The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz

by Tom Piazza and Samuel F. Piazza Jr.

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877454892
• ISBN13: 9780877454892
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: University of Iowa Press
• Length: 410 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great guide for jazz beginners

I bought this book three years ago, and I still go back to it regularly. When I first read it, I owned half a dozen, or fewer, jazz albums. My collection has swelled since then, and most of the LPs and CDs I've picked up were recommendations from this book. I have not been disappointed yet.Piazza's knowledge of jazz recordings, together with his clear, direct, and enthusiastic writing style, make this a joy to flip through. I can say I've truly discovered some outstanding music thanks to him and his book.

I concur: it's the best

Tom Piazza is both a jazz pianist and a writer, giving him a rare combination of insight and ability to express it. Musicians know that many renowned critics don't really know what they're talking about--if you don't play, you (usually) don't know. Piazza knows. His book is divided into halves. The first half covers the recordings of the great jazz ensembles from dixieland through the 1960s avant-garde. (There's no coverage of 1970s jazz-fusion, the 1980s young lions, or later, which are too recent to be "classic.") The second half covers the recordings of the most important jazz soloists on each instrument over the same period. An advantage of this structure is that it gives an overall sense of history in a way that books like the All-Music Guide, organized alphabetically by artist, can't.Piazza does have an ideological leaning. He is part of the current Wynton Marsalis/Stanley Crouch camp, which feels that much recent jazz should not be called jazz at all, because it is not based on the blues. The free jazz of the 1960s and the jazz-fusion of the 1970s are without merit to this camp, and this is probably why Piazza does not reach into the 1970s. (He does say, of 1960s free jazz, that "people who like this sort of thing like the following albums.") It's a mark of Piazza's excellence that while I do not belong to this camp, I still think his guide is the best for the period it covers. Fans of free jazz and jazz-fusion will want other books to supplement Piazza's guide, but Piazza's book should be the first purchase for your jazz library.

Best guide to Jazz music

I really clicked with this author's personal selections of the best artists in the wide world of jazz music. He truly cares about this music and shares his feelings. The music of the 50s and 60s is rightfully highlighted as a highpoint in the development of jazz music.

A Must-Have Reference Work

This is a must-have reference book that is of great use to the jazz aficionado. It does have one glaring flaw, though -- not enough coverage of bossa nova and jazz influenced by Brazilian music (think of the hundreds of jazz interpretations of Jobim's compositions). For that I would recommend "The Brazilian Sound," which includes 1,000 titles in its discography.

Don't buy a cd without checking this book.

Thoughtful rather than just encyclopedic. This book never fails in sorting out the CDs I want. I know the artists I enjoy. The hard part with jazz is all the reissued material. Easy to get a bad recording of a great artist. This book is fun to read and has saved me megabucks. We have been using the book for the Williams College Book Award to high school students here in Connecticut. The guidance counselors all call me to ask where they can get a copy for themselves.