Kirkus Reviews has just written about Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington in a way that I wouldn’t have had the nerve to do myself.
Here’s part of the review:
With this exhaustive, engaging study of the greatest jazz composer of his era, Wall Street Journal drama critic Teachout solidifies his place as one of America’s great music biographers.
Many have cited jazz as America’s only true indigenous art form, so it is at once surprising and disheartening that major publishers are seemingly hesitant to champion books that tackle the subject–especially considering that when an author is allowed the freedom to dive into the life and music of a jazz titan, the results are often brilliant, something that Teachout demonstrated with his justifiably revered Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong (2010). After Armstrong, chronologically speaking, bandleader/composer/arranger/pianist Duke Ellington was jazz’s next game changer. Aside from his undeniably astounding ear, Ellington, like Armstrong, was a personality, one of the rare jazzmen who was able to combine heady music with showbiz panache without diminishing his art. With his vibrant prose and ability to get into his protagonist’s head and heart, Teachout captures this essence and charisma in a manner worthy of Ellington’s complex yet listenable classic “The Queen’s Suite.”….
Finally, as was the case in Pops, Teachout’s musical analysis is spot-on, at once complex and accessible….Hopefully, the brilliance of Teachout’s treatment will compel the industry to let authors take a crack at the lives of, say, Ornette Coleman, Count Basie and Charles Mingus….
Teachout’s in-depth, well-researched, loving study of this American treasure is an instant classic.
I’m stunned.
In the immortal words of Truman Capote, a boy must peddle his 
• “The Jordan Rich Show,” WBZ-FM, Boston, Massachusetts