Why am I passionate about this?

I've been passionate about music for almost my entire life. Jazz music in particular speaks to me but not just jazz. I love music, full stop. I really discovered jazz when I attended a jazz club workshop in London and there, I had to join in or leave. I chose to join in and since then I have never looked back. I was introduced to more jazz musicians and now write about music for three major columns as well as Readers’ Digest. My Women In Jazz book won several awards. I have been International Editor for the Jazz Journalist Association and had my work commissioned by the Library of Congress. 


I wrote

Fabulous Female Musicians

By Sammy Stein,

Book cover of Fabulous Female Musicians

What is my book about?

Fabulous Female Musicians shines the spotlight on 21 top female musicians and celebrates their inspirational stories.

From diverse genres –…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of This Woman's Work: Essays on Music

Sammy Stein Why did I love this book?

I love how the various writers in the book explore music and its effects on them and their lives.

I really enjoyed how they also include people they have known and been fond of, such as Maggie Nelson writing about her friend Lhasa. It also explores, through the series of essays, the reasons that inspire women to play and perform, but also other areas like fame and how this affects musicians.

The essays challenge the usual pattern of men writing about music and I love the view from the female musician’s standpoint. The essays vary in length, topics, and style but this is fine. I found the book inspirational, especially as the essays are there with only light edits.

Whether writing about what it is to be far from home on a journey, or defying expectations found the passion, consideration for music, and their motivation captivating. 

By Sinead Gleeson (editor), Kim Gordon (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This Woman's Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is edited by Kim Gordon and Sinead Gleeson and features contributors Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel Kushner, Juliana Huxtable, Leslie Jamison, Liz Pelly, Maggie Nelson, Margo Jefferson, Megan Jasper, Ottessa Moshfegh, Simone White, Yiyun Li and Zakia Sewell.

Published to challenge the historic narrative of music and music writing being written by men, for men, This Woman's Work seeks to confront the male dominance and sexism that have been hard-coded in the canons of music, literature, and film and has forced women to fight pigeon-holing or being side-lined by carving out their…


Book cover of Jazz: A People's Music

Sammy Stein Why did I love this book?

This book opened up jazz music for me and changed how I viewed it. It is a history book, a storybook, and a narrative on social change, and the author is both knowledgeable and intuitive in his approach.

Insights into nearly all forms of jazz are given, along with their origins. Free jazz and improvised music are explored and in the final pages, Finkelstein gives some wonderful insights into what the future of jazz might look like from the American viewpoint. Masterful writing and a glorious journey into and through the jazz genre and its development.

I felt like Finkelstein was speaking directly to me in some places. An accessible and informative read.

By Sidney Finkelstein, Jules Halfant (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jazz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jazz: A People's Music is a comprehensive book written by Sidney Finkelstein that delves into the history, culture, and significance of jazz music. The book explores the origins of jazz in African American communities in New Orleans and traces its evolution through the 20th century. Finkelstein examines the key figures in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker, and explores the social and political contexts in which they created their music. The book also explores the influence of jazz on other genres of music, such as rock and roll and hip-hop. Jazz: A People's Music is a must-read…


Book cover of Free Jazz

Sammy Stein Why did I love this book?

I loved this book because it spoke directly to me. Jost looks at jazz music and in particular the development of free jazz.

It all fits together and flows so easily. He includes discussions on different musicians, their impact on free jazz music and explains how different areas within America developed their own subgenres of music. This book contains so many ‘aha!’ moments which is why I recommend it. 

By Ekkehard Jost,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Free Jazz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When originally published in 1974, Ekkehard Jost's Free Jazz was the first examination of the new music of such innovators as Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Jost studied the music (not the lives) of a selection of musicians,black jazz artists who pioneered a new form of African American music,to arrive at the most in-depth look so far at the phenomenon of free jazz. Free jazz is not absolutely free, as Jost is at pains to point out. As each convention of the old music was abrogated, new conventions arose, whether they were rhythmic, melodic, tonal,…


Book cover of The Story of Music: From Babylon to the Beatles: How Music Has Shaped Civilization

Sammy Stein Why did I love this book?

