Author and journalist James Gavin’s third book, Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, 2009) was called "magnificent ... gripping, marvelously written" by Liz Smith, who added: "[It] may just be one of the best biographies about show business, race, love, sex, and music ever written." In the New York Times Book Review, John Simon called "page after page" of Stormy Weather "eventful and suspenseful." On May 12, 2010 at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles, 8th District Councilman Bernard C. Parks honored Gavin with a proclamation from the city. Gavin's previous book, Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker (Knopf, 2002; new edition forthcoming from Chicago Review Press), was called “a landmark in entertainment biography” in the Hollywood Reporter and “almost unbearably vivid” in the New York Times. Deep in a Dream has been published in England, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, France, and Brazil as well as in the U.S. Gavin’s first book, Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret (Grove Weidenfeld, 1991), was republished by Back Stage Books (2006) in a revised, updated edition. It won ASCAP’s Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism, along with raves from John S. Wilson of the New York Times (“vividly reported … etched in acid”), Liz Smith (“a treasure trove … a real beat of the heart of New York”), and Gerald Nachman of the San Francisco Chronicle (“wild and wistful … a remarkably informed, insightful, definitive look at Manhattan nightlife”). The long-awaited Intimate Nights documentary is now being co-produced by Gavin and filmmaker Raymond De Felitta; it will feature Joan Rivers, Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Dick Cavett, Dixie Carter, Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Kaye Ballard, Bruce Vilanch, and dozens more illustrious cabaret alumni.
Manhattan-born and a graduate of Fordham University, Gavin is a much-published freelance journalist. Aside from his dozens of features in the New York Times, he has written for Vanity Fair, Time Out New York, the Daily Beast, and the Huffington Post on subjects ranging from Annie Lennox to Elizabeth Taylor to the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. He has contributed liner notes to over 400 CDs, including many reissues he produced himself for Verve, Blue Note, and Koch Jazz. His essay for the GRP box set Ella Fitzgerald – The Legendary Decca Recordings earned a 1996 Grammy nomination.
Gavin also lectures, and has appeared in several documentaries, including the E! True Hollywood Story on Doris Day and Anita O'Day: The Life and Times of a Jazz Singer. He wrote and narrated a French TV documentary, Chet by Claxton, on legendary photographer William Claxton and his muse, Chet Baker. Gavin has made over two hundred radio appearances, including multiple interviews with NPR, the BBC, and Australia's ABC Network; and has been seen on the Today show, Good Morning America, and the PBS NewsHour. He has created and hosted shows based on all his books, featuring such artists as Blossom Dearie, Julie Wilson, Nellie McKay, Mark Murphy, Andy Bey, Oscar Brown, Jr., Jackie & Roy, and Kiki & Herb. These shows have been seen at such venues as the Algonquin Hotel and Joe's Pub in New York, the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, and Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. Gavin is currently touring with Stormy Weather: The Lena Horne Project, which features vocalist Mary Wilson.
Mr. Gavin on NBC News
