"Jazz Mythology often comes from strange and unexpected places, and one such place is the former Starr Piano Factory in Richmond, Indiana, which played host in the early 20th century to Gennet Records. Rick Kennedy's newly revised and expanded Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy: Gennett Studios and the Birth
of Recorded Jazz, first published by IU Press in 1994, details the ascent and decline of an Indiana label that provided opportunities to jazz's most significant artists, thereby affecting the direction and reception of jazz itself." —Bloom Magazine
"Kennedy’s book comes highly recommended. His writing style is entertaining and informative. By describing the personal characteristics of Gennett’s principal owners, the reader can easily keep all of the various characters straight. Further, Kennedy’s wide-ranging appreciation for American music makes the reader want to hear these recordings. The Gennetts may not have fully appreciated the music they recorded, but Rick Kennedy makes up for that many times over." —Jazz History Online
"In his excellent revised history of Gennett Records, Rick Kennedy explains how an equally complex mix of economic, social and cultural forces made Richmond, Ind., the place where so many of those artists cut their first records—and in the same studio that made masters for the Ku Klux Klan." —Springfield News
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