More Important Than the Music

A History of Jazz Discography

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Music Styles, Jazz & Blues, Jazz
Cover of the book More Important Than the Music by Bruce D. Epperson, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Bruce D. Epperson ISBN: 9780226067674
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: October 1, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Bruce D. Epperson
ISBN: 9780226067674
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: October 1, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

Today, jazz is considered high art, America’s national music, and the catalog of its recordings—its discography—is often taken for granted. But behind jazz discography is a fraught and highly colorful history of research, fanaticism, and the intense desire to know who played what, where, and when. This history gets its first full-length treatment in Bruce D. Epperson’s More Important Than the Music. Following the dedicated few who sought to keep jazz’s legacy organized, Epperson tells a fascinating story of archival pursuit in the face of negligence and deception, a tale that saw curses and threats regularly employed, with fisticuffs and lawsuits only slightly rarer.

Epperson examines the documentation of recorded jazz from its casual origins as a novelty in the 1920s and ’30s, through the overwhelming deluge of 12-inch vinyl records in the middle of the twentieth century, to the use of computers by today’s discographers. Though he focuses much of his attention on comprehensive discographies, he also examines the development of a variety of related listings, such as buyer’s guides and library catalogs, and he closes with a look toward discography’s future. From the little black book to the full-featured online database, More Important Than the Music offers a history not just of jazz discography but of the profoundly human desire to preserve history itself.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Today, jazz is considered high art, America’s national music, and the catalog of its recordings—its discography—is often taken for granted. But behind jazz discography is a fraught and highly colorful history of research, fanaticism, and the intense desire to know who played what, where, and when. This history gets its first full-length treatment in Bruce D. Epperson’s More Important Than the Music. Following the dedicated few who sought to keep jazz’s legacy organized, Epperson tells a fascinating story of archival pursuit in the face of negligence and deception, a tale that saw curses and threats regularly employed, with fisticuffs and lawsuits only slightly rarer.

Epperson examines the documentation of recorded jazz from its casual origins as a novelty in the 1920s and ’30s, through the overwhelming deluge of 12-inch vinyl records in the middle of the twentieth century, to the use of computers by today’s discographers. Though he focuses much of his attention on comprehensive discographies, he also examines the development of a variety of related listings, such as buyer’s guides and library catalogs, and he closes with a look toward discography’s future. From the little black book to the full-featured online database, More Important Than the Music offers a history not just of jazz discography but of the profoundly human desire to preserve history itself.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book The War Complex by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Landscapes of Accumulation by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Invitation to Law and Society, Second Edition by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book The Business of Being a Writer by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book The Black Image in the White Mind by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Siege of the Spirits by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book The Arc of War by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Maimonides and Spinoza by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Headless Males Make Great Lovers by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Nonsense on Stilts by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Contesting Nietzsche by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Document Raj by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Beethoven for a Later Age by Bruce D. Epperson
Cover of the book Backflash by Bruce D. Epperson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy