The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz second edition is a must for all jazz lovers, who want exact details. I am happy, that there are now more european Jazz musicians inside. Ubbo Groeneveld Big Band Leader Munich Germany

If you love Jazz, you MUST GET THIS BOOK! Completely awesome!

This is a valuable jazz reference source, and a good companion book to the Penguin guide to jazz. It is particularly useful for looking up the biographies of artists that you're interested in. Less useful are the lists of jazz club venues - likely to be quite out of date by now.What I liked especially about the dictionary, is its comprehensiveness. Artists from all continents are covered - although musicians from far-flung places (as in not-in-the-USA)are more likely to be missing. On the negative side, you'll find that the book is now out of date when it comes to contemporary musicians.I have for example compiled a list of all artists born in African, Australia and New Zealand from the book. While a number of well-known musicians are missing, the youngest person on my list was born in 1947 - 55 years ago - not good for a book that was reviewed in 1994. One would suspect that the contemporary jazz renaissance of the 1990s is totally absent.So in summary, this is a well-written, well edited, good reference source, but badly in need of an update. I would also enjoy more personal details about artists in the next edition.

This is a book every jazz musician and jazz fan should own. There is amusing trivia: How many people know that drum brushes were originally marketed as fly swatters? There are transcriptions of arrangements as well as of improvised solos. And of course there are biographical essays. The book is serious and scholarly and deep yet easily readable and entertaining.Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns

This is just a thorough piece of work. With music examples, pictures, selected discographies, bios, and how their music influenced the world of jazz. It also features great articles about nightclubs and libraries. This is a huge book, and very cheap also, so this is something every jazz fan should have.