Charlie owned several hundred books. He’d box them up and take them with him. From Missouri to Hollywood, to New York, to San Francisco, to the L.A. suburbs of Brentwood and Venice, to Malibu, and the Laro St. house in Westlake Village, CA. The collection grew. He rarely got rid of anything.
My father once gave me a small collection of books from his childhood. His older brother, Carl Jr., had saved them.
The volumes presented here are from Charlie’s estate. As I’ve mentioned before, due to space considerations I had to leave hundreds of books to probate. I can usually tell the differences between those purchased by or given to Charlie, and those accumulated by Ruth. Sometimes it’s difficult and I err on the side of caution. I place many not absolutely essential to Charlie’s estate collection on eBay. If you’d like to purchase a book that once stood on one of Charlie and/or Ruth’s many shelves, go to my store. The profits help keep me and my Mémoire going.
Front cover. Mike Zwerin, Close Enough For Jazz. 1983 Quartet Books. Hardcover.
Interior inscription from Mr. Zwerin to Charlie. Mike Zwerin, Close Enough For Jazz. This is the first of two copies he signed for Charlie. The other is here.
Front cover. Ashley Kahn, Kind Of Blue. 2000 Da Capo. Hardcover.
Front cover. Ashley Kahn, Kind Of Blue. 2007 Da Capo. Softcover.
Front cover. Dory Previn, On My Way To Where. 1971 McCall. Hardcover.
Front cover. Alton Delmore, The Delmore Brothers: Truth Is Stranger Than Publicity. 1995, Country Music Foundation. Softcover.
Front cover. Rafi Zabor, The Bear Comes Home. 1997 Norton. Hardcover.
Interior inscription from Mr. Zabor to Charlie & Ruth. Rafi Zabor, The Bear Comes Home.
Front cover. Gene Lees, Waiting For Dizzy. 1992 Oxford. Softcover. Price sticker on reverse indicates this was a gift from me to Charlie, 1993.
Front cover. Luc Leestemaker, New Work. 2006 Self-Published. Pamphlet. Mr. Leestemaker’s art was on the cover of Charlie’s Grammy-winning 2004 album Land Of The Sun.
Front cover. Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham, Blue Note Album Cover Art: The Ultimate Collection. 2002 Chronicle. Softcover. Charlie didn’t record much for Blue Note, at least during the period covered in this book. His and Ornette’s album, The Empty Foxhole, is among the many classic covers depicted inside.
Front cover. Claude Kenneson, Musical Prodigies. 2002 Amadeus Press. Hardcover. I can almost guarantee this copy was purchased by Ruth after Charlie’s death.
Front cover. Bob Thompson: Meteor In A Black Hat. 2005 Michael Rosenfeld Gallery. Mr. Thompson and Charlie were aquaintances when they lived in NYC, early 1960s.
Front cover. Thelma Golden, Bob Thompson. 1998 Whitney Museum Of American Art. “Garden Of Eden”, Mr. Thompson’s 1963 painting depicting an Ornette Coleman Quartet jam session, takes up two pages in this book.
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