Jazz reference Books.

Message

Bob the Builder · #1 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 8:30 pm

Some of the CD’s I’ve bought over the past few years have very little information on them in regard to recording dates and artists involved. I’m wanting to look for some of this information and I’m finding that websites like www.allmusic.com are not giving me all I’m looking for.
Does any one know of any good Jazz reference books that will give me the following info:

song name,
composer and date composted
recording artists, and date recorded.

Thanks
Bob the Builder

GemZombie · #2 Post by **GemZombie** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 2:01 am

I have a book called the "Big Band Almanac" that has a lot of that kind of info. Not a lot about individual songs, but mentions some of the most popular by all sorts of artists.

It's a good reference for sure.

Haydn · #3 Post by **Haydn** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:33 am

GemZombie wrote:I have a book called the "Big Band Almanac" that has a lot of that kind of info. Not a lot about individual songs, but mentions some of the most popular by all sorts of artists.

It's a good reference for sure.

I bought this recently. It's excellent. Lots of photos and info on bands I haven't heard of -

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Band-Almanac- ... 0306803453

Eyeball · #4 Post by **Eyeball** » Sat May 26, 2007 5:04 pm

For general and tons of information on the big bands from almost all possible angles, I like much more THE BIG BANDS by George T. Simon...far more than Leo Walker's Big Band Almanac.

I bought TBB when it came out, which is a scary thought, since it came out 40 years ago when there was virtually *nothing* in print on big bands.

TBB is good b/c he has chapters on the recordings and songs, as well as indie chaps on various BB leaders

The only place I could start to fault the book is that GTS wrote around 'sensitive' issues - usually relating to sex or boozing, but if you read between the lines, the info is there.

Your best source for info regarding song and recordings and their history and background are the liner notes on the back of LPs. Sorry.

Ummmmm...if you can...get all those Reader's Digest big band box set reissues. They were laden with information and commentary on tunes and records and such. And there were a few dozen of them individual artists like Shaw and T. Dorsey and Miller and others, plus huge 10 LP sets of various big bands of the 30s and 40s.....and with 2 or 3 exceptions, they used all original recordings.....they were great.

Bob the Builder · #5 Post by **Bob the Builder** » Sat May 26, 2007 7:05 pm

The answer to my above question:

The Jazz Discography - Tom Lord

Worth every buck.

Brian

Eyeball · #6 Post by **Eyeball** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:06 pm

Oh. You needed a discography.

I'm gonna have to read these posts more carefully!

Haydn · #7 Post by **Haydn** » Sun May 27, 2007 5:14 am

Bob the Builder wrote:The answer to my above question:

The Jazz Discography - Tom Lord

Worth every buck.

Brian

You mean this - available on CD for $350 ...

http://www.lordisco.com/cdrom.html#top

sonofvu · #8 Post by **sonofvu** » Tue May 29, 2007 11:15 am

Haydn wrote:
Bob the Builder wrote:The answer to my above question:

The Jazz Discography - Tom Lord

Worth every buck.

Brian
You mean this - available on CD for $350 ...

http://www.lordisco.com/cdrom.html#top

Three Fiddy. Oooph! The things we do for love.

Eyeball · #9 Post by **Eyeball** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:44 pm

there are far less expensive discographies out there.

Haydn · #10 Post by **Haydn** » Wed May 30, 2007 1:38 am

Eyeball wrote:there are far less expensive discographies out there.

Such as?

Eyeball · #11 Post by **Eyeball** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:16 am

You have the classic standard discographies tha have been serving the jazz fan and record collector for decades..

NEW HOT DISCOGRAPHY - HUGHES PANASSIE
Covers many/most jazz and big band swing recordings up to about 1947. There arte many gaps due to many things, but it is a super book to have for fast reference..

JAZZ RECORDS 1897 - 1942 - BRIAN RUST 2 volume set - Very detailed and FAR more complete than NEW HOT DISCOGRAPHY. JAZZ RECORDS had perhaps maybe 4 revisions before RUST died. Downside - 1942 cut-off date.

JEPSEN - Picks up where RUST leaves off - a pioneering work (SEE NEXT POST FOR MORE INFO.)

Those were the 2 standard discographies that people used for years. DOWNSIDE for modern day collectors - Neither books make much or any use of LP issue numbers. It is near strictly 78 rpm issues.

The 2 great efforts above been rivaled by the LORD sets of discographies and the one by the guy with the Polish name.

There were also some great and fabulous "bio-discographies" which were day by day tracking of the artist, mostly focused on his music and usually containing photographs -

BENNY GOODMAN - ON THE RECORD / OFF THE RECORD / FOR THE RECORD (Sucessive volumes) TWO AUTHORS (Names escaping me now) Trend-setting volumes tracking BG day by day, recxord by record, gig by gig. The 2 later volumes included LP issues.

GLENN MILLER - MOONLIGHT SERENADE - JOHN FLOWER - Same concept as above

FLETCHER HENDERSON - HENDERSONIA - WALTER C. ALLEN - Twisted fabulous bio-dsco tracing Henderson nearly hour by hour. Unbelievably detailed book.

There have been many other discographies of various bands and musicians, many of them issued by Joyce Records. If the quality was anything like their LP reissues, then they were only for the 'must-have' fans and collectors.

I dont know how available any of these still are. RUST also did a 2 volume AMERICAN DANCE BAND DISCOGRAPHY that included all the big bands that he had left out of JAZZ RECORDS.

For a great source for in print and ou of print Jazz books - by from an old duffer that has devoted his many later years to Jazz book selling right out here in Southern California. Last time I checked a few years ago and had a marvelously primitive web site that seemed to be a web site set up by someone who didnt know what a web site was supposed to do. Maybe he has fixed that by now. And his name is....stalling for time and memory....ummmm...oh, damn....I have known him since the 1970s in NY.....Mr. ARTHUR NEWMAN in FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA

And last time I checked, Mr. Newman was still sending out printed multi-page 'catalogs' of rare Jazz and music books. You could go broke!

Uh oh - e-mail bounced back...hmmmm

Eyeball · #12 Post by **Eyeball** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:25 am

Wow - I left out JEPSEN.

HEY - CHECK THIS OUT. I could have saved myself a lot of typing!

http://www.78rpmrecord.com/discog.htm

Eyeball · #13 Post by **Eyeball** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:38 am

This was not a discograpy and it always seemed super-useful and fun, but I never got it. It was premium priced then, but now it seems to be in good supply...and far less costly.

The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950. 4 volumes
Author: Kinkle, Roger D.
Publisher: Arlington House New Rochelle 1974

Ex libris. (xl) 464 pages, Music Year by Year 1900-1950; Pages 477-1266, Biographies A-K; Pages 1277-2000. Biographies L-Z; Pages 2017-2644, Indexes and Appendices; 2006 biographies, almost 40,000 records listed; tall 8vo, original blue cloth. Good+ condition, front endpapers removed, library stamps, withdrawn stamps; contents near fine, lok unused; dust jackets in plastic sleeves taped to covers, very good-, labels spine Hard Cover

phantom dancer · #14 Post by **phantom dancer** » Thu May 31, 2007 6:37 pm

Put up 5 Brian Rust Discographies on the OTR CD page (Reference Book Section) of http://www.gregpoppleton.com

Cheers
Greg