Book Launch for A Jazz Romance: Ethel Ennis, Baltimore & Me
Book Launch for A Jazz Romance: Ethel Ennis, Baltimore & Me
Celebrate the launch of Earl Arnett's historical memoir, A Jazz Romance: Ethel Ennis, Baltimore & Me at a special afternoon program featuring remarks by the author and audience Q&A and a concert of songs Ethel Ennis loved to sing performed by acclaimed vocalist Charenée Wade with Janelle Gill on keys, Kris Funn on bass, and Eric Kennedy on drums.
Books will be available for purchase for $15 from Urban Reads Bookstore during a book signing and reception following the concert.
Free. Advance registration through An Die Musik Live!
Books will be available for purchase for $15.
Co-hosted by Earl Arnett, An Die Musik Live!, and the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries & University Museums, the repository of the Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett Collection.
This event is made possible through the generosity of Robbye Apperson & Kevin Apperson and the Friends of the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries.
About A Jazz Romance:
Over the course of his life, Earl Arnett has been a newspaperman, an arts critic, a cabaret owner, a cultural ambassador, and a professor. But the role he has loved most is that of husband to the late Ethel Ennis, Baltimore’s First Lady of Jazz.
From the time of their marriage in 1967—just months after the Supreme Court ruled laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional—until her death in 2019, Arnett and Ennis were personally and professionally inseparable, devoting their lives to each other and to showcasing Ennis’s exceptional talent in forums from West Baltimore to China, Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Along the way, they encountered—and in many cases befriended—fascinating figures from the realms of politics, show business, business, and the streets of their beloved Baltimore.
Now, in A Jazz Romance, Arnett recounts episodes from that life with wit, incisive clarity, and the wounded wisdom of a widower still besotted with his late wife and the quietly epic life they lived.
Advance praise for A Jazz Romance:
“Earl Arnett’s book about his wife Ethel Ennis is much more than a wonderful portrait of the couple’s devotion to each other. It provides insights into the devotion they both had for the city of Baltimore, the struggles they faced as an interracial couple, and the challenges Ethel faced balancing her commitment to the music she loved and the demands of the music industry.”
— FRED LAZARUS, president emeritus of the Maryland Institute College of Art
“A Jazz Romance is a powerful story of how a couple overcame this country’s racial divide to inspire us with their love of music and their love of each other. Read it with joy in your heart.”
— KURT SCHMOKE, president of the University of Baltimore and former Mayor of Baltimore
“Earl Arnett hits the high notes and blues with his storied life with jazz singer Ethel Ennis—a great multicultural history as well as a compelling personal story about Baltimore and beyond.”
— BARBARA MIKULSKI, former U.S. Senator from Maryland
“This gem of a memoir offers precious, personal insights into all of its subjects: Ethel, Earl, Baltimore, music, and race in America over the course of several profoundly significant decades in our collective history. Researchers interested in learning more can consult the Ethel Ennis and Earl Arnett Collection at the Sheridan Libraries, thanks to the foresight and generosity of its namesake creators.”
— GABRIELLE DEAN, curator of special collections at Johns Hopkins University
“A Jazz Romance is the beautiful story of Earl Arnett and Ethel Ennis as they navigate a society and systems that challenged their relationship, their work as creatives, and their efforts as business owners. This book includes a treasure trove of reflections on the potential and pitfalls of the music business, the historical entertainment and culture industry in the city of Baltimore, and the value of community. With good humor, wisdom, and a few raw insights, Earl shares the evolution of his and Ethel’s love, hope, setbacks, and journey to create lives of happiness and personal success.”
— RAYNETTA WIGGINS-JACKSON, curatorial fellow for Africana archives at Johns Hopkins University