About the Author

The Author: Ilse Storb is Professor of Systematic Musicology, including jazz research, and is Europe's only female jazz professor: Her doctoral thesis was done on Claude Debussy. Her habilitation thesis on Dave Brubeck was published by Peter Lang in Germany (1990) and in New York (1994); her biography of Louis Armstrong was published in 1989. She has written a jazz textbook for schools, and in 1971, together with Professor Joe Viera, she founded Duisburg University's Jazzlabor: In 1989 she produced the LP Interaction with eight groups of the Jazzlabor, and founded the Uni Duisburg Big Band. In 1991 she formed her own group, Ilse and Her Satchmos. She has organized five conventions for jazz education and improvised music, presented lectures, workshops, and concerts, and has appeared regularly in the press, radio, and television, not only in Germany, but in Nigeria, Brazil, Tunisia, and Jordan as well.

Reviews

Ilse Storb has given a graphic account of the life of the great trumpeter Louis Armstrong with a sympathetic and easy-to-grasp description of his music. The result is a handy compendium of facts, which are otherwise only to be found by searching through numerous publications neither available nor known to everyone - even to those who have been involved with jazz for a long period of time. (Muenchener Jazz-Zeitung) Reserch took Ilse Storb thousands of kilometers back and forth by plane between the United States, Africa, and Europe. She sifted through archives in New York, Boston, and Washington and imbued the project with the fascinating atmosphere of New Orleans... (Neue Ruhrzeitung) The Duisburg professor gives a knowledgeable account of the life and work of the black singer and trumpeter...The book offers a considerable amount of relevant information on one of the twentieth century's most well known personalities as well as a detailed account of jazz tradition. (Badische Neueste Nachrichten) The author has made a name for herself as a profound expert on jazz. (Jazzpodium)