Underneath a Harlem Moon: The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall (Bayou Jazz Lives) [Hardcover]

I came across this book through a recommendation. I’m so pleased I did.
As an admirer of Duke Ellington’s work, I knew of Adelaide Hall, mainly through her connection and early recordings with Ellington, but knew little about the lady herself or her significant achievements in the world of entertainment.
In the books preface, the author, Iain Cameron Williams, claims Adelaide Hall appears in many jazz anthologies as a mere footnote, whilst others abandon her career altogether. With "Underneath a Harlem Moon" Williams attempts to set the record straight by documenting comprehensively her exact relevance and role in the History of Jazz and, in my opinion, succeeds admirably.
Williams’s familiarity with his subject clearly demonstrates the amount and depth of research he made in order to unearth the facts. One gets the distinct impression that during the process he left no stone unturned, so detailed is his descriptive. Although Williams’s 20-year friendship with Hall must clearly have helped him in appraising his subject’s temperament, it must also have allowed him the privilege to see an intriguing side to her character that her fans would not normally have seen. This becomes apparent the deeper one delves into the text.
The book charts in rich detail the life and career of Miss Hall during the frenetic Harlem Renaissance and documents all the colourful characters to emerge from this movement, most of whom worked with Miss Hall at some point in her career. It also gives a fascinating insight into the social history of the Twenties and Thirties when Prohibition, real-life gangsters and sophisticated nightclub culture ruled the sidewalks.
Overall, a hugely enjoyable read made easy by Williams’s approachable style of writing and keen interest towards the characters he portrays within the text. A must for all jazz and popular music buffs. The book also contains a sizeable gallery of superb photographs (including one, which must be of great interest to all Ellington fans, a rare previously unpublished photograph of Adelaide and Ellington together, circa 1930.)

I approached this biography with an open mind - keen to learn more about an entertainer who, when I was a teenager, I had seen and admired in concert on numerous occasions during the forties and fifties, but heard little of since.
The early chapters, that recount Hall's childhood - growing up in an almost condemned tenement block in the tough district of Brooklyn - reveals exactly how Hall's character was formed and show the prime reason why she strived so hard to make her life a success.

Her apprenticeship and early career in show business give an interesting insight into how badly white Americans treated the black community - this section I found illuminating and disturbing, especially the accounts of how open segregation was still operational in certain cities.
When Adelaide hit the jackpot, fame and riches soon took its toll upon her mental and physical stability, but underneath her troubled visage stirred a restless soul with a forceful personality.
I found this book engaging; an eye catching glimpse into one of the most glamorous eras in history and a portrait of a remarkably talented and inspired woman who led an extraordinary life.
However, for all the book's charm there are certain parts in the text where I felt the writer was on a mission, to "set the record straight" so to speak. Certainly, this becomes apparent when he addresses several incidents that have circulated over the years relating to Hall's undervalued and at times unacknowledged influence upon jazz music ... although this is not a criticism of the writers ability to relay a story, just an observation.
Adelaide Hall comes with a first class pedigree and Underneath a Harlem moon comes as a fine tribute.

All praise to Iain Cameron Williams for the exhaustive research he carried out in preparing this biography, as evidenced by the annotations, which take up fifteen pages. Adelaide's story is a fascinating one, and when he reports it objectively the author is on solid ground. Sadly, he cannot resist embellishing the facts at frequent intervals, which is when his hold on the narrative becomes tenuous. The situation is not helped by an unfortunate tendency to indulge in purple prose, like this example on p.117 which relates to the impact of the recording of "Creole Love Call" on the careers of both Adelaide Hall and Duke Ellington:

"They would have to wait for history to carve its granite niche before the full importance of the recording would rightfully be recognised".

The text is littered with similar examples, which do nothing to illuminate his meaning, but rather have the reverse effect. The other reservation is that Adelaide's role is cast as somehow pivotal to the development of jazz, which leads to some questionable conclusions. The book is a practical guide to Adelaide Hall's career, but the presence of so many arkward figures of speech means that I cannot rate it as highly as others have done.