The library of Ken Vail: 37 works - photo 1
The library of Ken Vail: 37 works - photo 2

The library of Ken Vail: 37 works

Lot 509
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 2 016
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1029160
Lot 509 | The library of Ken Vail: 37 works
Estimate value
£ 1 000 – 1 500
A quantity of books and research material from the library of jazz chronologist Ken Vail, the majority with authorial inscriptions to Vail, subjects range from jazz to blues and formats include biographies, autobiographies, and bio discographies, together with two works by Vail himself, 37 volumes, the majority octavo, comprising:

GIBBON, John (b. 1953). The Gibbs Club Files. Volume I. Tenby: Everdrake Press, 1990. Accompanied by a letter to Vail from the author. [With:] CHILTON, John (1932 – 2016). Billie’s Blues. The true story of the immortal Billie Holiday. London: Quartet Books Limited, 1975. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – Sidney Bechet. The Wizard of Jazz. Houndmills: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1987. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – The Songs of the Hawk. The Life and Recordings of Coleman Hawkins. London: Quartet Books Limited, 1990. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – Let the Good Times Roll. The Story of Louis Jordan and His Music. London: Quartet Books Limited, 1992. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – Ride Red Ride. The Life of Henry ‘Red’ Allen. London: Cassel, 1999. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – Roy Eldridge. Little jazz giant. London: Continuum, 2002. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] CROW, Bill (b. 1927). From Birdland to Broadway. Scenes from a jazz life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] TRACY, Sheila (1934-2014). Talking Swing. The British Big Bands. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd., 1997. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] JONES, Max (1917-1993). Talking Jazz. Houndmills: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1987. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] KAHN, Ashley (b. 1960). Kind of Blue. The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. London: Granta Books, 2001). Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] HASSE, John Edward (b. 1953). Beyond Category. The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] DALE, Rodney (1933-2020). The World of Jazz. Oxford: Phaidon Press Limited, 1980. Quarto. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – Teach Yourself Jazz. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., 1997. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] HARRIS, Kenny (1927-2017). First Call Drummer. Don Lamond. Suffolk: Kenny Harris Publishing, 1997. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] MCPARTLAND, Marian (1918-2013). All In Good Time. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] STRATEMANN, Dr. Klaus. Duke Ellington. Day by Day and Film by Film. Denmark: JazzMedia, 1992. Quarto. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] AVERY, Ray (1920-2002). Stars of Jazz. Denmark: JazzMedia, 1998. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] REED, Tom (b. 1936). The Black Music History of Los Angeles – It’s Roots. Cardiff Bay: Black Accent Press, 2000. Fourth printing. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] HANCOCK, John. Benny Goodman. The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. Oswestry: Prancing Fish Publishing, 2009. Authorial presentation inscription, with accompanying letter. [With:] HULTIN, Randi (1926-2000). Born under the sign of jazz. London: Sanctuary Publishing Limited, 1998. With CD. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] NICHOLSON, Stuart (b. 1948). Billie Holiday. London: Victor Gollancz, 1995. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] – A Portrait of Duke Ellington. Reminiscing in Tempo. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1999). Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] CLARKE, Donald (b. 1940). Wishing on the Moon. The Life and Times of Billie Holiday. London: The Penguin Group, 1994. First edition. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] FONTANES, Michel. Billie Holiday et Paris. Paris: Editions Rive Driote, 1999. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] BIED, Dan (1926-1998). Dan Bied’s Jazz Reader. Burlington: Craftsman Press Inc., 1997. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] MEYER, Edward N. Giant Strides. The Legacy of Dick Wellstood. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1999. Authorial presentation inscription. [With:] LAINE, Cleo (b. 1928). You Can Sing If You Want To. London: Victor Gollancz, 1997. Signed by the author on the half-title. [With:] BIRCH, Bill. Keeper of the flame. Modern Jazz in Manchester 1946-1972. Manchester: Bill Burch, 2010. First edition. Quarto. Signed by the author on the title page. [With:] FITZ, Ron. Chick Webb Orchestra. A Brief Encounter. Volume One: 1935-1939. Research compilation for Ken Vail’s Ella Fitzgerald - The Chick Webb Years and Beyond. [With:] DAIL, Harry (1907-1987). All This Jazz About Jazz. The Autobiography of Harry Dial. Essex: Storyville Publications and Co. Ltd., 1984.

[With:] VAIL, Ken (1939-2013). Duke’s Diary. Part One: The Life of Duke Ellington 1927-1950. Cambridge: Vail Publishing, 1999. Quarto. Signed by the author on the title page. [With:] – Jazz Milestones. A Pictorial Chronicle of Jazz 1900-1990. Cambridge: Vail Publishing, 1993. First edition. Vail’s working copy. The text heavily annotated by the author throughout and with numerous loose sheets of addenda and corrigenda for a second edition which was never published, accompanied by a group of 48 original photographs of jazz greats in performance 1960s-1990s by British photographer and drummer Brian Foskett, printed c.1992, the majority with photographer’s sticker credit and annotations verso, the photographs provided for publication in Ken Vail’s Jazz Milestones, and an additional photograph of a 1937 jam session launching Master and Variety Records, featuring Chick Webb, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington, printed 2008. [With:] – Ken Vail’s Jazz Itineraries: 1. Dizzy Gillespie. The Bebop Years 1937-1952. Cambridge: Vail Publishing, 2000. Quarto. Accompanied by three letters of feedback on the book from author Dieter Salemann and Don Tarrant of the Portsmouth Jazz Society. [With:] Two spiral-bound bio discographies on Frankie Newton and Joe Mooney. [And:] A folder containing printed chronologies of Dave Tough and Sid Catlett’s careers, collated by Ken Vail for Charlie Watts.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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