A fascinating slice of work from the legendary Johnny Otis – the longtime LA bandleader who had such a strong role in the worlds of jazz, soul, and R&B – and who also turns out to be a hell of a writer too! The book is Otis' answer to the Watts riots of 1965 – a mixture of memoir and social action that originally grew out of a letter written to a friend after the riots, expanded here to a book that's a tremendously strong read – a side of Johnny that we never knew before! There's definitely some aspects of the book that resonate strongly with other jazz autobiographies we've read – but Otis has such a strong connection to the LA scene, and really understands its politics – and comes across here with a sense of clarity and mission that are really striking. Book is softcover, 242 pages, and features a new introduction by George Lipsitz. Book