Bop Apocalypse

Jazz, Race, the Beats, and Drugs

Bop Apocalypse, a narrative history from master storyteller Martin Torgoff, details the rise of early drug culture in America by weaving together the disparate elements that formed this new segment of the American fabric. Channeling his decades of writing experience, Torgoff connects the birth of jazz in New Orleans, the first drug laws, Louis Armstrong, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, swing, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, the Savoy Ballroom, Reefer Madness, Charlie Parker, the birth of bebop, the rise of the Beat Generation, and the launch of heroin in Harlem. Having spent a lifetime immersed in the overlapping worlds of music and drugs, Torgoff reveals material that has never been disclosed before. Bop Apocalypse is a truly fresh contribution to our understanding of jazz, race, and drug culture.

©2016 Martin Torgoff (P)2017 Tantor

Great assessment of the culture and counterculture of the blues to boomer era

Love the historical political, societal, psychological and musical tie-ins. Loved Lady Day’s, Coltrane, Munk and the people in Jazz we revere, all the way to the failed policies of the first Drug Czar

fascinating read

the author does a really great job of navigating between drug culture, American politics, jazz, beat poetry, race, and everywhere in between.