The Billy Taylor Collection

Billy Taylor is not only the life story of a jazz musician and spokesman but a commentary on racism and jazz as a social force.

An informal though authoritative history of jazz, Taylor heard through the piano, combining his firsthand knowledge both as a musician and as an "aural historian." He begins by tracing jazz' roots to the African tradition, disputing Andre Hodier's popular theory that early jazz rhythms were derived from military marches and polkas, which black musicians might have heard in the 1800s. He follows the chronology through the rags of Scott Joplin and Eubie Blake, the New Orleans jazz of Jelly Roll Morton, the stride piano of Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, on up through Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett.

Skip O'Rourke is dragged into one last con . . . but he doesn't know the con's on him in this funny, page-turning debut YA for fans of Winger and Ocean’s Eleven, now nominated for the Edgar Award and the International Thriller Writers Award. Cameron Smith attends an elite boarding school and has just been accepted to Princeton University alongside his beautiful girlfriend, Claire. Life for Cameron would be perfect, except that Cameron Smith is actually Skip O'Rourke, and Skip O'Rourke ran away from his grifter family four years ago...along with $100,000 of their “earnings” (because starting a new life is not cheap). But when his uncle Wonderful tracks him down, Skip's given an ultimatum: come back to the family for one last con, or say good-bye to life as Cameron. "One last con" is easier said than done when Skip's family is just as merciless (and just as manipulative) as they've always been, and everyone around him is lying. Skip may have given up on crime, but there's one lesson he hasn't forgotten: always know your mark. And if you don't know who your mark is . . . it's probably you. Witty and irresistibly readable, this standout debut will always keep you guessing.

Publishing information taken from Amazon.com.

Will Evans lives an ordinary life working and living alongside his best friend, Ted, inseparable since they were four. That doesn't change when they both start seeing girls they're absolutely crazy for. But Will's situation is a complicated one. He wants something more than a physical relationship, but she's been hurt before and doesn't want to open herself up again. Can Will convince her to give him a chance and let their feelings become mutual?