George Seibert was working that twist craze, but apparently he had to sell a vowel to finance it.

Rene Touzet we met before; now we know what he was doing at the Crescendo: backing Ella.

Moms Mabley had a long career, and only got mainstream wide recognition towards the end, when she played a toothless old lady who told blue stories and made socially relevant remarks.

She played Carnegie Hall in the year this book was printed; she was 67. In 1969 she had a top 40 hit with a spoken word version of "Abraham, Martin and John" - the oldest person ever to have a top 40 record.