This contains over 4500 essays by many jazz writers and scholars. It blends information with selected recordings, bibliographical data and critical assessments. Entries cover performers, styles, festivals and venues, instruments, record labels, terminology and the history of jazz. The whole scope of jazz is covered, from Louis Armstrong to Boogie Woogie, from improvization to the Montreux Festival, and from blues to the banjo and Bird. It is an unaltered reprint in one edition of the original edition, but it includes a list of the jazz musicians who have passed away in the years since publication. It includes: 4500 entries, 1800 discographies, 1000 cross-references, 220 photographs and 100 musical examples.