Buck Clayton’s Jazz World

Buck Clayton’s Jazz World is the autobiography of one of the most significant trumpeters in jazz. Clayton is best known as a trumpet player for Count Basie (he joined that band in its first days of fame in 1936 and stayed until he entered the army in the early 1940s). He was also one of Billie Holiday’s favorite accompanists.

Clayton’s reminiscences cover 75 fascinating years of jazz history, not only in the United States but also abroad. One of the most intriguing sections of the book deals with his improbable adventures in Shanghai in 1934-36 as leader of a jazz band and his extended stays in Europe since 1949 as one of a large group of expatriate black American jazzmen. His work with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Jummy Rushing, and many others is recounted in detail. The book also chronicles Clayton’s more recent career as an arranger and composer. In addition, he has lectured in jazz studies at Hunter
College in New York.