Howard Goodall is one of those authors who explains things incredibly clearly.

I found this book an eye-opener, a way into a deeper understanding of music, and a book to have by my side, to dip into whenever I needed to get an idea straight of understand a concept. Because he writes in such an accessible manner, the complexity of music becomes clearer. There are eye-opening facts, historical stories, and facts alongside well written and informative passages.    

By Howard Goodall,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Story of Music as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, and yet the history of its development from single notes to multi-layered orchestration can seem bewilderingly complex.

In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation-harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording-strikes us with its original force. Along the way, he also gives refreshingly clear descriptions of what music is and how it works: what scales are all about, why some chords sound discordant,…


Book cover of The Chronicle of Jazz

Sammy Stein Why did I love this book?

This was my ‘go to’ book for years when I first began to write about music and jazz music in particular.

Cooke explains many things that until then, I had only heard about. The history of jazz music is explained clearly. From Be-bop and hard bop to free jazz and the avante garde. His writing allowed me to put names to music styles I found fascinating and it was as if an author was truly speaking my language. He introduces some well-known jazz musicians and their impact on jazz music 

By Mervyn Cooke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Chronicle of Jazz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A year-by-year history of people and events, this lively multi-layered account tells the whole story of jazz music and its personalities. The Chronicle of Jazz charts the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and the southern United States to the myriad urban styles heard around the world today, Mervyn Cooke gives us a narrative rich with innovation, experimentation, controversy, and emotion. The book is completely up to date, exploring the exciting recent developments in the world of jazz, from the rise of modern Big Bands and the renaissance of the piano trio to the popular appeal of Jamie…


Explore my book 😀

Fabulous Female Musicians

By Sammy Stein,

Book cover of Fabulous Female Musicians

What is my book about?

Fabulous Female Musicians shines the spotlight on 21 top female musicians and celebrates their inspirational stories.

From diverse genres – jazz, classical, folk, Indian raga, and more – in this book, I interview musicians who have made significant contributions to the music industry. Fabulous Female Musicians takes readers on a journey through the remarkable lives of these extraordinary women. From the UK and Europe to the US, India to Azerbaijan, female musicians share their journeys, triumphs, and challenges. From incredible success to misogyny, motherhood, and disappointments, Fabulous Musicians celebrates the passion and positivity of women in music.

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The Bloomsbury Photographs

By Maggie Humm,

Book cover of The Bloomsbury Photographs

Maggie Humm Author Of Radical Woman: Gwen John & Rodin

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Woolfian Gym devotee World-traveller

Maggie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

An enthralling portrait of the Bloomsbury Group’s key figures told through a rich collection of intimate photographs. Photography framed the world of the Bloomsbury Group. The thousands of photographs surviving in albums kept by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey, among others, today offer us a private insight into their lives.

Maggie Humm brings together a curated selection of these photographs to offer us a fresh portrait of the Bloomsbury Group, showing them in a new, domestic intimacy. She brings to life the texture of Bloomsbury: their pastimes, children, clothes, houses, servants, pets, and holidays.

The Bloomsbury…

The Bloomsbury Photographs

By Maggie Humm,

What is this book about?

An enthralling portrait of the Bloomsbury Group's key figures told through a rich collection of intimate photographs

Photography framed the world of the Bloomsbury Group. The thousands of photographs surviving in albums kept by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey, among others, today offer us a private insight into their lives.

Maggie Humm brings together a curated selection of these photographs to offer us a fresh portrait of the Bloomsbury Group, showing them in a new, domestic intimacy. She brings to life the texture of Bloomsbury: their pastimes, children, clothes, houses, servants, pets, holidays. Several photographs are…


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