When jazz musicians get together, they often delight one another with stories about the great, or merely remarkable, players and singers they've worked with. One good story leads to another until someone says, amid the laughter, "Somebody ought to write these down!" With Jazz Anecdotes, somebody finally has.

Drawing on a rich verbal tradition, bassist and jazz writer Bill Crow has culled stories from interviews, biographies and autobiographies, the remarkable collection of oral histories compiled by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, and his own columns to paint fascinating and very human portraits of jazz musicians. Organized around general topics--teaching and learning, stage fright, life on the road, prejudice and discrimination, and the importance of a good nickname--Jazz Anecdotes shows the jazz world as it really is and suggests why it gives its devotees a kick like no other. In addition, it offers extended sections on jazz greats such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and the fabulous Eddie Condon, who seems to have lived his entire life with the anecdotist in mind.

With its unique blend of sparkling dialogue and historical and social insight, Jazz Anecdotes will delight anyone who loves a good story. It offers a fresh perspective on the joys and hardships of a musician's life as well as a rare glimpse of the personalities who created America's most distinctive music.