Music history
The Chitlin' Circuit
Preston Lauterbach
Lauterbach follows the promoters, musicians, and venues that sustained Black touring circuits.
Collection
Music, Musicians & the Arts
Follow the sound from church and club to touring stage and recording studio.
The shelves
Books in this collection
Music history
Respect Yourself
Robert Gordon
Stax Records offers a vantage point on Memphis soul, collaboration, and the pressures surrounding the label.
Music history
Blues People
Amiri Baraka
Baraka reads changes in Black music alongside changes in work, migration, and social life.
Drama
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
August Wilson
A recording session brings musicians and industry power into collision as Ma Rainey insists on her terms.
Fiction
Jazz
Toni Morrison
A Harlem love triangle unfolds through a shifting narrative shaped by musical improvisation.
Music history
Sweet Soul Music
Peter Guralnick
Musicians, producers, and studios tell the story of Southern soul across a network of regional scenes.
Biography
Dream Boogie
Peter Guralnick
A biography follows Cooke from gospel performance into popular music and independent business ventures.
Music history
Feel Like Going Home
Peter Guralnick
Profiles of performers and record makers offer a listener’s path into blues and early rock and roll.
Music history
The History of the Blues
Francis Davis
A critical history moves among regional blues scenes, recordings, and debates over musical authenticity.
Biography
Moanin' at Midnight
James Segrest, Mark Hoffman
Howlin’ Wolf’s biography follows his path from Mississippi to the Chicago electric blues scene.
Biography
King of the Blues
Daniel de Visé
B. B. King’s life connects rural beginnings, touring labor, and the international reach of electric blues.
Memoir
Miles
Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe
Davis recounts the bands, relationships, and musical changes that shaped his career.
Biography
John Coltrane: His Life and Music
Lewis Porter
Porter places Coltrane’s musical practice and innovations alongside the events and relationships of his life.
Biography
Duke
Terry Teachout
The life of Duke Ellington opens onto the daily business of maintaining a touring orchestra.
Memoir
Music Is My Mistress
Duke Ellington
Ellington remembers the musicians, places, and collaborations behind his work as a bandleader.
Memoir
Nina Simone's Gum
Warren Ellis
A small object saved after a Nina Simone performance becomes a meditation on musical memory.
Biography
Princess Noire
Nadine Cohodas
The book follows Simone’s musical education, performance career, and political commitments.
Biography
Respect
David Ritz
A biography examines the gospel inheritance and recording career behind Franklin’s public sound.
Essays
Music Is History
Questlove
Questlove uses records and listening memories to consider how music registers public change.
Memoir
Mo' Meta Blues
Questlove, Ben Greenman
A musician and bandleader remembers a life shaped by records, influences, and collaborations.
Music history
The Gospel Sound
Anthony Heilbut
The history of gospel performance follows singers and ensembles from church settings to the road.
Fiction
Bud, Not Buddy
Christopher Paul Curtis
A boy in Depression-era Michigan follows clues he hopes will lead him to his father and a jazz band.