Overview

"William Henry ""Chick"" Webb (1905-39) was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the ""Savoy King,"" who reigned at Harlem's world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Along with the likes of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Cab Calloway, Webb helped create the popular dance and music culture, known as Swing, that swept the United States during and after the Great Depression and left an indelible impact on American culture. Having moved to Harlem from Baltimore during the Harlem Renaissance, Webb's creativity, charisma, and persistence enabled him to navigate the harsh realities of racism and show business, lifting not only himself to stardom but also bringing other future legends--namely vocalist extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald and R&B trailblazer Louis Jordan--along with him. In this first comprehensive biography of Webb, author Stephanie Stein Crease traces his story in full, showing how his skills and innovations as a bandleader helped catalyze the music of the Swing Era and the growing big band industry, allowing Webb to become one of the most influential musicians in jazz history. Crease explores Webb's personal and professional struggles as he rose to the top of the increasingly competitive world of big band jazz."

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Stephanie Stein Crease is a jazz historian, author, editor, and former senior jazz coordinator for the Jazz Arts Program, Manhattan School of Music. Her books include Gil Evans: Out of the Cool (2002 ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award), and Duke Ellington: His Life in Jazz. She was literary editor for the Grammy-awarded Duke Ellington Centennial Edition. She was a 2020 scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL, and 2018 Berger-Benny Carter-Berger Research Fellow at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University. James Fouhey is an actor and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator living in New York City. He received classical training at Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. He has recorded more than 150 audiobooks across a variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, YA/teen, and biography and other nonfiction. James has even voiced a rapping kid dinosaur, much to the delight of his mom.

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