The 8 Best Jazz Books (2023 reviews)

Best part: mark levine jazz book costs reasonable and it is available to ship in 24 hours. This is a book that all jazz musicians should read through. Your jazz knowledge and technique will exponentiate and it will blow your socks off, including your fellow musicians in your band/trio/ensemble and you’ll be a well-rounded musician. It goes deeply into where others leave off and cut short, and it does so with clear, simple explanations and illustrations that makes the complex discussion of advanced harmony readily digestible. It has everything, with clear examples and is easy to read and understand.

The concepts are well described using 3-5 bar examples from jazz standards so it is fun to play along while reading through the text right there at the piano bench. It is best for someone who is really keen on studying. It has a wide variety of topics, all well laid out, and will provide the musician with some much-needed skills. This is a book that can only be digested over a period of years.

Why We Like This:

Great book for getting into jazz
A great companion to levine's book on jazz piano
A practical way to learn jazz theory
A must read for serious jazz musicians and writers

Best For group Discusion: Ted Gioia Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

The ted gioia jazz book should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. This book truly unlocks the mysteries of jazz to a newcomer. It includes history and major jazz innovators, along with more listening suggestions. It also really enriches your understanding of music and gives budding musicians likewise plenty of context and ideas for their own work.

The list of recommended listening not only mixes some fun into the reading, but they are immensely useful in illuminating the styles and markers of each musician's artistry. The well-trained musicians are very selective in their note process while the untrained or amateur musician tend to solo or create phrases until they run out of breath or energy. It is suitable for newcomers and intermediate listeners alikehis prose isinviting and often playful.

Why We Like This:

Helps a lot if you have a music theory knowledge
Outstanding prescription for listening to jazz
Explains some of the mysteries of what makes jazz jazz
Highly recommended for non-musicians and musicians alike

Best Physics Book: Stephon Alexander Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

The stephon alexander jazz book gives the top-tier book a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. The Jazz of Physics is an outstanding analogous exploration into the emerging comparative narrative of Jazz and all things seemingly unrelated. It's written with the savvy and grace of Brian Greene's Elegant Universe. It goes beyond physics to make it feel very real by tying it all to jazz. It’s easy to understand, high level concepts in plain english. It’s all just words strung together.

This is a good book with a very interesting perspective. It notes the intrinsic importance of intuition in both physics and jazz improvisation. This book is pretty easy to follow and an interesting read.

Why We Like This:

Combines the science of physics and the art of music together
Harmonies across space, time, and realms
Interesting and informative for those who love music and/or physics

Best coffee table Book: Jeff gold Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

Compared with other book in this category, the jeff gold jazz book has a convenient design. This is a very unique book about the SwingJazz era. It focuses on the nightclubs where the music happens, AND, provides wonderful photos of the people who go to those places. The portraits and texts are both true to life and vivid. This is a terrific book about the history of jazz clubs and the great artists who play them. The musicians in these pages make some of the most sublime music you will ever hear.

This book steps you back to seeing what the club looks like, the street it is on, and the broader context in which the music is played. The book contains a dazzling collection of relative goods, like, handbills, playbills, programs, and also a menu of souvenir pictures taken by club photographers.

Why We Like This:

Show people who were just having fun
Really gives one a sense of the fabulous times
Enough material to make you feel close to being there

Best For any Jazz lover: Alyn Shipton Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

The alyn shipton jazz book's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It is a remarkably insightful analysis of both art and jazz, showing vividly how one form has fed the other. The kindle edition is formatted so well-if you have a fire, many illustrations are in color. It is not to mention a very nice, study looking book that can be elegantly placed into any room.

The design overall is very bland and lacks any visual sparkle. The text is also informative and useful for jazz fans wanting to know more about how jazz influences art. The book is beautiful to look at and fun to read.

Why We Like This:

Album covers, sheet music, posters, playbills and more are all included
Great reproductions, great text and captions
Delivers what they promise

Best For Great lover Of everything Jazz: Alkyer Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

The alkyer jazz book's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It is an awesome stroll down the great magazine downbeat's compilation of interviews. It really is packed with a lot of very interesting Downbeat interviews all the way from Louis Armstrong to Harry Connick. It has lots of neat facts and informative tidbits. It can be read from cover to cover, or you can browse to your heart's content.

If you love jazz or know someone who does, this is a great gift and a fun read. It is a great gift for a great lover of everything jazz. It is worth reading for those who want to get a sense of the personalities of a variety of people, but don't want the in depth perspective that more fleshed out profiles would have provided. The soft cover is substantial and would hold up to some wear.

Why We Like This:

Great compilation of content from over the whole spectrum of jazz
Delivers what they promise

Best For any Coltrane fan: Chris Devito Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention chris devito jazz book for regular usage. This book has so many great little anecdotes. It is easy to distinguish aframerican from euroamerican or even asianamerican speech. It is engaging, revealing, and absolutely essential. Despite the terrible cover art, this book does contain valuable information about Coltrane's musical goals and thought process.

Aframerican speech has rhythm, and this can be heard most distinctly in the west african languages. This is reflected in the voices of the music. Especially if you have an interest in learning music, this book is for you. This book is required reading for jazz scholars and important reading for Coltrane fans.

Why We Like This:

An intimate look at jazz greats
Good brand reputation

Best For Many levels Of players: Jim Ferguson Jazz Book

Buy on Amazon

This book is a good companion to ferguson's jazz comping book. A logical and systematic approach, with a great section on learning to play through the changes, it will take you far into the realm of jazz blues and do it very quickly. If you are learning this style (blues with a swing and more than 3 chords), this book is great. The book goes into a series of licks that really sound hip and can be used as building blocks to develop your own licks.

This book, while focusing on the blues structure is an excellent tool for taking simple scale patterns and building reasonably hip lead passages with them. The book also starts out with some basic examples that sound great and it progresses from there. This should be the first book you buy when you want to learn the jazz version of the blues. It is a good book for many levels of players.

Why We Like This:

Uses standard notation, tab, and grid diagrams
Good material for the guitarist that doesn't have hours to spend every night playing
Teaches the basics very well, and then proceeds to advanced concepts, clearly explaining them

The 8 Best Jazz Books (2023 reviews)

Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Mark Levine Jazz Book

Best For group Discusion: Ted Gioia Jazz Book

Best Physics Book: Stephon Alexander Jazz Book

Best coffee table Book: Jeff gold Jazz Book

Best For any Jazz lover: Alyn Shipton Jazz Book

Best For Great lover Of everything Jazz: Alkyer Jazz Book

Best For any Coltrane fan: Chris Devito Jazz Book

Best For Many levels Of players: Jim Ferguson Jazz Book

10 Best Jazz standard Books