Jazz: An Introduction

This updated work covers the period from the first African-American folk songs to the present day and provides coverage of such areas as free jazz and fusion. The emphasis of this book is on the central nature of rhythm and drumming in jazz. Furthermore it discusses not only the music and its procedures but also the social and aesthetic contexts in which it was created. Although it is not necessary to read music to appreciate the book, some detailed technical descriptions are given in the appendices.