(Low)life: A Memoir of Jazz, Fight-Fixing, and The Mob

A world-class jazz pianist, Charles Farrell made his living working in Mob-controlled Boston clubs from the time he was a teenager in the 1960s. He later traded music for the shady world of professional boxing, managing dozens of fighters, including the notorious Mitch "Blood" Green, who famously lost twice to Mike Tyson--once in the ring, and once in the street. A self-admitted "fight-fixer" and "gangster, " but not a "tough guy," Farrell ran afoul of the actual tough guys in the 1990s, and fled to a farm in Puerto Rico, coming home only after an aging boxing legend brokered his safe return. Retired from the fight game, he returned to jazz and, among other collaborators, played frequently with his friend, Ornette Coleman, the godfather of "Free Jazz" and one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century. (LOW)LIFE is a singular book by a singular man.