Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music

Disc 1
1	Stardust / Louis Armstrong 3:35
2	Soon One Mornin' (Death Come A-Creepin' in My Room) / Mississippi Fred McDowell 3:13
3	Memphis Blues / Jim Europe's Infantry Band 2:38
4	Livery Stable Blues / Original Dixieland Jazz Band 3:07
5	Charleston (South Carolina) / James P. Johnson 1:49
6	Chimes Blues / King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band 2:51
7	Backwater Blues / Bessie Smith 3:18
8	The Pearls / Jelly Roll Morton 2:50
9	Dead Man Blues / Jelly Roll Morton 3:15
10	Wild Cat Blues / Clarence Williams' Blue Five 3:01
11	Cake Walking Babies from Home / Clarence Williams' Blue Five 2:56
12	Sugar Foot Stomp / Fletcher Henderson 2:50
13	Heebie Jeebies / Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five 2:53
14	Potato Head Blues / Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven 2:56
15	West End Blues 3:19
16	The Mooche / Duke Ellington Orchestra 3:14
17	East St. Louis Toodle-Oo / Duke Ellington Orchestra 2:53
18	Black Beauty / Duke Ellington Orchestra 3:02
19	Mood Indigo / Jungle Band 3:09
20	There Ain't No Sweet Man (Worth the Salt of My Tears) / Paul Whiteman 3:30
21	Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home) / Frankie Trumbauer 3:01
22	Riverboat Shuffle / Frankie Trumbauer 3:09
23	Hotter Than 'Ell / Fletcher Henderson 2:56
24	I Got Rhythm / Ethel Waters 3:04
Disc 2
1	It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) / Duke Ellington Orchestra 3:11
2	Echoes of Harlem / Duke Ellington Orchestra 3:02
3	Moten Swing / Bennie Moten & the Kansas City Orchestra 3:25
4	St. Louis Blues / Louis Armstrong 3:03
5	Ain't Misbehavin' / Louis Armstrong 3:14
6	For Dancers Only / Jimmie Lunceford 2:40
7	King Porter Stomp / Benny Goodman 3:17
8	Rose Room / Goodman Group 2:39
9	Sing, Sing, Sing / Benny Goodman 2:59
10	Jumpin' at the Woodside / Count Casie 3:14
11	Sent for You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today) / Count Casie 2:56
12	Lester Leaps In / Kansas City Seven 2:27
13	Oh, Lady Be Good / Inc. Jones-Smith 2:43
14	Without Your Love / Billie Holiday 3:11
15	Strange Fruit / Billie Holiday 2:49
16	God Bless the Child / Eddie Heywood 8:40
17	Three Little Words / Art Tatum 3:10
18	Rebecca / Big Joe Turner 2:59
19	Harlem Congo / Chick Webb 3:15
20	A-Tisket, A-Tasket / Chick Webb 3:08
21	Shine / Django Reinhardt & Le Quartet Du Hot Club De France 2:54
22	Dear Old Southland / Noble Sissle 2:34
Disc 3
1	Body and Soul / Coleman Hawkins 3:04
2	Cotton Tail / Duke Ellington Orchestra 3:14
3	Take the "A" Train / Duke Ellington Orchestra 2:57
4	Begin the Beguine / Artie Shaw 3:16
5	In the Mood / Glenn Miller 3:36
6	Well, Git It! / Tommy Dorsey 3:03
7	Solitude / Eddie Heywood 3:16
8	Drum Boogie / Gene Krupa 3:09
9	Salt Peanuts / Dizzy Gillespie 3:15
10	Groovin' High / Dizzy Gillespie Sextet 2:42
11	Koko / Charlie Parker 2:56
12	Scrapple from the Apple / Charlie Parker Quintet 3:00
13	Embraceable You / Charlie Parker Quintet 3:46
14	GEt HAppy / Bud Powell Trio 2:53
15	Epistrophy / Thelonious Monk 3:08
16	Straight, No Chaser / Thelonious Monk 2:57
17	Manteca / Dizzy Gillespie 3:09
18	Moon Dreams / Miles Davis Nonet 3:20
19	Just Friends / Charlie Parker 3:33
20	Rockin' Chair / Louis Armstrong 3:07
21	They Can't Take That Away from Me / Sarah Vaughan 2:43
22	Walking Shoes / Chet Baker 3:12
23	Fine and Mellow / Billie Holiday 8:01
Disc 4
1	Doodlin' / Horace Silver & The Jazz Messengers 6:46
2	I Get a Kick out of You / Clifford Brown 7:42
3	St. Thomas / Sonny Rollins 6:44
4	Django / The Modern Jazz Quartet 7:05
5	Take Five / Dave Brubeck Quartet 5:25
6	So What / Miles Davis Sextet 9:23
7	Giant Steps / John Coltrane Quartet 4:46
8	Rick Kick Shaw / Cecil Taylor Trio 6:06
9	Chronology / Ornette Coleman 6:07
10	Original Faubus Fables / Charles Mingus 9:15
11	Aknowledgement / John Coltrane Quartet From a Love Supreme 7:47
Disc 5
1	Hello, Dolly! / Louis Armstrong 2:24
2	Desafinado / Charlie Byrd 5:50
3	In a Sentimental Mood / John Coltrane 4:16
4	Tourist Point of View / Duke Ellington Orchestra 5:08
5	E.S.P. / Miles Davis Quintet 5:29
6	Spanish Key / Miles Davis Single Version 2:51
7	Birdland / Weather Report 5:58
8	Mister Magic / Grover Washington Jr. 9:01
9	Rockit / Herbie Hancock 3:56
10	Un Ange en Danger / Ron Carter 3:50
11	Tanya / Dexter Gordon 7:26
12	Soon All Will Know / Wynton Marsalis 3:36
13	Death Letter / Cassandra Wilson 4:14
14	Take the "A" Train / Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra 5:34

