Originally published in 1981 while Giddins was jazz critic for the Village Voice, this book is mostly a collection of pieces written for that publication. The subject matter is widely varied, and, as Giddins says in his introduction, “...The illusory blue note is all that the artists I’ve chosen to discuss have in common.” The book’s four sections are devoted to (1) “Singers,” ranging from the Dominoes to Betty Carter; (2) “Instrumentalists,” from obscure pianist Donald Lambert to Charlie Parker; (3) “Composers and Movements,” from Ellington to the AACM; and (4) “Adventures in the Jazz Trade” which ranges from a serious piece on the exploitation of artists to the amusing escapades of Red Rodney.

Gary Giddins is the author of Visions of Jazz: The First Century; Weatherbird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century; Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation; and he has written biographies of Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. His work has garnered numerous prizes including four ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards for music criticism, A Guggenheim Fellowship, a Peabody Broadcasting Award, and an American Book Award.