We strongly recommend that you print this guide and then follow it step-by-step

Welcome to The Jazz Discography CD-ROM Guided Tour

This guided tour of a small part of our vast database is designed to show you some of the many features of Version 3.3 of The Jazz Discography CD-ROM. These features allow you to find detailed information about virtually any jazz record ever released. If you want to know more about jazz discography, please click on "Help" in the toolbar, and select "Contents" followed by "Introduction".

Please note: This guided tour is for demonstration purposes only and as such includes only a small sampling of the information from the full database of The Jazz Discography CD-ROM. Content is limited to 100 leaders randomly selected from the 24,351 included on the full CD-ROM Version 3.3. Similarly, only a limited number of the 136,263 recording sessions on the CD-ROM is shown for each of the leaders chosen for this demonstration database.

1: Explore the LEADERS category using the "Leader" buttons on the toolbar

Leader Index gives you the "big picture" of all the leaders. "Leader" includes bandleaders (e.g. Duke Ellington), group leaders (e.g. Dave Brubeck) and groups (e.g. Modern Jazz Quartet). Click on "Leader Index" in the toolbar (or press F3) for a complete list of the 100 leaders in this partial database. For instructions on how to navigate around the Leader Index see the Index Navigation box below.

Index Navigation: Use the Page Down and Page Up buttons on your keyboard, or the scroll bar at the right side of your screen (click on the gray area above & below the purple bar) to scroll up or down one screen at a time. Press "End" to move to the bottom of the Leader Index and "Home" to return to the top (or use the scroll bar with your mouse).

Leader Search allows you to search for recording sessions by a particular leader. While still in Leader Index do a search for Stan Getz by clicking on Leader Search in the toolbar (or press F2). In the pop-up search box enter "Stan" as first name then "Getz" as last name (capital letters aren't necessary). Press Enter and "Stan Getz" will be highlighted at the top of the list on your screen.

To see details of his recording sessions as a leader, press Enter (or double click with your mouse). This will take you to the Stan Getz "Leader Detail" section where details of all his recording sessions as a leader will appear in chronological order. The Leader Detail section is identified with the Leader Name displayed in white in the middle of the black title bar. His first session as a leader (#G1160) is at the top of your screen. (Details of what is included in each recording session will be outlined in Detailed Screen Information in the following section of this guided tour). For instructions on how to navigate around Leader Detail see the Detail Navigation box below.
Note: This demo edition shows only 10 of the 200 Stan Getz leader sessions on CD-ROM Version 3.3.

Detail Navigation: Use the Page Down and Page Up buttons on your keyboard, or the scroll bar at the right side of your screen (click on the gray area above & below the purple bar) to scroll up or down one session at a time. To move in small increments, use the Down or Up arrow buttons on your keyboard, or click on the scroll bar down or up arrows. Press "End" to move to the bottom of the Detail and "Home" to return to the top (or use the scroll bar with your mouse).

DETAILED SCREEN INFORMATION

In the Stan Getz Leader Detail, move to the first session by pressing Home. Scroll down two sessions to session # G1184-3 (December 12, 1952) as shown on the screen below:

Explaining the detailed session information appearing on your screen:

1. Session Number: An alpha-numeric number derived from the leader name/session date
2. Album title and/or name of group
3. Musicians including leader(s) and sidemen with instruments (abbreviations are explained in the Help section)
4. Location(s) and date(s) of recording sessions
5. Matrix numbers (assigned by record companies)
6. Tune name(s)
7. Recording company name(s) and release number(s). Note: The original release is usually listed first when reading from left to right
8. Session notes. These include reissues, additional album titles and other details of the recording session

2: Search for recording sessions by date using the toolbar "Session" buttons.

Finding particular recording sessions by doing a Session Date Search:
Note: Date searches cannot be done when the "Date Search" button is grayed-out.

Example 1: Find the Benny Goodman recording session of October 7, 1958. Click on Leader Search in the toolbar (or press F2), type "Benny" and "Goodman" and click OK. Now click on Session Date Search in the toolbar (or press F4), type 1958, 10, 7 and click OK. Your screen displays details of the Benny Goodman session of October 7, 1958.
Note: This demo version shows only 39 of the 800 Benny Goodman sessions on CD-ROM 3.3.

Example 2: Find a Vic Lewis recording session you believe took place in the mid-1940s. Click on Leader Search (or press F2), type "Vic" and "Lewis" and click OK. Now click on Session Date Search (or press F4) in the toolbar to access the pop-up search box. Assume you aren't sure of the actual date of the session but know it was in the mid-1940s and included a Harlequin release number (E)HQ3009. Type 1944 and click OK. Your screen will display details of a recording session on June 9, 1944. Scroll down one session to find the one that contains the Harlequin release (E)HQ3009.
Note: This demo version shows only 6 of the 130 Vic Lewis sessions on CD-ROM Version 3.3.

