What's Hot! Check these quick links to the most popular selling books on Jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Updated Travel Guides: New Orleans is back! Get the latest on music, restaurants & cuisine, tours, events, attractions, hotels, nightlife, shopping, and more... See Frommer's New Orleans 2009, Fodor's New Orleans 2009, Zagat New Orleans 2009, Eyewitness Travel New Orleans, and Night + Day New Orleans (The Cool Cities Series from Pulse Guides) . For more tourist info, visit the New Orleans Destination Guide at TravelNow.com.

Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American Made Music - one of the most thoroughly researched and broadly conceived histories of Cajun music yet published. The book also examines the social and cultural roots of Cajun music's development through 1950 by raising broad questions about the ethnic experience in America and nature of indigenous American music. Ryan Andre Brasseaux's work constitutes a bold and innovative exploration of a forgotten chapter in America's musical odyssey.

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong - biography in the form of an art book tells the story of Armstrong's life through his writings, scrapbooks, and artworks, many of which have never been published before. See more books on Satchmo.

Chef Creole - award-winning singer/songwriter Johnette Downing teams up with Deborah Ousley Kadair for a perfect storybook which celebrates life in Louisiana and introduces young readers to the spice of Southern culture and food.

Accordion Dreams: A Journey into Cajun and Creole Music - engaging and illuminating a unique patch of the American cultural landscape, Accordion Dreams is Blair Kilpatrick's account of the possibility of passion, risk-taking, and change -- at any age.

When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat - for ages 9 - 12; a young girl learns to scat from the master himself, Louis Armstrong; written in prose and scat with wild and wonderful illustrations by R. Gregory Christie, this joyful tribute is downright contagious.

A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck - country music star and Louisiana native Trace Adkins delivers his maverick manifesto on politics, personal responsibility, fame, parenting, being true to yourself, hard work, and the way things oughta be.

Blessed Be Jazz: The Story of My Life as a Clarinet-Playing Jesuit Priest in the French Quarter of New Orleans - autobiography of Jesuit priest and jazz man Rev. Frank Coco.

Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life - Pulitzer Prize-winning musician and composer Wynton Marsalis explores jazz and how an understanding of it can lead to deeper, more original ways of being, living, and relating – for individuals, communities, and nations.

Subversive Sounds: Race and the Birth of Jazz in New Orleans (paperback / hardback) - probes New Orleans history, uncovering a web of racial interconnections and animosities that was instrumental to the creation of a vital American art form — jazz. Drawing on oral histories, police reports, newspaper accounts, and vintage recordings, Charles Hersch brings to vivid life the neighborhoods and nightspots where jazz was born.

Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz - Samuel Charters' latest is the first book to tell the entire story of a century of jazz in New Orleans. Charters provides a balanced assessment of the role played by all three of the city's musical lineages -- African American, white, and Creole -- in jazz's formative years. Charters also maps the inroads blazed by the city's Italian immigrant musicians, who left their own imprint on the emerging styles.

The Johnny Adams Story, New Orleans Blues Legend - story of a man, his music and a lifelong struggle to become free. Free from a corrupt music industry that often times denied legal counsel, worked hard to keep many black entertainers under their tight control and ultimately robbed them and their families of earnings and royalties that were rightfully theirs. Travel back with us now to a time when great artists like Johnny Adams were just getting started and learn the truth about what it meant to be black, uneducated and truly gifted during the 50's and 60's.

Shreveport Sounds in Black and White - covers the institutions and people who nurtured the musical life of the city and surroundings. The contributions of icons like Leadbelly and Hank Williams, and such lesser-known names as Taylor-Griggs Melody Makers and Eddie Giles come to light. New writing explores the famed Louisiana Hayride, musicians Jimmie Davis and Dale Hawkins, local disc jockey "Dandy Don" Logan, and KWKH studio sound engineer Bob Sullivan. With glimpses into the lives of original creators, the book reveals the mix that emerges from the ongoing interaction between the city's black and white musicians.

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square - charts the development of New Orleans, from European colonization through the Haitian revolution (which was crucial to French and American negotiations over Louisiana) to the Louisiana Purchase. Central to the story are the African slaves, who began arriving in New Orleans in 1719, and their contributions to the city's musical life.

Let That Bad Air Out: Buddy Bolden's Last Parade - tells the tragic end of the jazz legend using traditional linocut printmaking techniques executed with a sharp and contemporary boldness; Toronto painter and printmaker Stefan Berg revives the wordless graphic novel in his portrait of the "first man of jazz" - see more books on Bolden.

Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll - R&B scholar Rick Coleman draws on a multitude of new interviews with Fats Domino and many other early musical legends (among them Lloyd Price, the Clovers, Charles Brown, and members of Buddy Holly's group, the Crickets) to create a definitive biography of not just an extraordinary man but also a unique time and place: New Orleans at the birth of rock 'n' roll.

Texas Zydeco - Black Creoles from Louisiana began moving into southeast Texas in search of better jobs during the first half of the twentieth century. As they resettled, so did their music. Texas Zydeco describes how many of the most formative players and moments in modern zydeco history developed in Texas, especially Houston. As the new players traveled back and forth between Houston and Lafayette, Louisiana, they spread the new sound along a "zydeco corridor" that is the musical axis around which zydeco revolves to this day.

Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing: A Cajun Music Reader - a sweeping overview of Cajun music aimed towards music scholars, students, and Cajun music aficionados alike.

New Orleans: Playing a Jazz Chorus - Samuel Charters' personal portrait of New Orleans and its music today - a city hard hit by Katrina, but managing to keep its great jazz tradition, brass band scene, incomparable food, and unique lifestyle vital and intact. Musicians featured include Rebirth Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, Soul Rebels, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Johnny Vidacovich, Barry Martyn, Lars Edegran, Chuck Badie, Pete Fountain, Dr. Michael White, The Hot Club of New Orleans, Coco Robicheaux and record company owner George Buck.

Notes of a Pianist - chronicles the life of one of the most remarkable musical minds of the American experience, the great nineteenth-century New Orleans-born composer and pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869). An important cultural and historical work, the book recounts Gottschalk's experiences as he traveled and performed throughout the last decade of his life.

Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White - Tom Sancton takes a heartfelt look at his unusual Crescent City childhood during the 1950's and 60's.

All of Me: The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong - by Jos Willems; Satchmo's ground breaking musical career is amassed and detailed in this discography of all his works, from professionally made commercial releases, to amateur and unissued recordings. Available in paper cover and cloth cover.

Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll - R&B scholar Rick Coleman draws on a multitude of new interviews with Fats Domino and other early music legends to create a definitive biography of not just an extraordinary man but also a unique time and place: New Orleans at the birth of rock 'n' roll.

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans - by Thomas Brothers; interweaves a searching account of early twentieth century New Orleans with a narrative of the first 21 years of Louis Armstrong's life.

Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance - Mick Burns book celebrates the renewed passion and pageantry among black brass bands in New Orleans

Walking With Legends: Barry Martyn's New Orleans Jazz Odyssey - edited by Mick Burns with Foreward by Bruce Boyd Raeburn - New Orleans musician Martyn reflects upon his life in jazz and offers a window into a musical world that few have understood, let alone witnessed from the inside

My New Orleans: Ballads to the Big Easy by Her Sons, Daughters, and Lovers - anthology of poems and essays by Big Easy residents; contributors include Paul Prudhomme, Wynton Marsalis and Charmaine Neville

Triksta - Life and Death and New Orleans Rap - a mesmerizing account of a city, its music, and a way of life that often embraces death. More...

Why New Orleans Matters - award-winning author and New Orleans resident Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and uncertain future of this great and most neglected of American cities.

The Incomplete, Year-by-Year Selectively Quirky, Prime Facts Edition of the History of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - year by year history of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with listings of who played when, where and what time each year. Over 400 photos recount the energy and excitement of musicians and festgoers alike. Also includes a section on the incredible food of the festival and the heritage and crafts.

Jazz on the River - learn about the lives and music of the levee roustabouts promoting riverboat jazz and their relationships with such great early jazz adventurers as Louis Armstrong, Fate Marable and Warren "Baby" Dodds.

Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War - how the U.S. government added jazz to their diplomacy arsenal.

The Autobiography of Pops Foster: New Orleans Jazz Man - Tom Stoddard's 1971 bio reissued in paperback

Louisiana Hayride: Radio & Roots Music Along the Red River - a new look at the historic KWKH radio show.

Creole Music Man: Bois Sec Ardoin - a tribute to the Cajun & Creole music legend and National Heritage Fellowship winner.

To a Young Jazz Musician: Letters from the Road - jazz man Wynton Marsalis gives us an invaluable guide to making good music and leading a good life; writing from the road "between the bus ride, the sound check, and the gig," Marsalis passes on wisdom gained from experience, addressed to a young musician coming up, and to any of us at any stage of life.

