Serge Chaloff (1923-1957) is most widely remembered as the flamboyant baritone saxophone star with Woody Herman's 2nd Herd whose problems with drugs extended to erratic personal behavior. Nevertheless, there were many brilliant sessions featuring his work before and after his stint with Herman. This work attempts to bring them the recognition they deserve.

Simosko details the life and music of Serge Chaloff in an engaging style, from his childhood in Boston, Massachusetts, through his untimely death in 1957. He also provides a discography of Chaloff's recorded output, much of which has been made available by the 1993 Mosaic Records release of The Complete Serge Chaloff Sessions.

Musically, it is hard to consider a young saxophonist 'serious' if they haven't heard the Chaloff recordings, especially if he or she is a baritone sax player. The live performances documented throughout this book provide further insights about how much in demand Chaloff was, particularly after he left Herman in 1949. But since almost half of this book is a very detailed and thorough discography, it really affirms just how prolific Chaloff was. For these reasons, the book is important for many readers. * Jazz Educators Journal *
The author has done a good job of balancing the musical legacy with the personal story, placing the accent on the former. * The IAJRC Journal *
...highly recommended for all jazz collections and most academic and special music libraries. * American Reference Books Annual *

Valdimir Simosko (M.L.S., Rutgers University) is Head of the Music Library at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of a critically acclaimed biography of Eric Dolphy (Smithsonian Institution Press) and Artie Shaw (Scarecrow Press, 1998).