Arthur
Briggs’s life was Homeric in scope. Born on the tiny island of Grenada,
he set sail for Harlem during the Renaissance, then to Europe in the
aftermath of World War I, where he was among the first pioneers to
introduce jazz music to the world. During the legendary Jazz Age in
Paris, Briggs’s trumpet provided the soundtrack while Hemingway,
Fitzgerald, and the rest of the Lost Generation got drunk. By the 1930s,
Briggs was considered “the Louis Armstrong of Paris,” and was the peer
of the greatest names of his time, from Josephine Baker to Django
Reinhardt. Even during the Great Depression, he was secure as “the
greatest trumpeter in Europe.” He did not, however, heed warnings to
leave Paris before it fell to the Nazis, and in 1940, he was arrested
and sent to the prison camp at Saint Denis. What happened at that camp,
and the role Briggs played in it, is truly unforgettable.
Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Briggs’s oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival.
Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Briggs’s oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival.
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