Elwood's Blues: Interviews with the Blues Legends & Stars - new from Dan Aykroyd; features interviews w/ B.B. King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keb' Mo', Marcia Ball, etc.

Louisiana 24/7 - great collection of photos w/ shots of Fats Domino, Marva Wright, John Sinclair, Kermit Ruffins, and many other scenes of Louisiana life.

Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios - how studios and the people who ran them helped shape popular music; covers Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, RCA B (Nashville), Stax, Motown, Chess, and more.

American Music - noted photogapher Annie Leibovitz traveled across the country to juke joints in the Mississippi Delta, honkytonks in Texas, and jazz clubs in New Orleans “to take pictures in places that mean something”; local subjects include Kermit Ruffins, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, the Nevilles, the Ardoins, New Birth Brass Band, and Placide Adams' jazz funeral.

Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo - Louis Armstrong House and Archives director Michael Cogswell offers an intimate, backstage look at Satchmo through never-before-published photos, writings, and recordings.

Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton - Much has been written about Morton's life and music, but "Jelly's Blues," the latest book about the seminal musician, is a standout achievement. (Boston Globe)

The Cajuns: Americanization of a People Since 1941 - By Shane K. Bernard (author of "Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues").

Chord Changes on the Chalkboard: How Public School Teachers Shaped Jazz and the Music of New Orleans by Al Kennedy, w/ foreword by Ellis Marsalis; Dr. Kennedy documents ways that public school teachers pushed an often unwilling urban institution to become an important structure that transmitted jazz and the other musical traditions of the city to future musicians; 2003 New Orleans International Music Colloquium Award for Excellence in Music Writing.

Children of the Blues - artists featured include Lonnie & Ronnie Baker Brooks, Johnny & Shemekia Copeland, Raful & Kenny Neal, Bobby Rush, Marcia Ball, Sherman Robertson; many others.

Creole for Kidz and The History of Zydeco - music and narrative from Zydeco great and cultural ambassador Terrance Simien.

The Blues Highway: New Orleans to Chicago - a classic road trip through the cradle of musical innovation in America. This definitive travel and music guide follows Highway 61 and the Mississippi River to explore the roots of jazz, blues, Cajun, zydeco, country, gospel, soul, and rock & roll music. Trace the story from Congo Square in New Orleans to down-home Delta blues joints then on to Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, Davenport, and eventually to Chicago.

Blues For Dummies - Lonnie Brooks serves as your tour guide through the life and times of the blues; includes CD w/ tracks from Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Buddy Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and more.

Legends of New Orleans - Guidebook & CD, with music from Fats Domino, Al Hirt, Neville Brothers, Louis Armstong, Sonny Landreth, Subdudes, Raymond Myles, File, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Irma Thomas, Pete Fountain, Professor Longhair, Buckwheat Zydeco, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Katie Webster.

Louisiana Music: A Journey from R&B to Zydeco, Jazz to Country, Blues to Gospel, Cajun Music to Swamp Pop to Carnival Music and Beyond - from Rick Koster; "Reading his book is to taste Louisiana, a place where great joy and enormous sorrow co-mingle and yield music blessed by heaven's own thumbprint" ~ (Dallas Morning News, 04/28/02).

The Soul of New Orleans: A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues - Jeff Hannusch on the rise and fall of New Orleans rhythm and blues.

Our Heritage In The Making: The Origins of New Orleans' Greatest Music Festival - Brian Federico fills you in on the history of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Black Bottom Stomp: Eight Masters of Ragtime and Early Jazz - tells the compelling stories of the lives and times of eight seminal figures in American music history, including Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton.

Jazz in New Orleans: The Postwar Years Through 1970 - journalist Charles Suhor (Down Beat; New Orleans Magazine) fills in some gaping holes in postwar New Orleans jazz history and cuts through many of the myths and misconceptions that have taken hold over the years.

Remembering Song: Encounters With the New Orleans Jazz Tradition - Frederick Turner on the formative years of New Orleans jazz, from Buddy Bolden's rise and fall to Jim Robinson's funeral.

Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians - by Floyd Levin includes segments on Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Kid Ory, Barney Bigard, Oscar "Papa" Celestin, Danny Barker, Louis Armstrong, Pud Brown, and many others.

Jazz: An Illustrated History - the companion volume to Ken Burns' 10 part PBS TV documentary; more on Ken Burns "Jazz".

