More important than the music : a history of jazz discography /

A discography was originally a list of phonograph records, but it now encompasses recordings in any format. The term was coined as records and record collectors proliferated in the 1920s and 1930s, and jazz enthusiasts became discographers early on. Their work was especially urgent, for the genre was improvisational, records providing the only documentation of many performers, pieces, and interpretations. Over the years countless jazz discographies have been published--with coverage ranging from vast and comprehensive to narrowly focused, for example, recordings of one artist--most notably by ardent, meticulous American and European amateurs. In this carefully researched history, Epperson (an independent scholar) chronicles jazz discography from its inception to the present, providing fascinating, behind-the-scenes information about the work and standards of seminal figures such as Brian Rust and Tom Lord, and a plethora of other important compilers. Information on how the discographers influenced each other is particularly notable. This study fills a significant gap in discographic research, and it belongs in academic music libraries and public libraries with significant music collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. D. Arnold University of North Texas