Synopses & Reviews
The first edition of the
Guide was widely praised for identifying 150 key recordings that should form the basis of any jazz collection, backed up by a series of detailed critical commentaries unrivalled in any competing book of its kind for their depth and critical insight. This new edition broadens the scope of the
Guide, looking at recent developments and styles and suggesting almost 250 discs as the core collection.
The focus of the book remains the music itself. The authors chart the issues of the sessions discussed, and introduce ideas for further listening. To the newcomer to jazz forming a basic collection, this remains the essential guide. To the more seasoned listener, the Guide offers a path through recent areas of the music, and some unexpected selections, as well as providing information and helpful critical discussion.
Review
"The Blackwell Guide is in its second edition (1995), and is structured as a beginning buyer's guide: there's a history of the music and chapters by five other writers." John F. Szwed, Jazziz, September 2000
Synopsis
The first edition of the Guide was widely praised for identifying 150 key recordings that should form the basis of any jazz collection, backed up by a series of detailed critical commentaries unrivalled in any competing book of its kind for their depth and critical insight. This new edition broadens the scope of the Guide , looking at recent developments and styles and suggesting almost 250 discs as the core collection.
About the Author
Barry Kernfeld is an independent scholar. He is the editor of The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (1988) and the author of What to Listen For in Jazz (1995).
Table of Contents
Contents.
Contributors.
Preface and Acknowledgements to the Second Edition.
Preface and Acknowledgements to the First Edition.
Principal Selections.
1. The First Hot Bands.
2. Solo Stride and Swing Piano.
3. Big Bands to the Mid-1950s.
4. Swing-era Combos.
5. We Called it Music: Dixieland and Swing.
6. The New Orleans Revival.
7. The First Bop Bands.
8. The First Cool Jazz and West Coast Jazz Bands.
9. The First Hard Bop Bands.
10. Swing-Bop Combos.
11. Singers since the 1950s.
12. Latin Jazz.
13. Leaving Hard Bop.
14. Big Bands since the Late 1950s.
15. Soul Jazz and Jazz-Soul Fusion.
16. The Bop Revival.
17. Free Jazz.
18. Fusion.
19. Avant-garde Jazz, Freebop, World Music and other Eclecticisms.