Advancing the art of jazz through performance, education, & community engagement.
Advancing the art of jazz through performance, education, & community engagement.
Book Club
The Jazz St. Louis Book Club meets the second Monday of each month at 7pm in Nancy’s Jazz Lounge at the Harold and Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz, 3536 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103. Admission is free and open to the public.
Each of this season’s seven books has been carefully selected by the book club’s facilitator, Dr. Gerald Early, Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies, Director of the Center for Humanities, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Washington University. The recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award and a General Electric Foundation Award, Early is currently Editor of The Common Reader, a journal of Washington University.
NOVEMBER
Monday, Nov. 9, 2026 | 7:00PM
by Ashley Kahn (Forward by Elvin Jones)
Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that characterized his critically acclaimed Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Kahn tells the story of the genesis, creation, and aftermath of this classic recording. Featuring interviews with more than one hundred musicians, producers, friends, and family members; unpublished interviews with Coltrane and bassist Jimmy Garrison; and scores of never-before-seen photographs, A Love Supreme balances biography, cultural context, and musical analysis in a passionate and revealing portrait.
DECEMBER
Monday, Dec. 14, 2026 | 7:00PM
by Philip Clark
In 2003, music journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British tour, recording an epic interview with the bandleader. Brubeck opened up as never before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz; the heady days of his “classic” quartet in the 1950s-60s; hanging out with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis; and the many controversies that had dogged his 66-yearlong career.
JANUARY
Monday, Jan. 11, 2027 | 7:00PM
by Chris DeVito
Named one of the best jazz books of 2010 by Jazz Times’s reader poll. John Coltrane created a new sound, a music that had nothing to do with anyone except himself. The path he chose was difficult and risky. Nevertheless, he persisted, and his recordings now stand among the greatest of all jazz achievements. And his life, thoughts, and words have been just as inspiring as his music. This book collects those words for the first time.
FEBRUARY
Monday, Feb. 8, 2027 | 7:00PM
by Billy Hart, (As told to Ethan Iverson)
Named Jazz Journalists Association Book of the Year 2026. Few drummers have traversed more stylistic terrain or logged more miles behind the world’s greatest jazz musicians than Billy Hart. From Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to McCoy Tyner and Wes Montgomery, Hart has been the rhythmic heartbeat behind jazz legends for over five decades. Now, in Oceans of Time: The Musical Autobiography of Billy Hart, the NEA Jazz Master opens up about his extraordinary life in music, in collaboration with pianist, critic, and longtime bandmate Ethan Iverson.
MARCH
Monday, Mar. 8, 2026 | 7:00PM
by Nina Simone
James Baldwin used to tell Nina Simone, “This is the world you have made for yourself, now you have to live in it.” Simone has created for herself a world of magnificent peaks. Often compared to Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, Simone is known as one of the greatest singers of her generation. With undiminished passion and in her unconquerable voice, this is Nina Simone’s powerful memoir of her tempestuous life.
APRIL
Monday, Apr. 12, 2027 | 7:00PM
by Karen Chilton
In this fascinating biography, Karen Chilton traces the brilliant arc of the gifted and audacious pianist Hazel Scott, from international stardom to ultimate obscurity. In a career spanning over four decades, Hazel Scott became known not only for her accomplishments on stage and screen, but for her outspoken advocacy of civil rights and her refusal to play before segregated audiences.
MAY
Monday, May 10, 2027 | 7:00PM
by Paul Alexander
In the first biography of Billie Holiday in more than two decades, Paul Alexander—author of heralded lives of Sylvia Plath and J. D. Salinger—gives us an unconventional portrait of arguably America’s most eminent jazz singer. He shrewdly focuses on the last year of her life—with relevant flashbacks to provide context—to evoke and examine the persistent magnificence of Holiday’s artistry when it was supposed to have declined, in the wake of her drug abuse, relationships with violent men, and run-ins with the law.
Left Bank Books
While the selected books can be purchased anywhere, the official retail partner of the Jazz St. Louis book club is Left Bank Books (LBB). The books will be offered at a 20% discount through LBB the month before and the month of the meeting, unless otherwise noted. All books can be purchased at their Central West End Location or on the LBB website.
Jazz St. Louis Book Club is of no cost to you and open to anyone willing to show up, participate, and have a good time! Light refreshments will be provided at the conclusion of each book club meeting. While we encourage everyone to participate each month, there is no requirement that you commit to read each book and attend all the club meetings. Questions or comments? Please email Travis Lewis at [email protected].