Essential Jazz Records, Vol. 1: Ragtime to Swing [Paperback] Review

The first volume of the Essential Jazz Records (I'm not sure if the second volume ever appeared) is a very strong guide to early jazz on a number of accounts. Perhaps the most important reason for its succes is the fact thatthe three authors are sufficiently alike in their predilections for thebook to be cohesive, but are sufficiently particular in their passions fortheir to be a wide net as they attempt to gather in "the essentialjazz recordings."There are enough recordings here to support thetitle, and they are spread over a wide enough stylistic range (from Africanmusic, to field recordings of African American performers, to blues to theearliest jazz through swing to Charlie Parker's earliest recordings) sothat no one will find any gaping holes.These three reviewers togetherprobably present a better feel for the breadth and beauty of early jazzthan any of the dozens of guides I have read. Anyone possessing all ofthese records would certainly feel satisfied they had captured the essenceof early jazz. Another fine thing about this collection of reviews is thekeen insights they offer into the recodings themselves. I have often foundmyself returning to recordings on my shelf and listening to them with newears in response to something written in this book. I do not always sharethe views of these British jazz experts, but they do certainly inspirereevaluation. The fault that many will find with the book is that theparticular recordings listed here are all long-since-disappeared LPs. Manyof the major label recordings have reappeared in pretty much the same formon CD, but some have not. Nevertheless, almost all the music here isavailable somewhere. By using this book as a guide to the music one shouldbe looking for, and another guide to help decide which reissue might havethe best remastering, etc., the explorer of early jazz won't go wrong.

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Product Description:
A personal, and sometimes controversial, selection by three jazz critics of the "best" 250 jazz records - mostly LP collections of 78 rpm originals - from the earliest roots of music to the beginnings of the modern jazz era. Each record is placed in its musical context and reviewed in some depth. For each disc, full details of personnel and recording dates and locations are given.

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