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Arguments about what qualifies as jazz (let alone classic jazz) will rage well into the next millennium. Tom Piazza has floated his own definition--which is partly chronological and partly based on a few stylistic litmus tests--and then used it to shape this intelligent and individual guide. Considering both ensembles and soloists, he covers about 800 recordings, most of them made between 1920 and 1970. Although the heft of his book qualifies it as a reference work, Piazza never pretends to encyclopedic neutrality. On the contrary, he's a fiery advocate of the recordings he loves, and a chiding critic of those he doesn't.

From Booklist , May 15, 1995

More than 800 recordings are discussed here "in stylistic and chronological context" in what Piazza claims is "the only book of its scope and purpose to have been written entirely by one author." In that sense it is different from The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz [RBB Ja 15 92] and All Music Guide to Jazz [RBB D 15 94], both of which have many contributors. By "classic" Piazza means those "recordings that have formed or that exemplify the definitive elements of the jazz style, in as undiluted a form as possible." Thus the vast majority of recordings discussed here date from the 1920s until about 1970, or not long after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, which signaled a new direction for many jazz musicians.

The guide is organized into two main sections--one highlighting ensembles, the other soloists. The ensemble section covers dozens of bands including those of King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Art Blakey, and Charles Mingus. Players in the soloist section are arranged by instrument--trumpet, reeds, tenor saxophone, and piano. Within each category, one to two dozen instrumentalists are discussed in roughly chronological order. Obviously there is much overlap here, as well as between the ensembles and soloists sections. Vocalists, guitarists, bassists, and other musicians are covered, but access to them must come through the index rather than the detailed table of contents. Compact disc numbers are cited in the text for all but the very few recordings still available only on LP.

Piazza's jazz knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his writing is both informative and lively. Covering roughly the same time period as Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz (Horizon, 1960), The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz covers fewer artists but in more depth. It is recommended for academic, public, and large high-school libraries. For treatment of jazz fusion and jazz-influenced world music, one should look elsewhere. Copyright© 1995, American Library Association. All rights reserved

Synopsis

In a single source, this book serves as a field guide to available recordings as well as a highly accessible vision of the development and sound of the music, one that will give the reader some sense of what musicians think about when they play, what kinds of demands are placed on them, and what kinds of solutions they have to come up with.

Booknews, Inc. , December 1, 1996

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 singling out the pioneers in each new groove including Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra. In addition, he lists the absolute must hear recordings of each trumpet, reed, tenor, and piano soloist who has defined blue or cool. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

The publisher, University of Iowa Press:

"Best guide to the music's development"--Wynton Marsalis

In his epilogue to this remarkably thorough and readable tour through the jazz canon, Tom Piazza writes, "The spirit that jazz embodies will never die; as long as we can touch a button and begin again, at the beginning of Duke Ellington's 'Ko-Ko' or John Coltrane's 'Crescent' or Louis Armstrong's 'West End Blues,' we will have proof that the individual and the group can be reconciled, that African and European cultural streams are compatible, and that the blues can be held at bay."

Here is a brilliant and deeply informed overview of jazz history, one which gives a rich sense of who the major figures were and how they fit in with one another while showing the reader what to listen for and which recordings are indispensable for a full experience of the music. Most guides to jazz recordings are essentially collections of capsule reviews by several writers. No other book has fused a singular examination of the key recordings with a presentation of the entire sweep of the music's classic period to provide the listener with such a useful and spirited companion.

The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz serves, in a single source, as a field guide to all available recordings as well as a highly accessible vision of the development and sound of the music, one that will give the reader some sense of what musicians think about when they play, what kinds of demands are placed on them, and what kinds of solutions they have come up with. Piazza also provides a sense of the continuity of form and technique that has underpinned the music from the days of King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton to the time of Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman.

"I believe this will become a cornerstone of the literature on jazz, essential for every decent music library, and will make a marked contribution. Tom Piazza is a major new voice in jazz criticism, a voice with insight, style, and authority." --John Edward Hasse, curator of American music, Smithsonian Institution

"Tom Piazza's knowledge and understanding of jazz music are wide and deep, and his own experience as a player has given him a window into the music that few critics have. The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz is the best guide to the music's development that I know of. Its unique structure, the attention it pays to ensemble styles as well as to the great instrumentalists, and Piazza's ability to explain what is happening in the music in terms that anyone can understand will make this extremely valuable both to longtime fans and to those checking out the music for the first time." --Wynton Marsalis