This definitive guide includes a playlist for the reader to hear the evolution of jazz from its earliest years to the present day. Today, we hear jazz everywhere, often without realising it - while drinking coffee in a trendy cafe, sitting in a bar or walking through a shop.

Jazz has greatly influenced other music genres too, from classical to pop and rock. Acclaimed music journalist and jazz critic Stuart Nicholson takes us on an entertaining journey from the early origins of jazz to its evolution through the decades.

Accompanied by a host of famous musicians past and present, such as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, Jazz: A Beginner’s Guide is a lively and highly-accessible introduction to this global musical phenomenon.