Organized, lucid and definitive, The Wonderful Era of the Great Dance Bands presents a complete coverage of the spectacular reign of the dance bands during Prohibition, wartime and the postwar boom. Walker's knowledge, gleaned from first-hand association with the music business and its prominent people, is matched only by his unbounded enthusiasm for the music he writes about. Here he recounts more than three decades of entertainment, tracing the growth of the bands from the early small combos to the days when many boasted thirty men including large string sections and seven or eight vocalists. Over 400 pictures include the first organized dance orchestras, the big bands of the twenties in which the popular leaders of the swing era got their start, and all of America's favourite band leaders. This authoritative chronicle of one of America's most colourful eras is sure to evoke fond memories in those old enough to remember it, and instill yearnings for halycon days in younger readers as well.

LEO WALKER played trumpet in several Midwest territory bands of the 1930s. For ten years he operated his own booking agency in Hollywood where he specialized in handling big bands. A former president of the Hollywood Press Club, he is the author of The Big Band Almanac, and founder of the Big Band Academy of America.

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