With its radical time signatures and freewheeling improvisation, jazz can leave a novice baffled—but it needn't be that way. From the music's African-American roots through the global mix of styles and performers in today's scene, this crash course for newcomers introduces jazz's style, instruments, key personalities, and essential recordings. Profusely illustrated and featuring compact texts and glossaries, this book also contains profiles of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis, among others.