Upcoming: American edition of ‘Boom’s Blues’

Booms' Blues AmerikaansBoom’s Blues. Music, Journalism, and Friendship in Wartime by Wim Verbei, translated by Scott Rollins:
‘A recovery of the first book-length study of the blues and the story behind the extraordinary Dutchman who wrote it under Nazi occupation’.

‘Sometimes the seemingly impossible happens. Thanks to Wim Verbei’s perseverance, the first book-length analysis of the blues-written in the German-occupied Netherlands during World War II-is both available at last and contextualized by an account of the contemporary Dutch reception of jazz and blues.’ – Guido van Rijn [author of Kennedy’s Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on JFK and Roosevelt’s Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on FDR, both published by University Press of Mississippi]

‘To my knowledge, a Dutch feature film with jazz or blues as its main theme has never been made. But in this case, one conclusion comes irresistibly to mind: Boom’s Blues offers the perfect vehicle for a gorgeous movie. Summarized in eight words: Round Midnight meets High Fidelity meets Schindler’s List.’ – Bert Vuijsje, Jazzism magazine

Wim Verbei has been active in blues music circles for several decades. He was editor-in-chief of Mr. Blues, the first Dutch-language magazine about blues, and longtime editor of the prominent Dutch music magazine Oor (Ear). He has been producing a series of articles for the quarterly Block Magazine called ‘de Bluesbibliotheek’ (‘The Blues Library’), the bibliography and critical review of every book ever written on blues music. Scott Rollins has been a cultural entrepreneur for more than forty years. He has published three volumes of poetry and is the translator of The Music of the Netherlands Antilles: Why Eleven Antilleans Knelt before Chopin’s Heart from University Press of Mississippi.

American Made Music Series, 352 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 97 b&w illustrations, 4 tables, appendices, bibliographies, indices, Printed casebinding $75.00, 978-1-4968-0511-9

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