What to listen for in jazz

Barry Kernfeld provides a thorough, learned, and accessible introduction to jazz, discussing its musical concepts, procedures, and styles and providing the background necessary to fully enjoy this musical art. The book is organized around twenty-one historic jazz recordings - from the New Orleans Rhythm Kings' Tin Roof Blues (1923) to Ornette Coleman's Honeymooners (1987) - that are analyzed in the text and included in a compact disc that accompanies the book.

Barry Kernfeld draws from these musical works to illustrate jazz rhythm, forms, arrangement, composition, improvisation, style, and sound (recording fidelity, tuning systems, instrumentation, and timbre). Included in the book are more than one hundred notated music examples keyed to the compact disc and a biographical dictionary of musicians who figure prominently on the disc.