What Jazz is: An Insider's Guide to Understanding and Listening to Jazz

A jazz pianist from the age of nine, King offers genre neophytes an introductory text worthy of such players as Hank Mobley and Herbie Hancock, just two of many musicians he cites throughout. If chapters that define ideas such as improvisation and swing at first seem rudimentary to more seasoned enthusiasts, King's tactics remain instructive to the lay fan. The author's defining belief is that an educated listener makes for a more appreciative, active listener. For a good third of the book, he examines a handful of recordings he believes demonstrate the genre's key ingredients. Rather than inundate his prospective jazz fan with exclusive hipster jargon, King relates his ideas in an easy, friendly prose style not unlike that of one of the most respected jazz writers of an earlier generation--Nat Hentoff. Whereas Hentoff preferred to focus on the genre's more colorful personalities, King focuses on the music and its relationship to the audiences. The fan with more than a passing knowledge of legendary performers or music theory may choose to invest in another book, but for curious beginners this is an excellent introduction to the often confounding world of jazz. (July)