Book description
After several months of successful work in London and Amsterdam with
American expatriate Fletcher Paige, Evan Horne returns to the states and
settles in the San Francisco Bay Area. There he reunites with his
girlfriend, FBI agent, Andie Lawrence. And Evan quickly makes inroads
into the Bay Area jazz scene. Life is good until a phone call from a Los
Angeles attorney turns his life upside down. Evans old friend and former
mentor, pianist Calvin Hughes, has died, and named Evan as his sole
beneficiary. Evan is shocked to learn that Hughes has left him his small
Hollywood house, money, and all his possessions. But when Evan begins to
play through some hand-written sheet music, he recognizes one as a song
from the landmark Miles Davis recording Birth of the Cool, and another
from Kind of Blue, arguably one of the most important recordings in
modern jazz. Was Calvin Hughes the uncredited composer of one or both of
these tunes, or was it simply Hughess transcriptions from the
recordings? In addition, Evans finds a cryptic note, and a photo taken
almost 40 years earliera young Cal with his hand on a baby carriage.
Both are taped to the bottom of a dresser drawer. A friend of Cals Lisa
Gaines will continue to take care of Milton and rent from Evan. Evan is
soon on a whirl-wind journey across the country to find answers from his
family and to confront his mother. What was her relationship with Calvin
Hughes? And just how did Jazz come into the equation? Evan Horne is as
good an investigator (Looking for Chet Baker ) as he is a jazz pianist.
Having returned to San Francisco from Europe, he settles into the local
jazz scene until his former teacher and mentor dies and leaves Evan his
estate, including some sheet music that may have come from two landmark
Miles Davis recordings. Jazz drummer Bill Moody has toured and
recorded with Maynard Ferguson, Jr. Mance, Jon Hendricks, and Lou Rawls.
He lives in northern California where he hosts a weekly jazz show. Mr.
Moody is the author of many books and short stories.
