The Ghetto Swinger, the autobiography of German guitarist, composer, arranger and producer Coco Schumann, was recently published in the English language for the first time by DoppleHouse Press.
In his memoir, Schumann tells his life story as both a Jewish wartime survivor of three concentration camps and a postwar hero of the Berlin jazz scene. It was here that Schumann led his own quartet and played with many touring jazz greats, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also known as an innovator, credited as the first musician in Germany to play an electric guitar on stage and the first in Europe to play a steel string guitar.
In 2014, Schumann was awarded the “Ehrepriese” for Lifetime Achievement in Music from the German Record Critics. That same year, he also announced his retirement from public performances at the age of 90.
The Ghetto Swinger was co-authored by Michaela Haas and is available now. For more information, go to https://doppelhouse.com/the-ghetto-swinger-by-coco-schumann/