Review by Choice Review
The Count Basie Orchestra that captivated the musical world in the mid-1930s featured the sensitive and individualistic trumpet work of Buck Clayton. Although not a major innovator in the class of Louis Armstrong or Dizzy Gillepsie, Clayton has written and played jazz for the past 40 years, contributing music of extraordinarily high quality. His autobiography (in which he was assisted by Nancy Miller Elliott) covers more than 70 years. Born in a small Kansas town near the later birthplace of the Basie style, Clayton spent some of his early years in Los Angeles and Shanghai before joining Basie's orchestra, where he stayed until drafted for WW II. His book dwells on where he worked, whom he knew, what he played, and events he experienced, but like many other jazz autobiographies, fails to explain why things happened. Some evaluations and perspectives on people, music, and events would have been helpful. The discography omits the 193743 period, since that period is covered by Basie discographies, but it would have been useful to have all the Clayton recordings listed in one place. Clayton's book resembles Barney Bigard's With Louis and Duke (CH, Jun '87), also originally published in England, where there is lively interest in the swing era. Students and general readers.-C.M. Weisenberg, University of California, Los Angeles
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
