Bunny Berigan

Bunny Berigan - Cover

Elusive Legend of Jazz

by Robert Dupuis

392 pages / 6.00 x 9.00 inches / 34 Halftones

Music

Paperback / 9780807130681 / March 2005

The accomplishments of seminal jazz trumpeter Bernard "Bunny" Berigan have secured his place in the annals of American music history. In his short lifetime (1908–1942) , Berigan performed on more than six hundred recordings and served as a direct link between Louis Armstrong and later musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, and Wynton Marsalis. Berigan lent his uninhibited jazz style to the big bands of Benny Goodman, Hal Kemp, and Tommy Dorsey, and he was in demand as a studio musician for vocalists Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, and Mildred Bailey. In addition to playing for the music industry's giants, Berigan became one himself by forming his own band in 1937 and recording his most famous hit and theme song, "I Can't Get Started." In the first comprehensive biography of Berigan, Robert Dupuis draws on hundreds of interviews with family, friends, and colleagues to present a fascinating and entertaining look at the fast-paced career and personal life of this jazz great. 

Robert Dupuis is a former contributing editor to the reference book series Contemporary Musicians and a retired public school administrator. He lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Found an Error? Tell us about it.

×