Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion

Not a comprehensive treatment of jazz in theory or history—for that see Ted Gioia and Gunther Schuller—but a gentle introduction that's valuable in its own right. Messenger illustrates each point with examples at the piano, making his presentation a perfect complement to more academic treatments of the subject, and making it especially accessible to those who can't read music. Since Messenger proceeds in historical order, I'd recommend listening to this audiobook alongside Gioia's _History of Jazz_.

Messenger's thoroughly enjoyable format here passed by so easily that I couldn't believe it finished so soon. The 8 discs each focus on a stage of jazz, starting with ragtime and blues, then swing, then more modern formats. His stories and anecdotes make the history stick. This is a topic especially well suited to an audio format. He plays short examples of the various observations throughout the whole work.

This is a great introduction to the history of jazz music in its different forms throughout the decades. The instructor is very knowledgeable and has some fascinating insight into how certain sub-genres reflect and inspired the times in which they were popular. All the examples you can listen to in the audiobook version are a big bonus. The only con I can think of is I wish it were longer.

Great intro to jazz. I appreciated the structure of these lessons, taking one type of jazz at a time and discussing it (and how they built on each other). What was explained in this audible has always eluded me in the past. Not being knowledgeable about music (I love it but don't know the terminology, etc.), this was mostly still understandable...but I can't swear I've got it permanently. It'd be a good one to listen to again in the future after more music listening.

I think that Bill Messenger is more of a musician than a historian, or even maybe than a music theorist. I feel like I learned a lot but there were also a few things that seemed lacking or that were confusing to me in this course; I think it was a great starting point, however, and I'm excited to learn more.

The Great Courses does a great job. It was nice to have this in audio book. That way you can hear the music and the variations as described.

This is one of the Great Courses CD sets covering the history of Jazz. It is a good history starting from Cakewalks, an early black form of music combining some African and some European elements. This grew to Ragtime, and ultimately to a variety of forms of Jazz.

One CD is devoted to each style. The discussion covers how it evolved, what elements are unique and what characterizes the style, and how it came to be replaced. There are many music samples and the speaker includes comments on music theory.

The series is full of information and very enjoyable. And it goes fast.