Nettlebeck's (French, U. of Melbourne, Australia) story of jazz's influence on the French (and vice versa) encompasses musical history; global relations and domestic realities around WWII; and collaborations and affairs between famous French and American musicians, writers, artists, and filmmakers living in Paris. Among the black American musicians that sought relief there from career-limiting racial antagonism were Sydney Bichet, Josephine Baker, Miles Davis, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Natives Django Reinhardt, Simone DeBeauvoir, and Jean Cocteau, along with Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, and Man Ray were also party to the cultural and artistic explosion caused by the intersection of Jazz and the French. This book includes a timeline and about a dozen b&w photographs. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)