Concise Guide to Jazz

An introduction to jazz and how to listen to it

Written by active jazz musician and jazz historian Mark Gridley, the Concise Guide to Jazz was created in response to students and professors asking for a clear and accurate introductory jazz text. This brief text examines how jazz originated, how it is made, what to listen for, and the major style eras. By focusing on just over fifty historical figures, Concise Guide to Jazz, seventh edition allows students to understand a broad range of jazz styles without feeling overloaded. Concise Guide to Jazz focuses on the diversity of jazz styles and serves as a basis for further jazz exploration.

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Learning Goals

Upon completing this book, readers will be able to:

Begin to appreciate how jazz is made
Know how to extract the most depth of experience from listening to jazz
Know who the most historically significant jazz musicians are
Know why each significant musician is important
Distinguish the main style eras

*Music for your course is available through Spotify.