Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia

A major new reference book covering the whole history of jazz, with over 2000 entries on jazz artists and bands.

Richard Cook has been writing about music since the 1970s: he has contributed to the NME, Wire (he was their editor for seven years) and the Sunday Times, and is co-author of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. He has also been a record industry executive and is a regular broadcaster.

Richard Cook&rsquo;s Jazz Encyclopedia is not merely an A-Z guide to the artists and bands who have shaped jazz, but it also tracks the history of jazz and its changing styles. This is a wonderfully accessible work. Richard Cook's passion for jazz and his strongly held opinions make this the liveliest and most trenchantly witty encyclopedia you'll have read. Whether you're trying to find out why Louis Armstrong was called Satchmo (his nickname as a kid was Satchelmouth), what bebop is, or the difference between Gil Evans and Bill Evans &ndash; this book has all the answers.

Brian Morton

Richard Cook

The History of the Music in the 1000 Best Albums

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings is firmly established as the world's leading guide to recorded jazz, a mine of fascinating information and a source of insightful - often wittily trenchant - criticism. This is something rather different: Brian Morton (who taught American history at UEA) has picked out the 1000 best recordings that all jazz fans should have and shows how they tell the history of the music and with it the history of the twentieth century. He has completely revised his and Richard Cook's entries and reassessed each artist's entry for this book. The result is an endlessly browsable companion that will prove required reading for aficionados and jazz novices alike. 
 
'It's the kind of book that you'll yank off the shelf to look up a quick fact and still be reading two hours later' Fortune 
 
'Part jazz history, part jazz Karma Sutra with Cook and Morton as the knowledgeable, urbane, wise and witty guides ... This is one of the great books of recorded jazz; the other guides don't come close' Irish Times

Richard Cook

Books by Richard Cook

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