Bass Line: The Stories and Photographs of Milt Hinton

Years ago, I found this book at the library and read it and then, bought my own. Milt Hinton is such a sweet cat, a great artist and a wonderful photographer. This history is an excellent eye-witness account of a young prodigy dealing with the stresses of being a traveling musician in an openly racist world and he develops an excellent record with his superb photographs, which make this book a classic. He also gives great insight into the personalities of other great, more famous musicians such as Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller, and of course, Cab Calloway. One of my favorite books.

Milt was just about the best bass player there ever was -- and his playing was only matched by his wonderful personality. And the collection and stories reflect him, without any bull -- the way it really was!

This is an incredible book! Milt Hinton was born in Mississippi, raised in depression-era Chicago, and embarked on a career as bassist with Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and then as one of the first black musicians to cross the color line in the New York recording studios. The whole time, Mr. Hinton was documenting his travels in exquisite black and white photographs, which appear throughout the book. Hinton's memory is as sharp as his photographic skills, and the story telling is just marvelous. You won't be disappointed if you buy this one!