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Bob Mielke: A Life of Jazz

by Jim Goggin; Cover Design or Artwork by Wayne Pope

249 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2418; ISBN 1-4251-3386-X; US$34.00, C$34.00, EUR23.25, £17.55

This is about the life of a jazz trombonist written by Jim Goggin who has been a close friend of Bob Mielke for over fifty years.

About the Book

When the owner of the jazz club Earthquake McGoon's, the famous Turk Murphy made plans for a road trip, he wanted a replacement that he could count on for a consistently good performance. After all, Murphy's income was derived from the McGoon's Club. A poor performer does little to help the bottom line.
Musicians know who is a consistently good performer and they do not want any "lightweights" to sit in because that means the rest of the band has to work harder.
That's why the replacement band often included Bob Mielke, a superb trombone player and far from being a "lightweight". He earned his reputation by working or sitting in with the following musicians and this is only a sample.

Burt Bales
George Lewis
Sidney Bechet
Wingy Manone
Mutt Carey
Turk Murphy
"Baby" Dodds
Albert Nicholas
"Pops" Foster
Pat Patton
Edmond Hall
Willie "The Lion" Smith
Bob Helm
Bob Scobey
Earl "Fatha" Hines
Muggsy Spanier
Darnell Howard
Joe Sullivan
Bunk Johnson
Lu Watters
James P. Johnson
Bob Wilber

About the Author

Jim Goggin founded the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation with his huge collection of recordings, tapes, photos, clippings and various materials. He has produced recordings, written numerous articles, liner notes about jazz. This is his eleventh book.

"I only write about musicians I know or knew and respect". Because of the off the bandstand relationships he has enjoyed for many years with musicians his books consist of candid comments by his musical friends which leads to their saying what they think. This results in an interesting book.