The publication features among its 500-plus pictures many of the previously unseen shots of musicians and venues. It look into the historical detail of this music genre. It gives background on early New Orleans music, the migration of jazz up the Mississippi to major urban centres, and the developments of swing and bebop. There are essays which highlight elements of jazz culture, such as Gerald Early’s consideration of race and white musicians in jazz and Gary Giddins’s five-page essay on avant jazz.