You have a book coming out that argues Italian-Americans have been largely forgotten for their contributions to jazz. But Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Louis Prima, Louis Bellson, to name a few, are hardly unknown to those who care about jazz.

Yes and no. Many jazz fans aren't even aware that people like Tony Bennett and the late Louis Bellson were born with Italian names. Even more importantly: Many jazz critics often over-look the contributions that Italians have made to jazz, even though Italian American musicians have been major players in EVERY jazz genre: Dixieland (Tony Parenti, Nick LaRocca), big band (Louis Prima, Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang), bebop (Dodo Marmarosa, Buddy DeFranco), and fusion (Al DiMeola, Chick Corea).

Also: Many Italian American musicians were at the forefront of integrating jazz, whether it was Joe Marsala in 1936 (even before Benny Goodman) or people like Flip Phillips and Buddy DeFranco touring with all-black bands.

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Fonte: http://www.italiansinjazz.com/