'[Kaplan] has written the definitive book on how that decade came to be and the three men . vital, marshalling with a light touch countless snippets of material' - Sunday Times 'Kaplan evokes a pivotal moment in modern music . Entertaining' - Financial Times 'A compelling read . [Kaplan] knows how to tell a story, and in 3 Shades of Blue he has a good one to tell. Or, rather, three good ones. Kaplan has framed 3 Shades of Blue as both a chronicle of a golden age and a lament for its decline and fall. One doesn't have to accept the decline-and-fall part to acknowledge that he has done a lovely job of evoking the golden age' - New York Times Book Review 'A superb book . [Kaplan is] a master biographer, a dogged researcher and shaper of narrative, and this is his most ambitious book to date' - Los Angeles Times '3 Shades of Blue, raises the bar .

At a time when jazz is re-emergent and viral, seeping into virtually every musical genre (and vice versa), we are fortunate that the author has conjured this hothouse flower of a book - as rarified, intricate and haunting as an orchid' - Vanity Fair '' -.