This is a selection of jazz guitarist, banjoist, singer and composer, Danny Barker's writings (beginning with a long portrait of Buddy Bolden, the "first man of jazz") drawn from conversations and interviews with the generation of jazzmen that invented the music.

The first volume of Barker's memoirs, A Life in Jazz, followed him from New Orleans into the big bands of Cab Calloway and Benny Carter. He was working on this-the second volume-for some years before his death in 1994. Beginning with an extended portrait of Buddy Bolden as recalled by the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and Bunk Johnson as well as Barker himself, this book draws together a lifetime of stories and the vivid characters who populated "Storyville."Danny Barker (1909-1994) sang and played the guitar and banjo on over 1,000 jazz, swing, blues, and bebop records. He is a member of the Jazz Hall of Fame and recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Music Master Award. Alyn Shipton is a writer and broadcaster on jazz. He is the editor of A Life in Jazz, the first volume of Danny Barker's memoirs.

"...it is the story and the manner in which it is told that makes this book an entertaining read." -Mike Hazeldine, New Orleans Music