Barnes & Noble

It's no easy task summarizing the history of recorded jazz from 1917 to the present, but Ken Burns does a fine job of accomplishing just that on this five-disc overview of the music. From the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Livery Stable Blues" to Cassandra Wilson's "Death Letter Blues" this well-chosen survey documents the amazing evolution of our national art form. From blues to New Orleans-style to swing to bop to modern to free jazz and on to contemporary sounds, as well as many of the tangents within that broad spectrum, each idiom gets its due. The greatest musicians and some of their greatest musical moments are here: Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues," Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail," Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing," and Miles Davis's "E.S.P.," are just a handful of the brilliant examples of jazz at its best. For those who love the music and those who are just getting their first taste of it, this box set is essential. William Pearl

All Music Guide

In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program is the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, its 94 selections covering the history of 20th century jazz, from 1917 to the mid-'90s. Chronologically, the set is very skewed toward the first 50 years of that time span; there is only just under a CD's worth of music dating from after the mid-'60s. What's here is a very good range of classic jazz from throughout the decades, touching upon performances, many acknowledged classics, from many of the music's giants: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and up to Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson. There are just a few dubious inclusions (Grover Washington, Jr.'s "Mister Magic," for instance), and as music it's nearly wall-to-wall excellence. As far as core classics of the jazz repertoire, there are quite a few: Armstrong's "West End Blues," Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)," Count Basie's "Lester Leaps In," Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts," Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," Davis' "So What," Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," Coltrane's "Giant Steps," Weather Report's "Birdland," and Hancock's "Rockit." As education, if you didn't know much about jazz before hearing this box, you'll have been exposed to a good deal of its major touchstones after digesting it. Just don't be under the impression that it covers all of the main mileposts, or even that it gives you all of the key launching pads from which to explore further. Richie Unterberger

Billboard

Beautifully packaged, with personnel for each track dutifully annotated along with a blurb that provides a historical background for each featured artist, this box is essential listening for anyone remotely or intensely interested in the American jazz experience.