The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz by Loren Schoenberg, Wynton Marsalis (Foreword by)

From the Publisher

* A concise history of jazz
* The noteworthy composers and musicians, from Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk to Miles Davis and Charles Mingus
* Major performers from Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington
* Classic songs and compositions
* The most influential recordings of all time
* A complete guide to jazz terminology and lingo
* valuable resources for the Curious Listener

Plus: The 50 Influential Jazz CDs

Author Biography: Loren Schoenberg has been a featured tenor saxophone soloist with the big bands of Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Health, and Buck Clayton. A faculty member at the Essentially Ellington Band Director's Academy in Snowmass, Colorado, he was recently named the program director of Jazz Aspen Snowmass Jazz Colony summer program. He was advisor to Ken Burns's Jazz Project.

Library Journal

These final entries in NPR's "Curious Listener's" series maintain the fresh spirit and informative stance of the first two, which address opera and popular standards. Smith, music critic for the Baltimore Sun, and Schoenberg, a tenor saxophonist and jazz educator, provide basic introductions geared to lay readers, focusing on the essentials of their respective musical genres, including a history of the form, a description of genres, brief biographies of featured composers and performers, glossaries, and recommended pieces and recordings (50 CDs for each). The charm of this series is the manner in which the authors cover the important points in their own casual yet expert tone, pointing up details along the way with intriguing sidebars (concert etiquette for classical and various historical figures for jazz) or turns of phrase while presenting thought-provoking artist or repertoire selections that will encourage spirited debate. The jazz volume suffers from a few minor editorial glitches (e.g., incorrect alphabetizing and typos), but both books are well crafted and logically organized. Smith's book is reminiscent of Michael Walsh's Who's Afraid of Classical Music? with updated scholarship and some different perspectives, while Schoenberg's complements Gene Seymour's Jazz: The Great American Art. Highly recommended for their combination of reliable information and accessible style, these are real bargains for public libraries. (Indexes not seen.) Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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