3. CELEBRATING A MUSICAL LEGACY
This book is an homage to former housepainter Bill FitzGerald and his legendary nightclub located on the outskirts of Chicago in the town of Berwyn, Ill. FitzGerald’s Nightclub is credited with bringing many new acts to Chicago and introducing the city to zydeco. Early on, the club played host to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Earle, Robert Cray, the Neville Brothers, Taj Mahal, and Los Lobos before they went on to worldwide acclaim.

This book chronicles the club’s 20th anniversary (“and then some,” writes Dave Whitaker, ruefully) by capturing both its distinctive character and melodic history with Blair Jensen’s lush live-action and still images paired with Whitaker’s clear, warm prose. Pivot Design does a fine job putting all of it together with elegant design that gets out of the way of the richness of the story and imagery.

The project took two years to complete with no compensation, except for an agreement to share revenues among writer, photographer, and designer, who also shared production costs evenly. Sales have been solid, but, as creative director Brock Haldeman states, “No one’s putting anyone through college on this.”

“Live From FitzGerald’s is a storybook,” says Brown Johnson of her top pick. “The design opens the door to the reader and invites them in—its layout of the photographs and text has the rhythm of a conversation: Here’s the front door, here’s how it looks when it’s getting ready for you, here’s how it looks when folks are here, here’s the dance floor, the beer taps, the folks who make the music, the ones who serve you drinks.”

Haldeman adds that if you just look at the effort that went into the production of the accompanying CD you’d be impressed. “The writer and photographer contacted all the performers to get the rights and work out details with layers of lawyers.”

Johnson also loves the CD. “It’s rockin! Genuine zydeco from Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis, big band sounds from John Burnett, and a whole night of great sounds. This book is almost a complete package—all you need is the beer.” To get your own copy of the book and CD, go to www.livefromfitzgeralds.com.