Roy Porter was one of the principal players on the jazz scene of the late-1940s and the 1950s. Best known for his recordings with the legendary Charlie Parker in 1946, Porter is also remembered as the leader of one of the most exciting yet underrated big bands of that entire period. In There And Back, Porter chronicles his life and musical career, from his childhood in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in Colorado Springs to his days as a big band drummer and later as a composer. His autobiography casts new light on the post-World War II jazz scene on the West Coast and provides invaluable insight into the musical styles and personalities of the many well-known musicians with whom he worked.

In vivid details, Porter recalls touring with bands in Chicago, New York and other cities. He focuses on the jumping jazz scene of Los Angeles' Central Avenue and the performers like Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis who made it famous. Additionally, he reminisces about his own seventeen-piece bebop band and the many musicians who were a part of its brief success story.

But Porter does more than recount the glamour of his career as a musician. His story is one fraught with racism, discrimination, poverty and drug addiction. Porter candidly discusses the substance abuse that characterized many musicians' lives at this time, including his own. In 1953 his addiction to heroin led to his arrest for narcotics possession and resulted in a two-year prison term. Back on the jazz scene in 1955, Porter resumed playing and gained renown as a composer but also developed an overwhelming dependence on alcohol. The combination of drugs and alcohol almost cost him his life in 1981.

CONTENTS:
Foreword by Mark Gardner; Introduction by David Keller
Bop City; Childhood; Wiley College; Central Avenue; Big Band; Lonesome Mood; Sound Machine; The Present; Colleagues
Chronoligical Discography

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