Display: Jazz Music

Jazz music is a true American art. It flows through our blood and penetrates every part of our popular culture. This display is dedicated to great music and great musicians.

How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz

by Jonah Winter

Roaring Brook Press, 2015. Picture book.

"Introduces the story of Jelly Roll Morton, who overcame poverty and family strife to succeed in performing music, eventually crafting the style of music known as jazz."

Duke Ellington

by Mike Venezia

Children's Press, c1995. Picture book.

Venezia has written a series on some of history's greatest artists. This time he takes on the incredible Duke Ellington, mixing historical photos with cartoon illustrations, and adding his own clever wit to a wonderful biography.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

by Katheryn Russell-Brown

Lee & Low Books, 2014. Picture book.

"A biography of African American musician Melba Doretta Liston, a virtuoso musician who played the trombone and composed and arranged music for many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century."

Hey, Charleston!

by Anne F. Rockwell

Carolrhoda Books, c2013. Picture book.

"What happened when a former slave took beat-up old instruments and gave them to a bunch of orphans? Thousands of futures got a little brighter and a great American art form was born. . . . The children performed as far away as Paris and London, and they earned enough money to support the orphanage that still exists today."

Heaven's All Star Jazz Band

by Don Carter

A. Knopf, 2002. Picture book.

"A young boy imagines his grandfather playing with jazz music greats up in heaven."

Bird and Diz

by Gary Golio

Candlewick Press, 2015.

"Presents a rhythmic [and colorful] tribute to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and their creation of bebop."

This Jazz Man

by Karen Ehrhardt

Harcourt, c2006. Picture book.

"Presents an introduction to jazz music and nine well-known jazz musicians, set to the rhythm of the traditional song, "This Old Man." Includes brief facts about each musician."

Bring on That Beat

by Rachel Isadora

Putnam, 2002. Picture book.

"Illustrations and rhyming text evoke the rhythms of jazz music."

Jazz

by Walter Dean Meyers

Holiday House, c2006. Picture book.

"Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate the roots of jazz music."

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