Like classical music, jazz is something that many of us develop a taste for rather late in life. But our instinctive, if belated, acceptance of its essential coolness is usually accompanied by a sense of bafflement as to where to start; where do Billie and Trane and Miles fit into the long strange journey from Dixieland to freeform, from trad to fusion?
There’s no shortage of jazz books, but Richard Cook’s is a more user-friendly guide than most. For 30 years he has been decoding jazz in the NME and Sunday Times, and as editor of The Wire and Jazz Review. He is also co-author of the Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD. He wears his knowledge lightly and is not afraid to express opinions (Miles Davis, for example, could be a “despicable person”; George Melly “was often either absolutely awful, or drunk, or both”). Unlike most jazz critics, he has a sense of humour too. Apart from nearly 2,000 artists assessed here, there are notes on technical terms, record labels and styles, all done with insight and great anecdotes. Beginners – and indeed buffs – should put this on their wish list.
