Dangerous rhythms Jazz and the underworld

English (Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba) expertly explores the connection between organized crime and jazz from its inception to 1980. Relying mostly on secondary sources, he initially links the growth of jazz during the 1920s and '30s to mob-owned clubs and corrupt political bosses. He demonstrates how Louis Armstrong first became popular through Al Capone-operated night spots in Chicago and through management from Capone lackey Joe Glaser. English outlines the direct relationship between the meteoric rise of Duke Ellington and gangster Owney Madden who owned the Cotton Club. He moves to Kansas City, where the crooked political machine of Tom Pendergast and mobster John Lazia fostered the growth of booze-drenched venues that nurtured the Kansas City sound of Bennie Moten and Count Basie. English continues with Frank Sinatra's association with the underworld from his early friendship with gangster Willie Moretti to his Vegas days with Sam Giancana, and chronicles the rise and fall of Morris Levy, owner of Manhattan's nightspot Birdland and Roulette Records. VERDICT Though sometimes touching on non-jazz artists (like Bobby Darin) and violence unrelated to the mob (e.g., a beating of Miles Davis), English's book adroitly chronicles jazz music's iron-clad, often-unspoken ties to the mob.--Dr. Dave Szatmary

A swinging, blood-drenched history about the symbiotic relationship between jazz and organized crime through much of the 20th century. In this steamy, noirish account of the Jazz Age and beyond, similar in spirit to English's Havana Nocturne and other books, the author takes readers from the bordellos of New Orleans and the speak-easies of Chicago to the tropical clubs of Havana and the desert empire of Vegas. The music provides the soundtrack to a wide range of illicit activity, which generated revenues that allowed the mob to flourish and to launder money from less legitimate endeavors. Within the strictures of so-called respectable society, both the Black musicians who developed jazz and the immigrants who built an empire on vice were outsiders. The musicians often felt that they had a better shot at success and protection by aligning their professional lives with the underworld rather than with the police and authorities of the straight world. Yet as nightclubs with names such as the Cotton Club and the Plantation indicate, there was plenty of racism, as well. Black musicians were often restricted to the stage, and the audience and management of the clubs were almost entirely White. English splits the narrative into two halves: In the first, the author focuses on Louis Armstrong; in the second, Frank Sinatra, both of whom had connections with organized crime throughout their careers. By the end of the century, both jazz and organized crime had changed, with the former declining in popularity and the latter in power. The civil rights and Black Power movements, as well as the progression of the music from the dance floor to the conservatory, contributed to the severing of a relationship that had allowed both to flourish through the eras of red-light districts, Prohibition, and corrupt city bosses. Much of this story has been told elsewhere, but English capably brings it back to life. Despite few groundbreaking insights, this is entertaining, vivid cultural history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.