The JAzz ALPHABET (Original) - 2018

First published in 2018, The Jazz Alphabet (Original) is a very personal celebration of 26 jazz greats, in pictures and words. From Louis Armstrong to Joe Zawinul, with visual stops along the way at the Green Mill Lounge in Chicago and Birdland in New York. Settle back with your favorite libation (whatever that might be), and take a stroll among well known jazz artists, and some that aren't as well known. And while you're at it, might I suggest turning on some music? After all, this book comes with a soundtrack.

Excerpt from the Jazz Alphabet Foreword by Neil Tesser, Grammy-winning author, critic, and broadcaster: Like jazz itself, Neil’s work takes liberties in the service of greater expressivity. These are not “perfect” likenesses, tracing the exact line of Miles Davis’s furrowed brow, or Red Norvo’s trim goatee, or Charlie Parker’s plump fingers; we have photography for that. These are something better. They fall between portraiture and caricature, occupying a middle ground that allows Neil to capture essences—the creativity, personality, and even the soul of his subjects. In illustrating the uniqueness of his subjects, they exhibit his own individuality in equal measure. Look closely enough and you can hear the music.