Shaping jazz: cities, labels, and the global emergence of an art form

There are over a million jazz recordings, but only a few hundred tunes have been recorded repeatedly. Why did a minority of songs become jazz standards? Why do some songs - and not others - get re-recorded by many musicians? This work answers this question and more, exploring the underappreciated yet crucial roles played by initial production and markets - in particular, organizations and geography - in the development of early twentieth-century jazz.