The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz

by Tom Piazza

A solid introductory guide to classical jazz naming the greats, their influences, and providing neophyte listeners with keys to listening and appreciating this musical genre. Free-lance music critic Piazza explains the science of riffing and the development of bebop and harmonic ensemble thinking.

Genres: Music, Jazz

410 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[John]

An excellent guide to jazz recordings, providing not only consumer-oriented reviews but also, through its organizational framework, a solid sense of jazz's history and "family tree" of influences. Piazza's authorial voice is strong and distictive, in contast to the anonymous institutional prose one tends to find in books like this, making this a guide you will actually want to read, not just consult. A library essential for long-time jazz-lovers and neophytes alike.

[Kurishin]

This is a great starter book to build a jazz recording collection and to understand jazz' basic dynamics and history. Highly recommended.