Including hundreds of illustrations, The Chronicle of Jazz tells the whole story of jazz music and its personalities, a story rich with innovation, experimentation and controversy. This is a celebration of an imaginative and enduring music, and is a rich resource for both jazz aficionados and all music lovers.

Beginning at the dawn of the twentieth century, the book charts the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and the southern United States to the many styles heard around the world today, and looks closely at how jazz has influenced, and been influenced by, other musical and artistic forms.

Each chronologically arranged section contains special features, on topics ranging from the bossa nova craze to jazz in Paris, personality sketches and seminal gigs and albums.

The book features hundreds of rare images, from record-cover artwork to pictures of live performances, and is accompanied by an accessible and wide-ranging text that turns music into words and histories into living images.