alive. With 475 black-and-white photographs, the artist captures Harlem jazz in the 1930s and 1940s, but the greatest value of the book lies in its interviews with such artists as Gillespie, Sy Oliver, Milt Hinton, Jonah Jones, Maxine Sullivan, and Panama Francis. Verdict O'Neal is the perfect conduit for this collection; his expertise leads him to the most casual yet incisive questions. There is no other book that so fully and intimately explores Harlem's musical heyday and its beloved ghosts.-Peter Thornell, Hingham P.L., MA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.