Author Jenkins is editor of the Web site All About Jazz and an active author of jazz-album liner notes, musician obituaries, and jazz-related Web logs. This encyclopedia attempts to cover the relevant history and seminal artists. In his introduction, Jenkins describes the beginnings of free jazz in the late 1950s as "an exploration of all the sounds that could be drawn out of instruments" with "an emphasis on group improvisation that offered a fresh, spontaneous flow of ideas." Two subsequent chapters help set the context for the rest of the encyclopedia. "Controlled Chaos: The Nature of Free Music" attempts to define jazz music and then distinguishes between free jazz and free improvisation. Jenkins quotes guitarist Derek Bailey to explain the difference: "'free jazz is a form of music, while free improvisation is an approach to making music.'" Next, "The Path to Freedom" provides a complete narrative history of these musical forms and details the social and musical milieu out of which they grew. A "Chronology of Events" listing landmark recordings, concerts, label beginnings, and deaths of prominent performers further enhances the encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia entries are alphabetical and range from a short paragraph to 15 pages. Most focus on individual musicians and groups, but record labels and performance venues are also covered A nice feature of many entries for both jazz fan and music librarian is the author's willingness to recommend particular recordings or releases as seminal or emblematic of an artist's oeuvre. Also included in the encyclopedia are a topical list of entries and a "Suggested Readings" section, which includes biographies, reference books, and periodical articles.
Overall, this is an informative and comprehensive reference work on a little-known jazz subgenre and is recommended for comprehensive jazz collections. Michael Tosko
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
[A] valuable addition to the pool of research tools. For the music researcher just beginning research of for those who need a quick overview of the genre, this is a most helpful resource. I found it to be very well organized, informative, and insightful. I can now listen to these artists with a more knowledgeable ear.
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Music Reference Services Quarterly
[H]ighly recommended for specialty collections….[J]enkins' A-Z reference provides an encyclopedia of key figures, groups, and movements within the jazz world, charting a trend which began in the mid-1950s and ran parallel to America's civil rights movement. A specialty item highly recommended for in-depth college-level jazz holdings.
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MBR Internet Bookwatch
^I[F]ree Jazz and Free Improvisation^R is not only seminal, but verges on completist. This is the only serious encyclopedic work on jazz and free improvisation to date in English, and perhaps in any language. Music libraries would be making a sad mistake to leave it un-ordered. It should be treated as a standard reference text for the genre. It provides the basic biographical information, historical contexts and chronology for curious listeners, music journalists and academics to understand a most profound artistic revolution.
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Jazz Notes
This is the first English-language encyclopedia devoted to the topic….Recommended for music libraries and large research libraries.
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Reference & User Services Quarterly
The main virtue of this encyclopedia is that it gathers nearly the entire free jazz family under one massive umbrella, and I know that I'll be consulting it on a regular basis. A strong effort and an invaluable resource.
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All About Jazz
This groundbreaking guide to an often maligned and misunderstood musical movement is the work of freelance writer and jazz enthusiast, Todd S. Jenkins….The remarkable result is a tool for both research and listening pleasure. Jenkins firmly demonstrates the continuing influence of free jazz on contemporary music, and his guide is highly recommended for any collection supporting music research or jazz aficionados.
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Lawrence Looks at Books
[A]n informative and comprehensive reference work on a little-known jazz subgenre and is recommended for comprehensive jazz collections.
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Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"As the first resource devoted to an enduring and influential American Musical form, this is highly recommended for all libraries."
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Library Journal, Starred Review
The strength of this work is its immediacy and focus….Recommended. General and academic collections.
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