15 year-old Bob Inman was given a radio for Christmas in 1935. From then until August 1938, he kept a meticulous log of all the radio shows he listened to and chronicled the hundreds of jazz shows he witnessed. Along with his collection of pictures and autographs, these logs eventually became seven large scrapbooks detailing the world of swing music in New York. Bob saw Benny Goodman at the Paramount Theater, Louis Armstrong at Loews State, Duke Ellington at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, Chick Webb at the Savoy Ballroom, Count Basie at Roseland, and hundreds of other prominent musicians and venues. Inman's descriptions of these trips form a social history of life during one of Manhattan's most vibrant and charming periods. Ken Vail has applied his talent as a graphic artist to enhance the presentation of these radio logs and turn them into a fascinating and useful reference source, which includes: · listings of commercial studio recordings for the period · autographs of hundreds of musicians · publicity photographs and original snapshots by Bob Inman and friends Together with a preface by Dan Morgenstern, this scrapbook will interest students and historians alike.
