Playboyâ??the magazine, the empire, the lifestyleâ??is one of the worldâ??s best-known brands. Since the launch of Playboy magazine in 1953, two elements have been remarkably consistent: the first, obviously, is the celebration of nubile, female flesh. The second, readers may be surprised to learn, is Playboyâ??s involvement in the music scene. The Playboy experience was never just about sex but about lifestyle. Musicâ??particularly the finest jazz, a personal passion of Hefnerâ??sâ??has always been an essential component of that lifestyle. Playboy Swings focuses specifically on Playboyâ??s involvement in the music scene, its impact on popular entertainment (and vice versa), and the fabulous cadre of performers who took to the stages of the mythic Playboy Clubs and Jazz Festivals. Throughout Playboy Swings, Farmer demonstrates how Playboy helped change the world through music by integrating the TV shows, festivals, and the clubs.Complied through interviews with hundreds of people who were on the scene throughout Playboyâ??s rise, fall, and on-going renaissance, Playboy Swings carries readers on a seductive journey through the history of the empireâ??all the while focusing on the musical entertainment that made it unique. Hefâ??s personal passion for musicâ??and his belief in it as a cornerstone of the Playboy ethosâ??has expressed itself in a wide range of media over Playboyâ??s 60-year history, and all of it comes alive in these pages. Famer takes the reader from the inception of the Playboy empire through the 1959 jazz festival, to the opening of club after club.With approximately 60 black and white photos, and a complete Playboy music reference guide, readers will think of music, not just Bunnies, when thinking about Playboy.Throughout the book, it is the artists who do most of the talkingâ??and they have a lot to say a