3: Explore the MUSICIAN section using the "Musician" buttons on the toolbar

The Musician Index gives the "big picture" for all the musicians listed in the database.
Click on the Musician Index button in the toolbar (or press F7) to access it. Navigate around the Musician Index as outlined earlier in the Index Navigation box.
Note: This demo version shows only 3300 musicians of the 130,000 unique musicians included on CD-ROM Version 3.3 (which includes a total of 754,132 musician entries).

Musician Search allows you to search for recording sessions by a particular musician, whether they are a leader or a sideman. While remaining in the "Musician Index" section, do a search for Mel Lewis. Click on Musician Search in the toolbar (or press F6) and enter "Mel" and "Lewis". Press Enter and "Mel Lewis" will be highlighted at the top of the list on your screen.

To see details of his recording sessions as a musician, press Enter (or double click). This will take you to the Mel Lewis "Musician Detail" section where details of all his recording sessions as a musician will appear. Musician Detail is identified by the musician name in yellow positioned at the left side of the black title bar and the musician name is highlighted in yellow in all the sessions. The leader name for each session is shown in red in the gray bar above the session. Navigate around Musician Detail as outlined earlier in the Detail Navigation box. You can arrange this list of sessions by selecting either the "Chronological" or "Alphabetical" buttons in the black title bar. Sorting alphabetically can be useful, for example, if you want to find all the Gerry Mulligan sessions on which Mel Lewis appears (only 2 are listed here but there are 17 on CD-ROM version 3.3).
Note: This demo version shows only 10 of the 573 Mel Lewis musician sessions on CD-ROM 3.3.

4: Explore the TUNE section using the "Tune" buttons on the toolbar

The Tune Index gives the "big picture" for all the tunes in the database. Click on the Tunes Index button (or press F11) to access it. Navigate around the Tune Index as outlined earlier in the Index Navigation box.
Note: This demo version shows only 3500 of the 235,000 unique tunes included on CD-ROM Version 3.3 (which includes a total of 737,487 tune entries).

Tune Search allows you to search for all versions of the same tune. While remaining in the Tunes Index section, do a search for "Body and Soul". Click on Tunes Search in the toolbar (or press F9) and enter "Body and Soul". Press Enter and "Body and soul" will be highlighted at the top of the list on your screen.

To see details of all recording sessions including "Body and soul" press Enter (or double click). This will take you to the Body and soul "Tune Detail" section where details of all recording sessions including Body and soul will appear. Tune Detail is identified by the tune name in orange positioned at the left side of the black title bar and the tune name is highlighted in orange in all the sessions. The leader name for each session is shown in red in the gray bar above the session. Navigate around Tune Detail as outlined earlier in the Detail Navigation box. You can arrange this list of sessions by selecting either the "Chronological" or "Alphabetical" buttons in the black title bar. Sorting alphabetically can be useful, for example, if you want to find all the Body and soul sessions with Duke Ellington as leader (only 3 are listed here but there are 14 on CD-ROM version 3.3).

Multi-Search

This feature allows you to find recording sessions with up to 3 musicians and 3 tunes. Try a small multi-search by clicking on the Multi-Search button in the toolbar: Type "Dizzy" and "Gillespie" followed by "Charlie" and "Parker" in the first and second musician name fields. Now type "Groovin' High" in the first tune field and click OK. Details of a recording session featuring both musicians on Groovin' High will appear on your screen (3 sessions will appear in CD-ROM Version 3.3).

5: Now try these other features:

Session Number Search - e.g. click on Session # Search - enter E1022. This Duke Ellington session will appear on the screen.

Session Index - In Leader, Musician or Tune detail click on Session Index to list all sessions in the detail section in summary form (Location, date and session #).

Click on a tune name in Leader, Musician or Tune Detail to show the Session Index for that tune.

Click on a musician name in Leader, Musician or Tune Detail to show the Session Index for that musician.

Click on leader name in Musician or Tune Detail to go to Leader Detail.

Screen Compression - click "C" then "S" a few times for screen compression. To return to the default setting click "L" then "C". Both Detail and Indexes can be compressed.

Printing - print up to 50 sessions at a time starting from the first session at the top of the screen or print out any index as it appears on the screen. To print, click the Print button on the toolbar.

You've now completed the guided tour. We hope you have gained an overview of the many advanced search and operating features that will permit navigation of the huge volume of discographical data included on CD-ROM Version 3.3. You can explore further by accessing the Help section and selecting from the Table of Contents.