Jazz Odyssey: The Autobiography of Joe Darensbourg

Born to a French-speaking Cajun family in Baton Rouge in 1906, clarinetist Joseph Wilmer Darensbourg was active in the jazz world until his death in California in 1985. In these reminiscences, compiled by critic Vacher from correspondence and conversations over a period of 20 years, he tells the story of his wonderful experiences as a performer in carnivals, circuses, medicine shows, West Coast bands and combos, on the clarinet and soprano saxophone. Darensbourg, a Dixieland stylist, is particularly interesting when detailing his work with Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong. There is probably no better personal book on the life of a traveling jazzmanand certainly not of so important a Dixieland figureas well as on jazz activities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and the Hollywood studios. Photos. (February 12)