Preface, by Jim Merod

Introduction

Part I John Coltrane
Chapter 1 One of a Kind: John Coltrane
Chapter 2 John and I Meet Diz and Bird
Chapter 3 John Becomes a Dynamo

Part II The ’Hood and Youthful Reckonings
Chapter 4 Uncle Robert and the Man
Chapter 5 Two Heroes and a Night at Minton’s
Chapter 6 Early Tragedies and Victories
Chapter 7 Welfare Days, Hard Times

Part III Great People
Chapter 8 No One Else: Bobbie Hurd
Chapter 9 Moose and Bostic
Chapter 10 Art Blakey’s Neophytes and Tadd Dameron’s Luck
Chapter 11 Further Adventures with Tadd and an Evening with Louis Armstrong
Chapter 12 The Duel: Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro
Chapter 13 Wonder and Beauty: Betty Carter and Art Farmer
Chapter 14 Genius Squared: Jimmy and Percy Heath
Chapter 15 Unrivaled Aces: Sarah Vaughan and Bill Evans
Chapter 16 Four "Brothers": Mulgrew Miller, Woody Herman, Henry Brant, and George Russell

Part IV Hollywood
Chapter 17 Starting Over
Chapter 18 Gettin’ My Mojo Workin’
Chapter 19 M*A*S*H
Chapter 20 Movie Stars Like Jazz, Too

Part V Amazing Friendships
Chapter 21 Quincy Jones
Chapter 22 Sweets and Diz
Chapter 23 Philly Joe Jones
Chapter 24 Monk, Max, and Dinah
Chapter 25 Curtis Fuller and The Jazztet

Part VI Music and Writing
Chapter 26 Writing
Chapter 27 Lessons
Chapter 28 "Stablemates": My First Recorded Song
Chapter 29 "Along Came Betty"
Chapter 30 "I Remember Clifford"
Chapter 31 The Ballad and "Weight"

Part VII Icons
Chapter 32 Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks
Chapter 33 Duke and Strayhorn
Chapter 34 Coleman Hawkins
Chapter 35 Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk
Chapter 36 Blakey and The Jazz Messengers
Chapter 37 Kenny Dorham and Lee Morgan
Chapter 38 Sonny Rollins
Chapter 39 Great Performances: Oscar Pettiford, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins, Billy Taylor, and Walter Davis, Jr.
Chapter 40 Charles Mingus, Benny Goodman, Gigi Gryce, and Horace Silver
Chapter 41 Peggy Lee and Diana Ross
Chapter 42 Milt "Bags" Jackson, Larry Young, Joe Farrell, and Tony Williams
Chapter 43 Wynton Kelly and Chick Corea
Chapter 44 Miles Davis and Geoffrey Keezer
Chapter 45 Mickey Rooney, Redd Foxx, Jersey Joe Walcott, and Muhammad Ali

Part VIII Verses and a Coda
Chapter 46 Notes on Starting Over
Chapter 47 The Blues
Chapter 48 Brielle

Coda: A New Way of Life

Acknowledgments
Index