New York City Blues: Postwar Portraits from Harlem to the Village and Beyond offers a deep dive into the blues venues and performers in the city from the 1940s through the 1990s. Interviews in this volume bring the listener behind the scenes of the daily and performing lives of working musicians, songwriters, and producers. The interviewers capture their voices—many sadly deceased—and reveal the changes in styles, the connections between performers, and the evolution of New York blues.

New York City Blues is an oral history conveyed through the words of the performers themselves, supplemented by the input of Val Wilmer, Paul Harris, and Richard Tapp. The book also features the work of award-winning author and blues scholar John Broven. Along with writing a history of New York blues for the introduction, Broven contributes interviews with Rose Marie McCoy, “Doc” Pomus, Billy Butler, and Billy Bland. Some of the artists interviewed by Larry Simon include Paul Oscher, John Hammond Jr., Rosco Gordon, Larry Dale, Bob Gaddy, “Wild” Jimmy Spruill, and Bobby Robinson.

New York City Blues delivers a strong sense of the major personalities and places such as Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, the history, and an in-depth introduction to the rich variety, sounds, and styles that made up the often-overlooked New York City blues scene.

The book is published by University Press of Mississippi. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"An essential contribution to our collective understanding of how American culture actually became American culture." (Randall Rothenberg, executive chair at Interactive Advertising Bureau)

"A beautifully rich, intimate, and highly personal history of New York City blues. An extraordinary document." (Meg Rosoff, author of How I Live Now)

"A really important book!" (Paul Oscher, Muddy Waters’s harmonica player from 1967 to 1971)