Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz

Autobiography of jazz bass player Coleridge Goode, assisted by Roger Cotterrell, includes Jamaican childhood; working as an innovative bassist with Ray Ellington, Joe Harriott, Django Reinhardt, Grappelli, Shearing and others; jazz and poetry, Indo-jazz fusions, and life as a black musician in Britain. Coleridge Goode's career has long been at the heart of the jazz world. Known as a 'prince' among bassists, he has recorded with Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, Ray Nance, George Shearing and countless other jazz stars. Here, assisted by jazz writer Roger Cotterrell, he recalls his life and career including his Jamaica childhood and arrival in Britain in the 1930s, the lively wartime London club scene, the Ray Ellington Quartet of Goon Show fame and his long association with altoist Joe Harriott, the brilliant but tragic pioneer of European free jazz. Always among the innovators, he has helped blend jazz with Indian music, serial compositions, choral works and poetry and he tells candidly about the challenges and rewards of the jazz life as well as the destructive aspects he has seen - especially racial discrimination and drugs. A contributor to many of the most exciting jazz developments of the past half century, Coleridge Goode is a thoughtful witness to a fascinating part of jazz history.