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Jazz

Last Updated: 5-Apr-2013

Find recordings, printed music, books, and articles on all aspects of jazz.

Subject Librarians

Ray Heigemeir
Public Services Librarian, Music Library
Music Library
(650) 384-9985

Subjects

Music
Jazz

Around Stanford

Stanford Jazz Workshop

Media

Streaming audio

These databases provide access to thousands of jazz releases.  Note that a small number of tracks are not available in the United States.

Naxos music library. Jazz [electronic resource].
[S.l.] : Naxos Digital Services Ltd.

A mobile app is available for this database.

Music online. Jazz music library [electronic resource].
[Alexandria, VA] : Alexander Street Press

The Mosaic series

Mosaic records released over 100 CD sets of classic jazz recordings. Browse them here:

› See all 119 results
  1. The Reprise studio recordings [sound recording]

    Duke Ellington. 1999

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 21861 ...

  2. The complete Arista recordings of Anthony Braxton [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 22323 ...

  3. The complete Candid recordings of Charles Mingus [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 21825 ...

On DVD

Jazz DVDs in the Music LIbrary include the Jazz Icons series, as well as other performances. See also, Ken Burns:

Jazz [videorecording] / a Florentine Films production ; produced by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick ; a film [directed] by Ken Burns ; written by Geoffrey C. Ward.
[Washington, D.C.?] : PBS DVD ; Burbank, CA : distributed by Warner Home Video, c2000.
Music Library » Recordings » MDVD 3 EPISODE 1

Jazz discographies

The jazz discography [electronic resource] / Tom Lord.
West Vancouver, B.C. : Lord Music Reference, c2006.

General discography of all categories of recorded jazz, from 1896 to today. Covers all categories of jazz and other creative improvised music, including Traditional, Swing, Bop, Modern, Avant-Garde, Fusion, Third Stream, etc.

Many jazz discographies are available in print in the Archve of Recorded Sound.  A few are also available onlline. Search in SearchWorks, or browse titles here:

› See all 455 results
  1. The jazz discography [electronic resource]

    Tom Lord. 2004

    Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.4 .J3 L86 2004

  2. 85 years of recorded jazz [electronic resource] : A-Z complete : (1897), 1917-2002

    Walter Bruyninckx ; Domi Truffandier. 2003

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » ML156.4 .J3 B91 2003

  3. Jazz : a critic's guide to the 100 most important recordings

    Ben Ratliff. 2002

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.4 .J3 R37 2002

Jazz CDs--new arrivals

All circulating jazz recordings may be searched in the SearchWorks catalog.

› See all 1847 results
  1. Avanço [sound recording]

    Tamba Trio. 2012

    Music Library » Recordings » (No call number)

  2. Elis & Touts

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24250 CD 8

  3. The hustler [sound recording]

    Willie Colon. 2012

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24377

  4. Original album series [sound recording]

    Anita Baker. 2012

    Music Library » Recordings » (No call number)

  5. Radio music society [sound recording]

    Esperanza Spalding. 2012

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 23859

  6. The rough guide to the music of China [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24366

  7. The rough guide to the music of Ethiopia [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » (No call number)

  8. The Rough guide to the music of New Orleans [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 23842

  9. Rough guide to the music of Scandinavia [sound recording].

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24368

  10. Almamúsica [sound recording]

    Olivia & Francis Hime. 2011

    Music Library » Recordings » MCD 24193

Printed music

Note that scores for jazz solos are shelved with other solo repertoire for individual instruments.

 

Browse the stacks:

M 1366 Jazz ensembles
M 1630.18 Jazz fake books
MT 68 .A334 Jamey Aebersold Play-A-Long series

 

The Aebersold Play-A-Long series numbers over 100 volumes, and have an accompanying CD.

 

Reference works

Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press

Begin your research by reading the article on JAZZ in the New Grove Dictionary, part of Oxford Music Online.

In the Reference Room:

The new Grove dictionary of jazz / edited by Barry Kernfeld.
2nd ed. New York : Grove's Dictionaries Inc., 2002.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML102 .J3 N53 2002 V.1
The Virgin encyclopedia of jazz / compiled and edited by Colin Larkin.
Rev. and updated [ed.]. London : Virgin in association with Muze UK Ltd., 2004.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML102 .J3 V57 2004
Jazz scholarship and pedagogy : a research and information guide / Eddie S. Meadows.
3rd ed. New York : Routledge, 2006.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML128 .J3 M34 2005
The Penguin jazz guide : the history of the music in the 1,001 best albums / Brian Morton and Richard Cook.
London ; New York : Penguin Books, 2010.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.4 .J3 M67 2010
A biographical guide to the great jazz and pop singers / Will Friedwald.
1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c2010.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML102 .J3 F75 2010
Free jazz and free improvisation : an encyclopedia / Todd S. Jenkins.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2004.
Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML102 .J3 J46 2004 V.1

