Swinging in Paradise
Subtitle: The Story of Jazz in Montreal
Publisher: Ellipse Editions
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Victoria, Canada
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 330
ISBN-13: 9780986786600
Description: Second Edition, with some updates and a new Afterword by the author.
---
For almost half a century, more jazz was made in Montreal than anywhere else in Canada. Swinging in Paradise tells the story of jazz and nightlife in Montreal – from the arrival of the first black musicians from the United States; through the heady days of swing, show biz, big bands, and bebop; to the tumultuous 1960s and Montreal’s unique experiments in free jazz and fusion. This is more than music history; it's a rich social history of Montreal after dark. John Gilmore spent 7 years tracking down veterans of Montreal’s jazz community and weaving their memories into this fascinating history. He reveals why musicians from all over North America migrated to Montreal, and how they lived, worked, and created in the midst of organized crime, corruption, union battles, racism, and a nightclub industry hungry for music.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgements; title: Preface; title: Chapter 1: Pre-History to 1925; title: Chapter 2: 1925 to 1940; title: Interlude 1: Echoes of 1928; title: Chapter 3: Myron Sutton and the Canadian Ambassadors; title: Chapter 4: The Big Band Era; title: Chapter 5: Louis Metcalf and the Arrival of Bebop; title: Chapter 6: Steep Wade; title: Interlude 2: Wilkie Wilkinson Speaks; title: Chapter 7: Show Biz and Jazz; title: Chapter 8: The 1950s and the Decline of Show Biz; title: Interlude 3: Roland Lavallée Speaks; title: Chapter 9: The 1960s: End of an Era; title: Chapter 10: New Directions; title: Epilogue: The Birth of Free Jazz and Fusion; title: Notes; title: Appendices:; title: 1. Organizations; title: 2. Addresses; title: 3. Key to Photo of Vic Vogel Big Band; title: Bibliography; title: Index; title: Afterword and Addenda to the Second Edition