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Recommendations for good Jazz books?

Hi all,

I want to buy a few books through Amazon, and was wanting to know if anyone could make any recommendations? I'm a beginner to jazz, but am originally classically trained - would anyone be able to recommend a good, not too complex, but but not too basic book of Jazz standards? Have recently been doing Autumn Leaves with my teacher which I've been thoroughly enjoying.

Also on the theory side of things, I've seen the book "Jazz Piano" by Mark Levine mentioned a few times and was thinking about buying that, unless anyone recommends otherwise, or can suggest something better? I had a quick read of the opening couple of pages in the store and it looked quite interesting. I've currently been reading a book called "Jazz Theory and Practise" by Richard L. Lawn & Jeffrey L. Hellmer - which is not too bad, but doesn't seem as 'inspired' as Jazz Piano.

Any other tips or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Manachi

The jazz piano book is a great book. A lot of fun to read. It's more of a reference than anything else, but it will really understand the theory side of things. It is a good complement to the teacher.

Another great book, totally different is Randy Halberstadt's "metaphors for the musician". Great book also, with lots of tips on how to practice, and a lot of practical theory about rhythm, scales and great chapters on pentatonic and blues scales.

You can't go wrong with either.

Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony by Bert Ligon
http://www.amazon.com/Connecting-Chords-Linear-Harmony-Ligon/dp/0793561930

and Linear Jazz Improvisation "The method" Ed Byrne. http://www.byrnejazz.com/product.php?id=17

Part from that, transcribe and listen.

I'd also recommend, if you don't have one, getting jazz fake book, such as the Real Book or the New Real Book (which I like better). Whenever you read some point of theory, you should then go and find songs that give you the opportunity to use that nugget of knowledge. Indeed, Levine always has suggested songs in each chapter for practicing the principles the chapter covers. Unlike classical, where you can study one piece for months, you need to play lots of tunes to learn the various techniques.

Another great jazz book, no tunes, theory, etc but a whole lot of piano is the Bill Evans Biography."Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings"

Check out Barry's blog entry about books:

http://playjazz.blog.co.uk/2009/09/10/on-not-finding-a-teacher-part-6935834/

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Thanks very much for the recommendations guys. Have written the whole list down and going to have a browse through them at the music store this weekend (But will buy them through Amazon, as they're literally almost half the cost through there, compared to buying them in the store here in Australia!)

One question about Mark Lavine's books.. If I'm going to buy the Jazz Piano book, is there much need to get the Jazz Theory Book as well? I noticed in barrys blog entry he starts with "For other instumentalists, the The Jazz Theory Book is probably a better bet." - but then it looks like there's some great stuff in there too. Given that one can only take so much information in at a time, would getting the Jazz Piano book first, then maybe the theory one later down the track be a good approach?

Also, re "The Real Book" vs "The New Real Book", is the new real book different songs? newer songs? or different arrangement of the same songs? or inclusive of the real book + more?

Thanks again for the great tips everyone - much appreciated.

Back when there was only a Real Book (5thed.) available, Chuck Sher published the "New Real Book". There wasn't 100% coverage of the same tunes between the two books, but everything about Sher's book was legal.

The New Real Book is a fine book, and works for jam sessions. However, it wasn't really considered the "de facto standard" for jam sessions, like the old 5th edition was.

Fast forward several years, and the Hal Leonard Publishing Company secured the rights to virtually everything in the 5th edition Real Book and published their own 6th edition Real Book, all completely legal. It is done in a similar, if not identical, style as the 5th edition, and it corrects (I think) virtually all of the mistakes in the old 5th edition Real Book.

So now, given a choice between the two (NRB or 6th ed. RB), you really can't go wrong if you're just looking for high-quality lead sheets for jazz tunes. But if you're thinking about frequenting jam sessions, then it might make sense to check out the 6th edition Real Book from Hal Leonard.

So here is a summary:

5th edition Real Book: "de facto standard" from the old days; illegally printed

New Real Book, Sher: has between 50% and 75% of what is in the Real Book; a very usable book

6th edition Real Book, Hal Leonard: completely legal; has 95% (or better) coverage of the 5th edition Real Book (publishing rights were not available on a small number of tunes).

I hope that helps clear things up.

Guy

Just to weigh in on this concept of "recommended jazz books"...I'm doing this off the top of my head, but it seems to me that there are several different angles with which you can approach that topic.

For example (and this may not be completely inclusive)...

1. books of lead sheets (such as the Real Book)

2. books of transcriptions - depends on the artists and styles that you prefer

3. method books -- there are a large handful of different methods, and I'd guess everyone has their favorites. For the specific method of building voicings for comping, I think Phil DeGreg's book Jazz Keyboard Harmony is really good (http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=JKH&Category_Code=).

4. reference books -- maybe others would disagree, but I would put "The Jazz Piano" in this category. I'd also include books on jazz voicings in this category, because most aren't laid out as method books. A good jazz piano teacher can teach you using a book like this, but you need a certain level of skill to be able to "self-teach" with a book like this.

So, I don't think there is any right or wrong direction, the choice(s) of books depends on the direction that you, and your teacher if you have one, want to go.

Guy

Between the Jazz Theory and Jazz Piano, I would certainly choose the piano version. It has specific examples and exercises for the piano.

As for lead sheets, I have this belief that, if you are just starting out, you can hold off on those until the day you are able to play from them. Sounds odd, it's just my opinion that you are better off focusing on 10 tunes rather than 100, and that learning them from classic recordings will be more worthwhile. Sinatra, Ella, Sarah V are a great replacement to fakebooks.

A book that I've only been able to find for a very high price because it's out of print is Jimmie Amadie's Foundations for Jazz and Pop Piano, but I've read it's being reprinted this year.

Strange to say, but learning to play Jazz piano from books is ridiculously difficult, if not impossible, and could be a waste of your time that might eventually cause you to quit--except if you have a good piano teacher. Talk to some of the best musicians out there, and you'll soon find out that none of them did it by themselves--they had a teacher, at least someone they learned from. Learning to play Jazz is an arduous task; something that demands great discipline and love for the genre.

Listening to Jazz tunes regularly can help tremendously, but having a teacher or a friend who can guide you--helping you with transcriptions--is probably one of the best ways to learn jazz piano. Although I loathe learning from books, I consider Phil DeGreg's book the best guide for any Jazz Musician. I have bought tons of instructional books, unfortunately I came to despise all of them, for they tend to hinder my progress.

Another way I find effective but, at first, frustrating is sitting at the piano and trying to transcribe every note or chord you hear from a tune. If you can stick to this method for at least 3 months, you will see improvement you'd never thought possible. That, I'm telling you, works.

Thanks for the recommendations guys

Joejazzy - completely understood re a piano teacher. I 100% agree, although I'm in no position to be able to say what 'works', what you say rings entirely true with me, as with many learned things, I feel it's important to have a first hand teacher to guide your path. And I'd never expect to be able to 'learn jazz' through books alone. I have been getting lessons with a very good teacher, although we're going through some 'blues' stuff before Jazz and I must admit, while I realise this is important for the fundamentals, some of the pieces aren't as inspiring to me as they would be if they were more of a jazz feel. (not necessarily complex, but even just having the basic 'exercise' pieces using jazz chord progressions instead of more blues feel ones would be inspiring for me).

In one sense I'm wondering if it might be unwise to try and read/go through books like this 'on the side', while getting lessons, as it might deviate from the path my teacher is providing. On the other hand I'm hoping reading some supplementary material might help me be able to accelerate the learning process. Would love to hear any opinions/advice on this matter from any teachers or experienced players!