Better Days Will Come Again, Travis Atria
Better Days Will Come Again, Travis Atria
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Better Days Will Come Again
The Life of Arthur Briggs, Jazz Genius of Harlem, Paris, and a Nazi Prison Camp

Author: Travis Atria

Narrator: David Sadzin

Unabridged: 8 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/07/2020

Synopsis

Arthur Briggs's life was Homeric in scope. Born on the the tiny island of Grenada, he set sail for Harlem during the Renaissance, then to Europe in the aftermath of World War I, where he was among the first pioneers to introduce jazz music to the world. During the legendary Jazz Age in Paris, Briggs's trumpet provided the soundtrack while Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and the rest of the Lost Generation got drunk. By the 1930s, Briggs was considered "the Louis Armstrong of Paris," and was the peer of the greatest names of his time, from Josephine Baker to Django Reinhardt. Even during the Great Depression, he was secure as "the greatest trumpeter in Europe." He did not, however, heed warnings to leave Paris before it fell to the Nazis, and in 1940, he was arrested and sent to the prison camp at Saint Denis. What happened at that camp, and the role Briggs played in it, is truly unforgettable. Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Briggs's oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival.

About Travis Atria

Travis Atria is the author, with Todd Mayfield, of Traveling Soul: The Life of Curtis Mayfield. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Billboard, Wax Poetics, and other publications. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Reviews

Goodreads review by John on August 26, 2020

There are many reasons to read Better Days Will Come Again. First, it’s a well-written biography of a brilliant musician very few people know about. Also, woven through the day-by-day story of the gigs, the travel, the many cabarets and music halls is a wonderful exploration of the development of th......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on December 24, 2021

I appreciated how the author was able to interweave the history of jazz in Europe with the rise of Hitler and Arthur Brigg's life, but as a biography of Arthur Briggs, a Wikipedia entry would have sufficed. There were even several chapters dedicated to Josephine Baker, who had very little to do with......more

Goodreads review by Theresa on March 17, 2020

This book is not just a wonderful biography of Arthur Briggs but a terrific look at France during the Jazz Age. The writing is strong and the story is weirdly suspenseful - if there is any complaint I have it's that I wish I knew even more, particularly about the other colorful people around at that......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on May 28, 2020

This book was very well written and kept my interest throughout. The book was well researched and had an extensive bibliography. An interesting sidebar to the book was the life of Josephine Baker, another black musician who also lived in France and was a friend of Arthur Briggs.......more

Goodreads review by John P. on April 05, 2020

Excellent book about the life and career of musician Arthur Briggs.......more

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