All music guide to jazz : the experts' guide to the best jazz recordings

"Now in its third edition, the All Music Guide to Jazz has become the definitive reference on jazz recordings and performers. This edition has been updated and greatly expanded throughout, with thousands of new reviews written by noted jazz critics and seasoned music journalists. Designed for serious jazz fans and newcomers alike, this "addictively browsable" guide is packed with engrossing and informative features, including enlightening biographies and anecdotal career histories of more than 1,700 artists, painting a complete portrait of each one's evolution and importance in the world of jazz; reviews and ratings of the best recordings of each performer - more than 18,000 in all; special symbols highlight critics' choices for best-of-genre, best-of-artist, and first pick recordings; historical essays and "music maps" charting the roots and evolution of the music, its styles, influential producers, important record labels, and key instruments; and jazz resources, including books, magazines, and mail-order sources."--Jacket.