The 101 Best Jazz Albums: A History of Jazz on Records

This book is a little different than most books about jazz. For someone new to jazz, it is very useful, just as long as one keeps in mind that it was published in 1980, so there is nothing about jazz from the last thirty years, which includes not only a plethora of big jazz names, but tons of works by names that made it big prior to that. Just the same, the approach of looking at jazz as a series of eras defined by that era's recordings is not only original, but it is easy to follow and makes understanding each era's jazz development a little easier. I like that the list is written out in several places, and I like that the author offers up a selection of similar or equally good albums that didn't make the list. (Somewhere I read that over 500 albums were mentioned in the book.) Since I've only been interested in jazz for about two years and I started with a jazz recording collection that contained literally zero recordings, it has been very convenient to use this in tandem with The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition to learn about artists and styles and choose recordings to buy. Now that this book is out of print, it might be a little harder to get your hands on one, but if the opportunity to obtain one at reasonable cost presents itself, I highly recommend grabbing up a copy of this useful, insightful book. (Also, note that Penguin just released the new edition of their jazz guide, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Ninth Edition, which will probably be more attractive to those who don't own an earlier edition.)