The Pianos I Have Known: The Autobiography Of Irving Fields

Book excerpt: Jewish pianist/composer Irving Fields formed one of the first piano-bass-drum trios in jazz, going on to compose song performed by Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Xavier Cugat, Guy Lombardo, Dinah Shore, Sarah Vaughan and others. In 1959 made history by fusing Latin and jazz music on his album "Bagels And Bongos", followed by a series of albums fusing jazz with world rhythms and his legacy was set. Irving died in 2016 at age 101. In his 90's his wrote this autobiography about his life with the help of Huffington Post columnist and former music store owner Tony Sachs. It was edited by music writer Aaron Joy with an introduction by cocktail pianist Albert Aprigliano.