ELEMENTS OF JAZZ From Cakewalks to Fusion

Bill Messenger, narrator of Course No. 728 in the Great Courses Series, is a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and an accomplished jazz pianist. Unlike most audiobook experiences, this is clearly a recorded series of lectures. One hears pages being turned, and Messenger occasionally corrects himself mid-sentence. He illustrates his lectures with piano sequences and is accompanied on some lectures by a bassist and/or vocalist. These musical illustrations are essential elements of the program, and they work unusually well. Messenger's interactions with his guest accompanists seem natural and unrehearsed. If one wants an entertaining and informative primer on jazz and jazz history, this course fills the bill admirably. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]