Ruby Braff

Published: March 18, 2015, 10:45 p.m.

Critic Martin Gayford tells the stories of his encounters and friendships with leading jazz musicians as a fan, an amateur music promoter and, latterly, as a journalist.

The American cornettist Ruby Braff had a fierce reputation for a bad temper and his scrapping with bandmates, but from his home in Cape Cod, he used to regularly call Martin for long, revealing telephone conversations.