Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler (editors), The Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz

Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler (editors), The Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz - An absolute classic that must be on the shelf of every serious jazz afficionado.

And lo before All Music Dot Com there was a great darkness save for a light that shone from the West, and it was called The Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz, and blessed was the name of the prophet for it was Feather, Leonard Feather. Simply the Bible of jazz information sources, the Biographical Encyclopedia is an essential resource for all from the casual listener through to the avid fanatic. It is less personalized than the All Music guide To Jazz and more comprehensive than Ian Carr's Jazz, the Essential Companion.

This edition is an extensively revised and expanded collection of no less than 4 other titles. A truly mammoth accomplishment by one of the few jazz critics to gain celebrity for themselves. Exactly how this was achieved and what his motives were have been hotly debated - Feather has been accused of both championing the music he loved and nearly ruining it. It must be said that Feather probably didn't carry the respect of the players as much as he would like to have thought, Miles Davis in particular ("You've been reading that a*****e Leonard Feather, haven't you"), but his association with the music at the core of its happening, with his finger on the pulse cannot be contested. It placed him in the perfect position to commentate as he did in a stylish prose that engendered enthusiasm that otherwise may not have been so widespread and popularised the art form, even if he demoted some of its facets to pulp. Ira Gitler, editor of DownBeat in the 60s, and author of several jazz-related books and many articles, was involved in the project from 4 years prior to Feather's death in 1994, and nurtured it through to its completion. A magnificent volume that belongs at the centre of every jazz listener's library.