The Duke Ellington Reader

`gripping, constantly fascinating miscellany of writings about and by Ellington...Tucker's book is full of classic descriptions of him at work, in a swaying train compartment or on a bus, with a manuscript pad on his knee and his hat tilted back on his head.' Humphrey Carpenter, Sunday Times
`meticulous collation of critical responses' Times Literary Supplement
'It would have been possible to put together a perfectly decent anthology of pieces from easily available sources, but Mark Tucker has done much better than that' Observer
'A valuable book has just been published: The Duke Ellington Reader.' Alun Morgan, Kent Today/Kent Messenger
'comprehensive collection of writings on the composer' Andy Hamilton, The Wire
'Mark Tucker's splendid volume ... offers a rich harvest of information and insight without attempting a final appraisal - which is just how Duke would have wanted it.' Geoffrey Smith, Country Life, April 1994
'All his admirers will want to own The Duke Ellington Reader, admirably selected and edited by a professor of music at Columbia University.' The London Review of Books. Nov '94
a carefully selected anthology of well-known and fugitive pieces, offers multiple perspectives on an elusive reader, sardonic and mocking genius who transcended the constraints of white racism and paternalism...deserves serious attention. Mark Tucker, an authority on Ellington's early life, provides succinct introductions to this and another hundred 'Selections' in a compilation which is both a joy to read and an indispensible addition to American Studies, Ellingtonia and jazz criticism. * American Studies vol 29 part 1 *
this mighty tome on a giant of jazz will please new and old aficionados ... "any book that brings together a selection of articles and reviews from these magazines, and some lesser known ones, is to be welcomed, and THE DUKE ELLINGTON READER is a must for fans of his music." * Colin Cooper, Beat Scene, No. 23 *