From 2009:

A good biographer will do just about anything to comb snippets of apocrypha out of his book. Fortunately, Louis Armstrong almost always told the truth about himself, but anyone who gets interviewed once or twice a week throughout the second half of his life is likely to streamline some of his favorite stories, and in writing Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong I did everything I could to track down the earliest possible primary sources for Armstrong’s oft-told tales….

Tony Palmer, Julian Bream: A Life on the Road. A vivid extended profile of the great British classical guitarist, who does most of the talking and proves himself in the process to be both highly intelligent and deeply thoughtful about his art. Originally published in 1983 and now forgotten, it’s one of the most readable books ever written about a performing artist (TT).

Julian Bream: My Favorite Albums (Sony, ten CDs). A stupendously economical way to acquire ten of Bream’s finest albums for RCA (it costs less than $30). Included are his classic recordings of Benjamin Britten’s Nocturnal Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, and a pair of Bach lute suites, together with shorter pieces by Albéniz, Berkeley, Dowland, Granados, Roussel, Tárrega, and Villa-Lobos. If you aren’t familiar with his playing, start here and revel (TT).

Ray Charles, Brother Ray: The Genius (Frémeaux, three CDs). An exceptionally well-chosen, well-annotated, and wide-ranging French anthology of Charles’ 1949-1960 recordings, originally issued in 2011 and now available as an import, that puts his formidable musical achievements in crystal-clear historical perspective (TT).

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. This 1943 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is a complex, near-epic study of the English national character, cunningly disguised as a wartime propaganda flick. Roger Livesey is breathtakingly good as a quintessential “old boy” who can’t come to grips with how World War II has changed his beloved country. Colonel Blimp is one of David Mamet’s favorite movies, and when you see the Criterion Collection’s beautifully restored home-video version, you’ll understand why (TT).

Louis Kaufman, A Fiddler’s Tale: How Hollywood and Vivaldi Discovered Me. The utterly charming autobiography of the Hollywood-based violinist who played on the soundtracks of Gone With the Wind and Psycho, made the very first recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed with Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc, bought the first oil painting ever sold by Milton Avery, and was by all accounts one of the nicest people who ever lived. His story is as fascinating as it is improbable–but every word is true (TT).