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Better Days Will Come Again

Audiobook
Nonfiction: Autobiography & Memoir
Unabridged   11 hour(s)
Publication date: 01/07/2020

Better Days Will Come Again

The Life of Arthur Briggs, Jazz Genius of Harlem, Paris, and a Nazi Prison Camp

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Audio CD ISBN:9781684576715
Digital Download ISBN:9781684576708

Summary

Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Arthur Briggs's oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival.

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Product Description

Arthur Briggs's life was Homeric in scope. Born on the the tiny island of Grenada, he set sail for Harlem during the Renaissance, then to Europe in the aftermath of World War I, where he was among the first pioneers to introduce jazz music to the world. During the legendary Jazz Age in Paris, Briggs's trumpet provided the soundtrack while Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and the rest of the Lost Generation got drunk. By the 1930s, Briggs was considered "the Louis Armstrong of Paris," and was the peer of the greatest names of his time, from Josephine Baker to Django Reinhardt. Even during the Great Depression, he was secure as "the greatest trumpeter in Europe." He did not, however, heed warnings to leave Paris before it fell to the Nazis, and in 1940, he was arrested and sent to the prison camp at Saint Denis. What happened at that camp, and the role Briggs played in it, is truly unforgettable. Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Briggs's oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival.

Reviews/Praise

“Arthur Briggs lived a king-hell epic life, as a musician and as a human being. Along with Josephine Baker, he did his part for the country that had abused them as human beings and artists. Atria’s magnificent book features a who’s who of jazz and chronicles the struggle for human dignity, set to the soundtrack of astonishing American music.” —William McKeen, author of Everybody Had an Ocean and Mile Marker Zero

"A clear picture of an extraordinary life of resilience, talent, and determination."—Kirkus Reviews

"This carefully crafted biography bears witness to the power of music and the human spirit and will inform and inspire music fans everywhere." — Library Journal

Author Bio

Travis Atria is the author, with Todd Mayfield, of Traveling Soul: The Life of Curtis Mayfield. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Billboard, Wax Poetics, and other publications. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.