Better Days Will Come Again

November 1, 2019

In this biography of "the Louis Armstrong of Paris," Atria (Traveling Soul) restores this jazz pioneer to his rightful place in history. Born in Grenada in 1899, Briggs left home for New York during the early days of the Harlem Renaissance. He joined the Harlem Hellfighters, the regimental band of the famed 369th Infantry founded by James Reese Europe, then Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra, where he met fellow trumpet player Sidney Bechet. After a decade working in Europe and the United States, Briggs, like many black artists of the time, settled in Europe. Between the world wars, jazz flourished in Europe, and Briggs was there at the forefront, along with Django Reinhardt, Josephine Baker, Coleman Hawkins, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, and Noble Sissle. Refusing to leave his adopted home before Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940, he was arrested and sent to a prison camp, and the account of his time there is an unforgettable story of survival. VERDICT This carefully crafted biography bears witness to the power of music and the human spirit and will inform and inspire music fans everywhere.--Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2019
The authorized biography of Jazz Age trumpeter Arthur Briggs, who spent four of his prime years in a German concentration camp. Granted access to Briggs' personal details thanks to his only daughter, Atria (co-author: Traveling Soul: The Life of Curtis Mayfield, 2016) fashions a sympathetic look at this thoroughly upright musician, who chose to ply his art in Europe rather than America largely because of the racism and segregation that prevailed at the time. In that regard, he was joined by many others who crossed his path in the 1920s, such as Josephine Baker. Born in Grenada in 1901--his birth date is often listed as 1899 because he lied about it in order to join the military--and thus a British citizen, Briggs received training in classical music at a young age. In 1917, he moved to New York to join his sister, arriving just in time for the explosion of the Harlem Renaissance. During World War I, he joined the Harlem Hellfighters reserve band, under the mentorship of James Reese Europe, and toured Europe with the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, led by Will Marion Cook. These were his legendary mentors along with jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet, a lifelong friend. Due to his strong work ethic, Briggs was often the organizer of his own groups--e.g., the popular Savoy Syncops Orchestra and others that included Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Many of these bands were popular in Paris and elsewhere, even in Egypt--until the war, when Briggs chose, to his detriment, not to return to America. After trying to hide when the Nazis occupied Paris, he was arrested in October 1940 as "an enemy of the Reich." As Atria reports in his readable, straightforward narrative, performing for the prisoners and the Nazi guards kept him sane during his imprisonment. A clear picture of an extraordinary life of resilience, talent, and determination.

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December 15, 2019
Trumpeter Arthur Briggs has never been a household name like his contemporary, Josephine Baker, yet Briggs helped provide the soundtrack to Jazz Age Paris during the heyday of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. He was so well known then, he earned the sobriquet the Louis Armstrong of Paris. Born on the island of Grenada, Briggs lived a peripatetic existence, from Harlem during its influential renaissance to Europe in the aftermath of WWI. But it was Paris, writes Atria, that seduced Briggs on first sight and where he played at some of the best clubs in town, including Bricktop's popular jazz venue and the Moulin Rouge. When Hitler assumed power, and Paris fell to the Nazis, Briggs, a British citizen, naively thought he could hold out in his Montmartre apartment until the trouble blew over. Instead he was arrested for being an enemy of the Reich and sent to the prison camp of St. Denis, where he formed a jazz combo and, according to Atria, became the center of the camp's musical life. A fascinating story and valuable reclamation of an overlooked musician.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)