The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz » (3-Volume Set)

Musicologist Barry Kernfeld has been the editor of The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz since 1984. He has taught jazz history at both Cornell University and Hamilton College.

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition is the largest, most comprehensive and accurate reference work on jazz ever published, putting the world of jazz at your fingertips. With articles on every aspect of the field, from jazz groups, composers and arrangers to instruments, terms, record labels and venues, the new edition is the ideal companion for scholars and enthusiasts in this rapidly growing field.

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition is unique:

· No other title covers jazz to this extent across all forms and styles

· The only way to be completely up-to-date with the full scope of writing in this field

· Provides new perspectives to established areas of study—musicology, film and media, American studies, modern social history, women's studies and cultural studies, to name a few

· Offers a one-stop resource to all the key names in the jazz world

Library Journal

The first edition of this reference (1988) was the best single source available for several kinds of information about jazz and jazz musicians. Now three volumes instead of two, the greatly expanded second edition succeeds to that distinction, including more than 7750 entries in just under 3000 pages. Kernfeld, editor of the first edition, presents 3000 revised articles and 2750 new entries, more than 2250 of which are biographies, including 1500 on musicians who emerged in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Kevin Mahogany and the Mandala Octet). In addition, many new entries can be found under "Nightclubs and Other Venues," which at 155 pages has doubled in size since the first edition. Arranged by city, this section lists current venues as well as places of historical interest (though, unfortunately, Oklahoma City is not included). Some of these clubs and locales are also listed and cross-referenced among the first-order entries, biographical and other. "Other" should be emphasized, because this work encompasses virtually everything else that a researcher might want to investigate jazz styles, instruments, record labels, nicknames, guilds and associations, jazz language, libraries and archives, false fingering techniques for horns, festivals, titles of films containing jazz scenes, a list of contrafacts (melodies built on the chord progressions of other pieces) and even biographies of a few jazz writers and critics. Except for very short entries, every essay is signed and includes, as appropriate, a bibliography, a discography, and a filmography. The biographies are all similarly structured to facilitate the search for specific kinds of information and show few traces of individual style. Contributors are listed at the end of Volume 3, together with the headings of the entries with which they are credited. In view of the assiduous cross-checking of facts and the careful documentation and attribution, there is little room for fault-finding with this resource except, perhaps, to complain that Grove should have made it 12 volumes rather than a paltry three. But if a researcher wants more information about, say, George Shearing than is contained in the pianist's 900-word biography, this is only to acknowledge that no single jazz reference, however monumental, can possibly include everything. Even The New Grove leaves room on the shelves for some smaller, more specialized works, such as Leonard Feather's several jazz encyclopedias, Gunther Schuller's The Swing Era, William Kenney's Chicago Jazz, and Mark Tucker's Ellington. This new edition is highly recommended for public and academic libraries. [In early 2002, this reference will be incorporated into the subscription site newgrove.com, which offers full-text access to the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed.] Harold V. Cordry, Baldwin, KS Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.