Jazz Of The 60's And Beyond: Jazz Bible Series Paperback – 1 Nov. 2004

Great music.

Overall, I like this book and will keep it. However, I have the same reservations about the content of all of the "Jazz Bible" books I've seen so far. There is simply too much overlap ("Frim Fram Sauce"? 60s? What? Just look at the pub date.) and filler ("Legalize My Name"… Ouch!) for me. As a consumer, I find this confusing and annoying.To be fair, there are some gems ("Unit 7, "Circle"). But, why "Wagon Wheels" is in here but not "Mercy, Mercy Mercy" is beyond me. I have heard Jazz every day from my first and consider it a living, inclusive organism, from Louis Gottschalk to Cecil Taylor. I also get the "Beyond" part, but on the other hand I have lots of Hal Leonard books of Classical music and I don't see "Would You Like To Take A Walk" in any of those. I wonder whether any of their Pop collections have "Una Muy Bonita".Again, I am keeping all 3 of the books I have (50s, Swing and this one) for the hard-to-finds and the high quality of the physical publication. All it lacks is a lay-flat binding. But before you buy, I would suggest that you go to Hal Leonard's site and check out the full song list, to see how much of what's there is the real deal.

Content is ok, but some titles are very unfamiliar . The arrangements sound full and rich, just difficult to find what you're looking for...

It does what it says it is