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Author:   Steven C. Bowie
Publisher:   University Press of Mississippi
Imprint:   University Press of Mississippi
ISBN:  

9781496859433

ISBN 10:   149685943
Pages:   456
Publication Date:   17 November 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Part I—Alabama 1.Mobile Blues 2.Boy Meets Horn 3. A ""Young"" Professional 4.Florida 5.New York Part II—Duke Ellington (1929) 6.Cotton Club Stomp 7.Catherine 8.Bugle Call Rag 9. The First European Tour 10.Williams, Whetsel, and Stewart 11.Echoes of Harlem 12.Carnegie Hall 13. The Second European Tour Part III—Benny Goodman (1940) 14.When Cootie Left the Duke 15.Benny Rides Again 16.Building a Band Part IV—Cootie Williams, Big Band Leader (1942) 17.Fly Right 18.Back to New York 19. The Impact of War 20.Moe Gale and the Savoy Ballroom 21.Trumpet Student 22.Closing at the Savoy 23.Film Vodvil 24. A Return to the Studio 25.’Round Midnight 26.Personnel Changes 27.Capitol Records 28.Mainstream Press Attention 29. A Change in Management 30. A Year of Change 31.End of an Era Part V—Cootie Williams, Combo Leader (1947) 32.Things Ain’t What They Used to Be 33.Gator 34.Savoy Ballroom Champion 35. The House Band 36.Back to the Studios 37. The Holy City 38.European Triumph 39.Back Home Part VI—Duke Ellington (1962) 40.Drifting Right Back 41. The Road 42. The State Department Tour 43. The Bookends 44. The Road Manager 45.Mortality 46.We Love You Madly Part VII—Mercer Ellington (1974) 47.Now More Than Ever 48.Continuum 49.Unretirement 50. The Last Tenure 51. The Last Tour 52.Passing the Torch Notes Cootie Williams Discography The Compositions of Cootie Williams Awards and Honors Bibliography Acknowledgments Index

Reviews

Among the eight hundred musicians who played in Duke Ellington's orchestra, Cootie Williams left one of the most enduring legacies. Few trumpeters have combined lyricism, power, and dramatic inflection as Williams did. Steven C. Bowie delivers the meticulously researched and compelling biography that fans of Ellington, trumpet, and jazz have long awaited.--John Edward Hasse, curator emeritus of American music at the Smithsonian Institution Concerto for Cootie is a long-overdue biography of one of the great artists in the history of jazz, trumpeter and bandleader Cootie Williams. Author Steven C. Bowie has expended a seemingly herculean effort to present and document Williams's life and artistry, deftly setting it within a larger jazz context, as well as placing Williams within his time. The amount of research over fourteen years is staggering, thorough, and prodigious. It is doubtful Bowie missed any reference or account of Williams ever given, in the US and abroad, and presents it in an accessible, clear, sympathetic, and very compelling style. As such, Bowie offers a volume not just on an individual artist, but also on an art form, a people, and a nation.--Steven L. Isoardi, author of The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles

Among the 800 musicians who played in Duke Ellington's orchestra, Cootie Williams left one of the most enduring legacies. Few trumpeters have combined lyricism, power, and dramatic inflection as Williams did. Steven C. Bowie delivers the meticulously researched and compelling biography that fans of Ellington, the trumpet, and jazz have long awaited.--John Edward Hasse, curator emeritus of American music at the Smithsonian Institution Concerto for Cootie is a long-overdue biography of one of the great artists in the history of jazz, trumpeter and bandleader Cootie Williams. Author Steven C. Bowie has expended a seemingly herculean effort to present and document Williams's life and artistry, deftly setting it within a larger jazz context, as well as placing Williams within his time. The amount of research over fourteen years is staggering, thorough, and prodigious. It is doubtful Bowie missed any reference or account of Williams ever given, in the US and abroad, and presents it in an accessible, clear, sympathetic, and very compelling style. As such, Bowie offers a volume not just on an individual artist, but also on an art form, a people, and a nation.--Steven L. Isoardi, author of The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles

Author Information

Steven C. Bowie curates and hosts the Duke Ellington-themed podcast Ellington Reflections. He has presented papers on Cootie Williams and Kenny Burrell for conferences held by the Duke Ellington Society of Sweden and written articles for DownBeat and Jazz Improv magazines.

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