Introduction to Jazz History

Unlike other musical genres, jazz history is firmly connected to its great performers. They are the ones who create the complexities and individual nuances that make jazz so difficult to categorize and chronicle. Including pertinent biographical information, Introduction to Jazz History continues to examine this interaction between musicians, their history, and the history of their music. The Fifth Edition updates current and ongoing stylistic trends in jazz, including the modern big bands and the new hybrids of jazz extending beyond fusion and crossover. The chronological presentation of the history is intuitive and logical. New biographical sketches for recent and historical musicians have been added to update the text. Interactive Listening Guides are now available using the CDs that accompany the text and the CDs for SCCJ (Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz). Together, these two sets comprise the most powerful collection of jazz recordings available in such a simple package and they are now fully interactive.