The Jazzmen

 The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America by Larry Tye, 393 pages

You could probably get more out of an official bio of any one of these jazz greats, but the author does a brilliant job of tying everyone's careers and history together in a way that shows each bandleader coming into their own and carving out an indelible space in the jazz age. Each of the three are treated to an in-depth examination of their early lives, the hardships they endured and the excitement they brought to their individual styles. Basie was the country's foremost dance enthusiast, while Ellington brought a sense of refinement and sophistication to a much maligned genre, composing over 100 original works. And Armstrong was the man with the golden trumpet whose chops rivaled Gabriel at the gates--he would eventually become a symbol for American greatness. But with his daily marijuana habit, it's no wonder the man was always smiling.