Jazz Styles: History and Analysis

This broad and encompassing survey provides a rich, informative, and chronological study of jazz, with insightful commentaries on its origins, and full descriptions of the various styles of jazz and the personalities that have contributed to this innovative form of music. Discussions of benchmark styles with point-by-point differentiation cover early jazz, swing, bop, hard bop, cool jazz, “free” jazz, and jazz-rock fusion—highlighting the musical characteristics of each style and contrasting each successive era. For musicians and non-musicians alike—to increase their appreciation and enjoyment of jazz.

Mark C. Gridley is an active jazz musician and educator. He has done field research in Africa, the Caribbean, and all the jazz centers of America. His books have been translated into five foreign languages. His articles appear in the Grove Dictionaries of Music, Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Musical Quarterly, The Black Perspective in Music, The Instrumentalist, and Jazz Educators Journal.