There’s a book I’m reading right now, in preparation for doing a proper review, which a lot of you will want to buy regardless of what I say about it. It’s a new biography of Mel Lewis, written by drummer Chris Smith, entitled The View From The Back Of The Band. It’s a really outstanding scholarly work, written for a pro musician audience. It definitely belongs in every serious jazz musician’s library— if you know the name Mel Lewis, you should probably just go ahead and buy it. It’s published by University of North Texas Press, and you can get it on their site. Review is coming as soon as I can get it finished.