Man, I love that book! Really does provide much insight for those curious about the history of jazz. It's also worthwhile to check out Jelly Roll Morton's autobiography which, apparently Pops was trying to partially refute with his own book. Not as engaging, but a quick read and quite a different perspective musically and socially. Even better are JRM's spoken word Library of congress recordings, rereleased in their entirety a couple of years ago (a real hoot, some of it!). Mosaic Records is currently offering a set of Louis Armstrong's Decca Recordings, most of which feature Mr. Foster at his best! Can't think of a better accompinament to your reading pleasure (unless you prefer silence):
http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinf...mber=243-MD-CD
You can also click on the "track listings and personnel" link to see which tracks he's on if perusing cheaper sets/single discs (although the book, I believe, also has a discography). I don't have this particular set, mine is "The complete Mono Era" I believe on Documents (much cheaper if you can find it). Someone in the comments section at Mosaic complains about Mosaic's remastering wiping the bass from the tracks (which I find hard to believe, but...) so, caveat emptor.
Oh yeah, Terry Teachout's recent bio of Armstrong is another great book- well worth a trip to the library/bookseller. I think there's a TB thread on this.
