One-of-a-kind signed book: Hot Discography. Originally published in 1938 in Paris, France, this edition was corrected and reprinted in the USA in 1940 by the Commodore Music Shop, 46 W. 52nd Street, New York, New York. A printed note on the copyright page from the shop's proprietor, record producer Milton Gabler, reads: "The Commodore Music Shop takes great pleasure in reprinting the 1938 edition of Charles Delaunay's Hot Discography. All of the credit for its re-appearance should be given to the collectors of hot records, whose incessant demands hastened the re-issue of the book in the United States for discophiles the world over." The Commodore was located on 'Swing Street' between 5th and 6th Avenue, an area dotted with iconic jazz venues like Birdland, Onyx, and Bop City. Hardcover rebound in full leather by bookbinder Denis Gouey (preserving all of the pages, signatures, and endpapers), 5.5 x 7.25, 382 pages. Signed on the endpapers (with a handful throughout) in fountain pen by more than 40 important jazz artists, highlighted by Fats Waller, Joe 'Tricky Sam' Nanton, Jimmie Blanton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington (plus members of his band), and Jimmie Lunceford (plus members of his band). Several signers add their instruments or brief inscriptions to "Zack," whose full name ("Zack Rottman") is written on the page with Ellington's signature; he was evidently a collector who loved jazz and must have carried this book to several different venues while autograph hunting. This volume is not only musically significant but also quite consequential as it relates to black history. First published in France—where black jazzmen, fleeing segregation at home, were welcomed with open arms—and later reprinted in NYC by Jewish music executive Milton Gabler (whose Commodore Records released Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit' in 1939), this unique book, filled with autographs of jazz legends, is a remarkable time capsule of an era. In overall fine condition, with toning to the first several pages.
Complete list of signers, with brief biographical details:
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) - influential jazz trumpeter
Jack Teagarden (1905-1964) - jazz trombonist and singer
Fats Waller (1904-1943) - innovative jazz pianist and composer
Arthur James 'Zutty' Singleton (1898-1975) - jazz drummer who played with Louis Armstrong's 'Hot Five' and led his own 'Creole' band
John Simmons (1918-1979) - jazz bassist with the Teddy Wilson Quartet
Lawrence Lucie (1907-2009) - jazz guitarist with Fletcher Henderson
Big Sid Catlett (1910-1951) - jazz drummer who played with Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, and others
Luis Russell (1902-1963) - jazz pianist, composer, and orchestra leader known for his soloists (one of whom was Louis Armstrong)
Arnold Fishkind (1919-1999) - jazz bassist who appeared on over 100 albums, playing with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, and others
Danny Polo (1901-1949) - jazz clarinetist who played with Coleman Hawkins and others
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) - composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra bandleader, whose band also signs:
Herb Jeffries (1913-2014) - jazz singer-songwriter, actor, and composer
Ivie Andersen (1904-1949) - jazz singer
Johnny Hodges (1907-1970) - alto saxophonist
Joe Nanton (1904-1946) - trombonist who pioneered the 'wah wah' sound of the plunger mute
Harry Carney (1910-1974) - saxophonist and clarinetist
Juan Tizol (1900-1984) - trombonist and composer who wrote the jazz standard 'Perdido'
Barney Bigard (1906-1980) - jazz clarinetist
Ray Nance (1913-1976) - jazz trumpeter, violinist, and singer
Jimmie Blanton (1918-1942) - innovative double bassist known for his jazz solos, who died of tuberculosis at 23
Wallace Jones (1906-1983) - jazz trumpeter
Otto Hardwick (1904-1970) - multi-instrumentalist, best known as a saxophonist
Rex Stewart (1907-1967) - jazz cornetist
Lawrence Brown (1907-1988) - jazz trombonist
Fred Guy (1897-1971) - jazz banjo player and guitarist
Ben Webster (1909-1973) - jazz tenor saxophonist
Jimmie Lunceford (1902-1947) - jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader
Paul Webster (1909-1966) - jazz trumpeter in the big band era
Elmer Crumbley (1908-1993) - trombonist who played with George E. Lee, Tommy Douglas, and Jimmie Lunceford
Earl 'Jock' Carruthers (1910-1971) - baritone saxophonist associated with the Kansas City jazz scene
Snooky Young (1919-2011) - jazz trumpeter known for his mastery of the plunger mute
Al Norris (1908-1974) - jazz guitarist
Moses Allen (1907-1983) - jazz bassist
James Crawford (1910-1980) - jazz drummer
Eddie Wilcox (1907-1968) - jazz pianist and arranger
Dan Grissom (1910-1963) - jazz saxophonist
Joe Thomas (1909-1986) - tenor saxophonist and vocalist
Trummy Young (1912-1984) - swing and jazz trombonist
Gerald Wilson (1918-2014) - jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer
Russell Bowles (1907-1991) - jazz trombonist
Theodore Guy 'Ted' Buckner (1913-1976) - jazz saxophonist
Willie Smith (1910-1967) - major alto saxophonist of the swing era
Roger Segure (1905-2000) - jazz arranger
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