I Remember Jazz: Six Decades Among the Great Jazzmen - the late Al Rose recalls the greats and near-greats of jazz through brief but poignant vignettes.

Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945 - documents the considerable influence of white musicians on the development of jazz; covers Tom Brown's Band, Johnny Stein, Nick LaRocca, and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, among others.

Cajun and Creole Music Makers / Musiciens Cadiens et Creoles - this up-close encounter with musicians from South Louisiana celebrates Cajun music makers, both past and present; 120 color photos; English and French text.

Memories: A Pictorial History of South Louisiana Music, Volume I & II - contains over 1,000 photos of musicians and recording artists in South Louisiana and East Texas; written by swamp pop legend Johnnie Allan.

New Orleans Jazz Fest: A Pictorial History - Michael P. Smith documents the evolution of what is now one of the largest jazz festivals in the world; forward by freelance music journalist Ben Sandmel; w/ over 400 photographs.

Jazz Fest Memories - over 200 color photographs by Michael P. Smith with liner notes by the late Allison Miner documenting the birth and growth of one of the greatest celebrations of music and culture in the world today, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Preservation Hall - William Carter tells the story of Preservation Hall, the personalities who ran it, and above all, the music and musicians of New Orleans.

New Orleans Jazz: A Revised History - controversial jazz history includes vintage photos of musicians, New Orleans' historic dance halls, Storyville District, etc.

Zydeco! - tour of the zydeco world and an introduction to one of Louisiana's great cultural resources (text by Ben Sandmel; great photos by Rick Olivier).

I Hear You Knockin' - The Sound of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues - Jeff Hannusch's classic on New Orleans noted and lesser known R&B stars.

Up from The Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II - intimate history of New Orleans music over the last 45 years.

Rejoice When You Die: The New Orleans Jazz Funerals - documents the lively history of jazz funerals in the heyday of the late 60's.

Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans - examines the careers and music of the major R&B artists; much of the material comes firsthand from the musicians themselves.

South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous - details the South Louisiana sound from early Cajun and Country through Zydeco and Blues to the current Cajun revival.

Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues - Shane K. Bernard's look at the sister genre of Cajun and zydeco music.

The Kingdom of Zydeco - authoritative account of Louisiana's native music.

Jazz Crusade: The Inside Story of the Great New Orleans Jazz Revival of the 1960's - a must for the lover of trad jazz; includes a 70 minute compact disk.

Shout, Sister, Shout! Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped a Century: by Roxane Orgill features bio's and photos of Sophie Tucker, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, Anita O'Day, Joan Baez, Bette Midler, Madonna, and Lake Charles, LA native Lucinda Williams.

Ride, Red, Ride: The Life of Henry "Red" Allen - bio of the legendary New Orleans jazz trumpeter.

Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words - unparalleled collection of Satchmo's candid writings reveals a side of "Pops" not many people knew. More Armstrong books.

The Young Louis Armstrong on Records: A Critical Survey of the Early Recordings, 1923-1928 - comprehensive chronological survey and analysis of every recording on which Armstrong played during the period 1923 to 1928. His immense impact on the evolution of jazz is found primarily in these early recordings, and Edward Brooks's close examination of this period is important, as much of this influence becomes obscured by later recordings.

Louis Armstrong: The Definitive Biography - bio encompasses jazz history along with Satchmo's life.

The Louis Armstrong Companion: Eight Decades of Commentary - includes a large selection of writings and letters by Satchmo, plus commentary and interviews with other musicians, and a selected discography, bibliography, and chronology.

Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong - by Gary Giddins; reissued paperback with a new introduction by the author.

Treat It Gentle - autobiography of New Orleans clarinet legend Sidney Bechet.

Buddy Bolden and the Last Days of Storyville - by jazz legend Danny Barker with Alyn Shipton.

Wild About Harry: The Illustrated Biography of Harry Connick Jr. (limited availability!).

Jazz Odyssey: The Autobiography of Joe Darensbourg - noted clarinet and sax player from Baton Rouge studied Alphonse Picou, and worked with Mutt Carey, Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong's All-Stars, and many others.

You Are My Sunshine: The Jimmie Davis Story - former Louisiana governor and country music legend's life has spanned three centuries.

The Baby Dodds Story - legendary jazz drummer performed and recorded with King Oliver, Kid Ory, Bunk Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and others; Dodds recalls his career which took him from Storyville, to Mississippi riverboats, to venues in Chicago and New York.

