Classic Jazz: The Musicians and Recordings That Shaped Jazz, 1895-1933
Busy author/critic Yanow here makes his fourth contribution to Backbeat's "Third Ear" series (after Swing, Bebop, and Afro-Cuban Jazz), and it's an engrossing contribution to jazz literature. A key component is Yanow's obvious enjoyment and knowledge of the music. He writes in a gentle, conversational style, never succumbing to needless technicalities or diatribes and treating all the musicians fairly. Long-held stereotypes are demolished, and, consequently, readers will gain new perspectives on the early jazz era. For instance, Yanow's undogmatic entry on Paul Whiteman clearly indicates the importance of the Whiteman orchestra in developing many master musicians during the late 1920s. After an opening essay on the origins of jazz (1895-1933), the alphabetically arranged artist biographies cover both legends like Louis Armstrong as well as relatively unknown performers. These entries include commentary on available recordings, mostly on CD, which truly demonstrate Yanow's grasp of jazz. In another essay at the back of the book, he highlights the value of several specialty labels (e.g., Classics, JSP) that intelligently reissue a great amount of classic jazz and lists numerous "various artists" CD suggestions as well as sources for further study. The proliferation of band names (often used for only one recording session) calls for a detailed index, and that's just what Yanow provides. One quirk, however: occasionally, musicians (e.g., the Dodd brothers) mentioned in someone else's entry lack an entry of their own. In the end, this guide stands strongly on its own, and, when combined with Yanow's other entries in the series, provides especially authoritative commentary on jazz. Recommended for public, academic, and music libraries. William G. Kenz, Minnesota State Univ., MoorheadCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.