Lost Chords is trumpeter-historian Richard M. Sudhalter's definitive tribute to a pioneering generation of white jazz players, many of whom have been unjustly forgotten or neglected. While never scanting the role of the great black innovators and soloists, Sudhalter's provocative account challenges the contention of numerous jazz critics that white players have contributed little of substance to the music.

This volume offers an exhaustively documented, vividly narrated history of white jazz contribution in the vital years 1915 to 1945. Beginning in New Orleans, Sudhalter takes the reader on a fascinating multicultural odyssey through the hot jazz gestation centers of Chicago, New York, Indiana, and Texas, examining bands such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, the Original Memphis Five, and the Casa Loma Orchestra.

Readers will find luminous accounts of many key soloists, including Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Red Norvo, Bud Freeman, the Dorsey Brothers, Bunny Berigan, Pee Wee Russell, and Artie Shaw, among others. Along the way, he gives due credit to Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, and countless other major black figures.