Under a Hoodoo Moon: The Life of the Night Tripper Dr. John - full of wit and word play, tales of hoodoo saints and sinners, Dr. John's memoir casts a spell as hard to resist as Mardi Gras itself.

My Life as a Country Musician: Fifty Years of Clubs and Bar-Rooms - story of New Orleans native Tony Farr (born Anthony Fardella).

Louis Moreau Gottschalk - well-researched biography of the New Orleans born composer, virtuoso pianist, and swashbuckling romantic hero.

Tim McGraw & The Dancehall Doctors: This Is Ours - pictorial diary on the making of his album "Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors".

Perfect Harmony: The Faith Hill & Tim McGraw Story - bio of country music's hottest couple.

Bunk Johnson: Song Of The Wanderer - book charts the twists and turns of Bunk's incident-packed life by investigating the many myths that surround it. Companion CD with rare tracks!

Bunk Johnson: His Life and Times.

The Life and Legend of Leadbelly - biography of the legendary folk and blues singer Huddie Ledbetter.

Hellfire - the life and trials of Rock & Roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis.

The Devil, Me, and Jerry Lee - shocking bio of Jerry Lee Lewis and his sister, singer Linda Gail Lewis.

Elvis, Hank, and Me - Making Musical History on the Louisiana Hayride - Horace Logan looks back at the historic Louisiana Hayride radio show, where Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and other future music legends got their start.

Jazz Man's Journey - biography of acclaimed musician Ellis Marsalis, charting his rise from his New Orleans roots to the international music world.

Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life - by Wynton Marsalis and Carl Vigeland. An intimate portrait of a unique artist and his audience. Set in the studio, on the stage, and in cities and towns across the country, this book captures life on the road for Marsalis and his musicians.

Wynton Marsalis: Skain's Domain - first full-length biography of the masterful trumpeter, composer, and co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues - life and times of the legendary blues vocalist and guitarist who was born in Algiers, LA in 1897.

Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and "Inventor of Jazz" - definitive bio of the jazz legend. More Morton books

Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West - Paul Pastras takes another look at two critical periods in the life of jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton.

The Brothers - in their own words - the Neville Brothers - the first family of New Orleans music - tell their amazing story, from hard times to their Grammy-winning success today; read more.

The Great Olympia Band - examines Dejan's Olympia Brass Band's evolution and the lives of its principal players through their own words; with CD.

Backbeat: Earl Palmer's Story - the story of New Orleans drumming legend and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

Britney Spears Stages - book and DVD set gives you a behind-the-scenes view of life on the road. More Britney Spears selections.

Myself Among Others - memoirs of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival founder George Wein.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: Vital Blues Guitar - features 14 guitar transcriptions from the original recordings complete with a Brown bio and photos.

The Baby Dodds Drum Method - includes CD.

Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano: Building a Blues Repertoire.

Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano: In-Depth Sessions With a Master Musician.

Dr. John Teaches New Orleans Piano: Sanctifying the Blues.

New Orleans Funk Guitar - Neville Brothers guitarist Shane Theriot discusses and demonstrates all the stylistic elements that sets the music of New Orleans apart, including the styles of Leo Nocentelli, Snooks Eaglin, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, and others. All the music is demonstrated on the included CD featuring Shane and a group of premier New Orleans musicians.

New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming - book and CD featuring masters Herlin Riley and Johnny Vidacovich traces the evolution of New Orleans jazz and second line drumming from the early styles of ragtime and traditional jazz to their modern applications in contemporary jazz.

New Orleans Piano Legends - Hal Leonard collection features 11 transcripts from the greatest New Orleans pianists of all time, including Jelly Roll Morton, Professor Longhair, James Booker, Dr. John, Fats Domino, Tuts Washington, etc. Songs include Big Chief, Blueberry Hill, and Tipitina.

The Louis Prima Songbook: Jump, Jive an' Wail - 15 of the swinging band leader's best songs; eg. Buona Sera, Jump, Jive An' Wail, Just A Gigolo, Sing, Sing, Sing; For Piano, Vocal, and Guitar.

Professor Longhair Collection - collection features 19 solo piano transcriptions from the New Orleans R&B great. Includes Big Chief, Tipitina, etc. For Piano Solo.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Live On - "Live On" Guitar Book includes tabs for the hit songs In 2 Deep, Was, Last Goodbye, and more.

The Best of Hank Williams Jr. - Strum the chords and get rowdy with 24 favorites from Hank Williams Jr.