An outline of jazz styles is included here. It was prepared for the lectures and short courses that I give on the music. I deliberately left the instruments that most of the musicians play out because: 1) the document would be much longer, and; 2) the readers can look up recordings or reference material themselves with the names as a starting point.
The outline represents nearly forty years of record (and now CD) collecting and study, along with some interviews that I've done. Some of it may not quite fit the standard jazz history that you read. It also reflects my prejudices as to what is or is not important (and why). The accompanying diagram makes it clearer for me because I normally work as a scientist.
Mainly, you learn about the history of this music by concentrated, focused listening. A CD Library supporting the Jazz Styles Outline is also found on this web site.
There are many books about jazz. The scholarship is improving as more historians and musicologists move into the field. The following books can serve as a basic jazz library. These represent my best guess about a basic library. There are pages devoted to both General and Reference Texts and to Musicians' Biographies.
|
|