John Szwed’s introductory book is described (both explicitly and implicitly by the title) as an entrée to the world of jazz for the beginner. While the book is written at exactly the right level of difficulty and complexity for this purpose, I don’t think the book is successful.

The information in the book can be divided roughly into two categories. The first, smaller, portion of the work comprises descriptions of the various styles of jazz. In this regard, the book is begging for a companion CD. In the audio book format (this is what I used) the sound clips could have been embedded. Unaccompanied textual descriptions of a sonic medium work no better than would an Art History book without pictures. For example, having someone attempt to describe the characteristics of swing notes leaves the reader wondering if they truly understand the rhythmic implications or if their imagination has wandered off the path. Szwed does provide recommended listening lists. However, this approach turns reading an introductory book into a significant investment of time (and money) in attempting to locate these selections—especially since many of them are out of print or hard to find.

The second, and major, portion is a recounting of the history of the music and attendant societal changes. While this informative, the author’s approach to providing examples is mind-numbing. He is never content to say, “Here’s a fact; as seen in the music of Artist A.” Instead, we get, “Here’s a fact, as seen in the music of Artist A on Tune 1, Tune 2, Tune 3, and Artist B on Tune 4, Tune 5, Tune 6, and Artist C on Tune 7, Tune 8 and Tune 9.” These lists of examples can occupy minutes of an audio book and, one must presume, paragraphs of text. While it might be gratifying to know that there are several examples one could consult for illustration, the effect is to turn the experience into one of reading a laundry list.

I think that it is this characteristic of the book that indicates how it should have been billed: a Recommended Listening List. Its strength is not as a ‘101’ course on jazz, it’s as a reference work providing a wide and varied list of good artists and recordings that the jazz novice might choose to enjoy. A correct level set of the reader’s expectations would make the book more successful with the reader...though, in my particular case, it would have left it unread because I was looking for an introductory reading on jazz, not a “100 Best Jazz Tunes” list. ( )