For its initiates, jazz is instinctive and engaging—the way that popular music should be. For non-aficionados, it can be slippery and difficult to grasp: without familiar forms or a hard-and-fast format, and largely ruled by improvisation, jazz leaves the novice baffled, not sure how to listen, and asking “how is it that they know what to play?” 30-Second Jazz explains, in easy, short riffs that keep you engaged, taking readers from the African-American roots of jazz all the way to today’s global mix of musicians and styles. Along the way, it looks at the shape, style, and instruments of jazz, at key personalities and recordings in the jazz canon—and at what might be expected next from this most diverse of musical forms.

Table of Contents:
6 Foreword 8 Introduction Chapter 1: THE SHAPE OF JAZZ  12 GLOSSARY  14 Bands, big and small 16 How the parts function 18 How do they know what to play? 20 The jazz language and how it’s learned 22 Where jazz was played in the past 24 Where jazz is played now 26  The diversity of styles 28 PROFILE: Duke Ellington Chapter 2: STYLES OF JAZZ   32 GLOSSARY  34 New Orleans & classic jazz  36 Swing 38 Orchestral jazz   40 Bebop to Hard Bop 42 Bossa Nova to Freedom 44 Jazz Rock and Fusion  46 European Jazz 48 PROFILE: Charlie Parker Chapter 3: INSTRUMENTS OF JAZZ 52 GLOSSARY 54 Brass: trumpet & trombone   56 Saxophones, clarinet, flute 58 Piano 60 Bass (double bass & bass guitar) 62 Drums & percussion 64  Guitar (acoustic & electric) 66 Jazz specialties: vibraphone, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes Jelectric piano 68 PROFILE: Louis Armstrong Chapter 4: VOCAL JAZZ 72 GLOSSARY  74 Divas 76 Great American Songbook: Men 78 Great American Songbook: Women 80 Jazz Entertainers 82 Vocal Groups 84  Scat & Vocalese 86 Contemporaries 88 PROFILE: Ella Fitzgerald Chapter 5: CLASSIC JAZZ ALBUMS 92 GLOSSARY  94 Louis Armstrong: Satch Plays Fats 96 Benny Goodman: Carnegie Hall Concert 98 Count Basie: The Atomic Basie 100 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 102 John Coltrane: A Love Supreme 104  Weather Report: Black Market 106 Michael Brecker: Now You See It, Now You Don’t 108 Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert 110 PROFILE: Miles Davis Chapter 6: JAZZ & THE BLUES 114 GLOSSARY  116 A Shared History 118 Characteristics: Early Blues 120 Jazz & Blues Meet 122 Blues & Big Bands 124 Boogie Woogie 126 Electric Guitar (BB King, T-Bone Walker) 128 Jazz & Blues-Rock Explosion 130 Profile: PROFILE: BB King Chapter 7: TODAY IS THE  QUESTION 134 GLOSSARY   136 Citizens of the World (Israel, Benin, Cuba etc) 138 Beyond Bop  140 Technophiles 142 Maverick Adventurers 144 Avant Now 148 Second law 150 Third law 152 Profile: James Clerk-Maxwell 154 Notes on Contributors   156 Resources 158 Index 160 Acknowledgements