One O'clock Jump

Book excerpt: The Blue Devils have received very little attention from jazz historians, though the band members and the writer Ralph Ellison (who sometimes sat in with them) spoke with conviction about their sterling musicianship and their legendary ability to defeat all competitors in battles of the bands. Chronicling the ten years the band was officially together, Douglas Daniels delves into the potent social and cultural history of the 1920s and the Depression to show the era's influence on the group's founding as well as on the players' careers.