Jazz: Essential Listening provides all the materials students need to listen to, understand, and love jazz. Written by two master storytellers, this new brief text combines a dynamic listening experience with vivid narrative history, must-hear masterworks, and a superior eMedia package to reveal the excitement of America's quintessential music. Authors Scott DeVeaux and Gary Giddins write with intellectual bite, eloquence, and the passion of unabashed fans. They explain what jazz is, where it came from, how it works, and who created it, all within the broader context of American life and culture.