DUKE A Life of Duke Ellington

With a biography of Louis Armstrong under his belt, the author now has his sights on Duke Ellington, and this audiobook is well worth hearing: fascinatin’, illuminatin’, and syncopatin’. Peter Francis James’s loud, resonant voice is a far cry from jazz cool, but it demands notice. James lends the book an energy that keeps the story moving and enables the listener to hear every crystal-clear syllable. He doesn’t develop specific character voices, opting instead for subtle accents and changes of pitch and tone. James does a nice job, but choosing a less demonstrative voice for the narration would have created more synergy with the subject. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2014]