Many jazz discographies are available in print in the Archve of Recorded Sound.  A few are also available onlline. Search in SearchWorks, or browse titles here:

› See all 455 results
  1. The jazz discography [electronic resource]

    Tom Lord. 2004

    Music Library » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.4 .J3 L86 2004

  2. 85 years of recorded jazz [electronic resource] : A-Z complete : (1897), 1917-2002

    Walter Bruyninckx ; Domi Truffandier. 2003

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Locked Stacks: ask at circulation desk » ML156.4 .J3 B91 2003

  3. Jazz : a critic's guide to the 100 most important recordings

    Ben Ratliff. 2002

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML156.4 .J3 R37 2002

Books and articles

Browse the stacks:

ML 3505- General histories
ML3518 Big bands, dance bands
ML 3561 Jazz in America
MT 68 Improvisation and arrangement


Use the indexes listed on the databases and indexes page to find articles on jazz.

Browse a list of jazz periodicals here. 

Browse new jazz books:

› See all 2418 results
  1. Jazz

    Paul O. W. Tanner, David W. Megill. 2013

    Music Library » Stacks » ML3506 .T36 2013

  2. Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy : Gennett Records and the rise of America's musical grassroots

    Rick Kennedy ; foreword by Ted Gioia. 2013

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML3792 .S73 K45 2013

  3. Why jazz happened

    Marc Myers. 2013

    Music Library » Stacks » ML3508 .M94 2013

  4. Africa speaks, America answers : modern jazz in revolutionary times

    Robin D.G. Kelley. 2012

    Music Library » Stacks » ML3508 .K44 2012

  5. Always in trouble : an oral history of ESP-Disk', the most outrageous record label in America

    Jason Weiss. 2012

    Archive of Recorded Sound » Reference (non-circulating) » ML405 .W45 2012

Archival collections

Most collections are located in the Archive of Recorded Sound.

Monterey Jazz Festival logo

The Monterey Jazz Festival Collection

Recordings of live performances throughout the history of this enduring American cultural institution.

The Williams Quartette

Bob Arnold Collection

Bob Arnold was a popular music historian and collector in Albany, California.

Riverwalk Jazz logo

Riverwalk Jazz Collection

Riverwalk Jazz: Live At The Landing educated and entertained public radio listeners with a program devoted to celebrating traditional jazz and popular music of the pre-war era.

l to r: Jim Cullum Sr., Willson Davis, Louis Armstrong, Harvey Kindervater, and Jim Cullum Jr., 1965.

Jim Cullum Collection

The Happy Jazz Band was formed in 1962 by Jim Cullum with his son, Jim Cullum, Jr. in San Antonio, Texas.

Web resources

Smithsonian Jazz
The Smithsonian Institution has a long record of leadership in preserving and promoting the historical legacy of jazz, presenting diverse jazz programs, and jazz education.
Jazz: a film by Ken Burns
This site accompanies the PBS series, available on DVD at both Music and Green libraries. Check SearchWorks for call number and availability.
Jazz online
Reviews, FAQs, video interviews, bulletin board, audio and video clips, artist interviews, archives.
Jazz.com
Jazz.com covers the world of jazz music with reviews, interviews, forums, jazz art galleries, the jazz.com blog and the latest jazz news.
Red Hot Jazz Archive
Jazz history to 1930.
Jazz pronunciation guide
From the New England Jazz Radio Cooperative
Jazz on the screen
This searchable filmography documents the work of some 1,000 major jazz and blues figures in over 20,000 cinema, television and video productions (Library of Congress)
The National Jukebox
Early sound recordings online (Library of Congress)
Harlem.org
Explore jazz history through one photograph.

Archives and organizations

San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation

Preserving the San Francisco traditional jazz legacy with RealAudio clips of vintage recordings, live performances, and historic photos and articles.

The Brubeck Institute (University of the Pacific)

The Brubeck Institute advances the multi-disciplinary study, performance and perpetuation of Dave Brubeck's musical compositions, recordings, performances, career, times, influence and influences, with emphasis on, but not limited to, jazz.

Institute of Jazz Studies (Rutgers University)

The Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world.

Chicago Jazz Archive (University of Chicago)

Founded in 1976 to preserve materials on the birth and early growth of Chicago jazz.

Hogan Jazz Archive (Tulane University)

The Hogan Jazz Archive is a renowned resource for New Orleans Jazz research. The collection includes oral histories, recorded music, photographs and film, and sheet music and orchestrations. It also maintains files of manuscripts, clippings, and bibliographic references; vintage and contemporary books and periodicals; and discographies and encyclopedias.

Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz

An essential forum for identifying the music's new voices, honoring its present and past masters, and making the jazz aesthetic available and comprehensible in concert halls and classrooms around the world.

National Jazz Archive (UK)

We are the UK’s repository and research centre for printed material, photographs and memorabilia concerning jazz, blues and related music. We aim to inspire and tell the story of jazz in the UK.

Jazz-Institut Darmstadt

Europe's largest public research archive on jazz.