In 1960, photographer William Claxton and renowned music expert Joachim Berendt traveled across the United States following the trail of jazz. In concert halls and alongside marching bands, in side streets and subway stations, they tried to document this lively, breathing, pulsating musical phenomenon that captivated America across all class and racial boundaries.

The result of this collaboration between Claxton and Berendt was Jazzlife, a highly sought-after photo book among collectors, which sought to explore beyond clichéd notions of smoky jazz dives what truly defined this most original of all American art forms. Whether in New Orleans and New York, St. Louis, Biloxi, Jackson, LA, or Newport – Claxton and Berendt were in the right place at the right time to give faces to the "art of the moment."

With images of Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Gabor Szabo, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and many others, this book is a document of a great era and a heartfelt personal tribute to a unique art form – a classic.