The Jazzmen

“Tye brings his subjects to life as both forces of social change and three-dimensional human beings who lived and breathed their art, from Ellington’s soulful, ‘Shakespearian’ arrangements to Armstrong’s ‘heart as big as Earth’ and Basie’s ‘Buddha-like’ temperament. It’s a vibrant ode to a legendary trio and the ‘rip-roaring harmonies’ that made them great.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Tye has an easy way of telling a story, a knack for characterization and a pacing that feels right … Through the marvel of their music, these jazzmen live forever.” – Wall Street Journal

“Larry Tye delivers the inspiring, remarkable successes of three titans of popular music as one triumph of endurance and integrity: the elegant Duke Ellington, the irresistible big band drive of Count Basie and the world-spanning joy of Louis Armstrong.” – Parade

“This thoroughly enjoyable musical journey is succinctly titled, yet the scope of Tye’s research demonstrates why and how Armstrong, Basie, and Ellington transcended jazz and even music itself to establish themselves in American culture forevermore in words that a young Ellington employed to describe himself: ‘beyond category.’” – Kirkus Reviews

“Like the best music created by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, The Jazzmen SWINGS. As Tye makes clear, their story is the story of America in the twentieth century.” – RICKY RICCARDI, Grammy Award-winning author of What a Wonderful World and Heart Full of Rhythm

“The Jazzmen begins with colorful people and flows to rich history so beautifully it is musical.” – JUAN WILLIAMS, author of Eyes on the Prize

“Proud and important history, beautifully told.” – DEVAL PATRICK, former governor of Massachusetts, assistant attorney general for civil rights under Bill Clinton

“The Jazzmen reveals how these three musicians, when they express themselves through their instruments, become magical.” – MERCEDES ELLINGTON, dancer, choreographer, and Duke’s granddaughter

“Larry Tye has written a masterpiece. These three are not only the most important people in American music, but they changed the whole world in their individual ways.” – WENDELL BRUNIOUS, New Orleans bandleader and trumpeter

“The Jazzmen tells an uplifting and unifying story that is especially important now, when times are so fractured.” – SONNY ROLLINS, Grammy Award-winning tenor saxophonist

“Entertaining and engrossing, and a warm invitation to an essential part of American history.” – TRACY KIDDER, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

“I thought I was already well-informed about these jazz heroes, but Larry Tye reveals so much more about their musical journeys and personal experiences. It’s like meeting them all over again. I couldn’t put it down.” – GARY BURTON, Grammy Award-winning jazz vibraphonist

“Tye has found that there are new things to say about The Three Musketeers of Jazz. Read, learn, and enjoy.” – DAN MORGENSTERN, jazz author, historian, editor, educator, and former director of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies

Larry Tye is the New York Times bestselling author of Bobby Kennedy and Satchel, as well as Demagogue, Superman, The Father of Spin, Home Lands, and Rising from the Rails, and coauthor, with Kitty Dukakis, of Shock. Previously an award-winning reporter at the Boston Globe and a Nieman fellow at Harvard University, he now runs the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship. He lives on Cape Cod.