The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz

Arguments about what qualifies as jazz (let alone classic jazz) will rage well into the next millennium. Tom Piazza has floated his own definition--which is partly chronological and partly based on a few stylistic litmus tests--and then used it to shape this intelligent and individual guide. Considering both ensembles and soloists, he covers about 800 recordings, most of them made between 1920 and 1970. Although the heft of his book qualifies it as a reference work, Piazza never pretends to encyclopedic neutrality. On the contrary, he's a fiery advocate of the recordings he loves, and a chiding critic of those he doesn't.