WHAT THE CRITICS AND OUR SUBSCRIBERS SAY

Reviews of The Jazz Discography

“I find the Tom Lord discography absolutely indispensible, and use it nearly every day. I certainly couldn’t manage without it, and can’t imagine how any serious jazz fan can.”

I certainly couldn’t manage without it, and can’t imagine how any serious jazz fan can. The more discographical knowledge people have available, the longer our music is going to stay alive. Apart from all that, TJD is an amazing achievement, beautifully thought out, and improving logically and usefully every year. There’s nothing in jazz remotely as important to the music, except the actual recordings themselves.

Click here to read the full review

Steve Voce, Reviewer for Jazz Journal – November 2018

“…a treasure trove full of surprises that will fascinate any student of American music eager to know the most recorded songs, the most recorded musicians, and the nature of jazz itself.”

…a leap of innovation that has allowed him to move beyond books and produce “The Jazz Discography” as a single CD-ROM version 7.0 (available at www.Lordisco.com) whose extraordinary search options can navigate millions of names, numbers and songs with a few keystrokes.

Click here to read the full review

John McDonough, The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2007

“Thank you for completing a major research tool now gloriously sitting on my shelf.” – Francesco Martinelli, Italy “Received the CD-R late July for which I thank you. Just one word: Splendid, Outstanding, too marvelous for words.” – F. Y. Fujita, Japan “Love the site. Keep up the good work. A real collector’s dream for research.” – Ken Harrison (Six Year Subscriber to TJD Online) “This database is going to bankrupt me and possibly cost me my job and my marriage! I love it!”
– Ken Kasl (Seven year subscriber to TJD Online, July 2014)
“Keep up the great work. I get a lot of questions answered using your files.” – Jimmy Brannen (Four Year Subscriber to TJD Online, July 2014)
Reviews from our subscribers

“I’ve been subscribing to TJD Online now for nearly 12 months and cannot Imagine being without it…”

It is surely the most comprehensive jazz discography presently available and the speed and ease with which one can trace the information make it invaluable, largely displacing printed versions.

Click here to read the full review

Peter Bevan, Jazz Journal, July 2012

“…there’s nothing like “The Jazz Discography.” Have a question? This CD-ROM may have the answer.”

…what Lord has done by placing all this information into a cross-referenced database that allows easy access to information from a variety of directions is create an extraordinarily valuable historical tool. And one can easily imagine its applicability in other musical genres.

Click here to read the full review

Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

“Tom Lord’s The JAZZ Discography is a magnificent and much needed job of research.” – Leonard Feather “Confronted by two volumes – 1200 – pages of this mighty work at one time almost provokes the use of that nauseating adjective, ‘awesome’.”
– Stanley Dance, Jazz Times
“The JAZZ Discography is now the recommended reference work encompassing the totality of recorded jazz history.”
– John Norris, Coda
“Lord’s work is not only important for this generation, but will be the basis for any such projects in the distant future.” – Russ Chase, IAJRC Journal “The Lord reference work reveals a high level of scholarship.”
– Eddie Cook, Jazz Journal International
“Occasionally, you encounter something that is so grand in its design and execution that it takes your breath away.”
– Dr. Lee Bash, Jazz Educators Journal
“This is a truly monumental work. If it’s recorded jazz, it’s in here (or will be). For pure breadth, nothing else compares. This work is essential.” – Library Journal “This work in progress has garnered high acclaim from jazz scholars.”
– A. David Franklin, American Reference Books Annual
“…will result in the most detailed and comprehensive jazz discography ever published; a formidable achievement for which the assiduous Mr. Lord deserves the highest praise.” – Bob Weir, Jazz Journal International
“Lord’s work will be the single most important discography in the field of jazz well into the 21st century.”
– J. Farrington, Wesleyan University, Choice
Reviews from critics
Although patronising all of them I have in the past been sceptical about the value of discographies. Musty lists, the creation of which takes up the largest part of someone’s life, had a moribund quality in contrast to the vitality of the music that they dissected. But people really do get worked up about who was the third trombone player on a Jimmy Dorsey record from 1946 and the discographies enable them to know.

And despite my cynicism I’ve always been quick in the queue to hand over money. I own Delauney’s initial foray into the medium, Rust, Jepsen, Bruyninckx and a myriad of discographical books like the Connor-Hicks ‘B.G. On Record’, Howard Waters’ admirable ‘Jack Teagarden’s Music’ and dozens of individual discographies. And I laid my 90 quid on the line for ‘DESOR Vols 1 and 2’, for more than you’d ever want to know about Duke Ellington’s records.

They’ve all been trumped, stomped on and made obsolete by the most remarkable jazz instrument that I have ever encountered. Tom Lord’s incredible, imaginative and brilliant discography on CD-ROM is, in my opinion, one of the two most indispensable devices you can use to enhance your collection. The other is the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.

Lord’s CD-ROM has all 26 books of his published discographies on the one disc. But that’s only the beginning. Ingenious use of the computer medium brings the work to life, and it is transformed from being ‘lists’ into becoming an account in recording terms of every musician, leader or sideman, that jazz has ever harboured. And the information, no matter how long or involved the history, is instant.

Let me give you examples.

Type in ‘Miff Mole’ and the enormous list that pops onto your computer screen begins with the complete personnel of Sam Lanin’s Roseland Orchestra in May 1920. Press the arrow key and move down through personnels of hundreds of bands that Miff played in, including Condon radio broadcasts of the 40s and finally arriving at Miff’s last studio date with Doc Evans in Chicago in 1959.

Try someone who, if he will pardon the suggestion, is more obscure. John Williams was mostly a sideman noted for his brilliant playing behind Getz (‘Never mind Stan, did you hear what Johnny Williams was doing in there?’ asked Johnny Mandel), Brookmeyer, Cohn and Sims. The list on the screen moves through the 1950 Apartment sessions that John did with Charlie Parker, through all those leaders’ sessions and John’s rare trio recordings for Mercury, to his accompaniments for Bill d’Arango and so on until the abrupt end of his recording career with the Phil Woods quartet in January 1957 (John left New York abruptly for Florida and a career as a banker and deputy mayor of Hollywood).

If you enter Stan Getz himself, the listings begin with his 1943 records with Teagarden, then goes to the (surprisingly) many with Kenton before winding up with the Second Herd. Once it starts with Stan’s own groups, it pulls in anything he did with anyone else (still in chronological order) like the Gillespie Verves and so on. It breaks off from Getz-Brookmeyer to include The Benny Goodman Story film recordings and, when Stan sat in with Basie at Birdland, it gives the full personnel of Basie’s band, with appropriate dates.

I’ve just completed three programmes on BBC North with Johnny Mandel. I needed some help beforehand. I entered Johnny’s name and the disc immediately listed every recording Johnny had ever made in chronological order (even including the Stan Getz Orchestra with Johnny on trombone plus Mulligan, Sulieman, Zoot and so on). Where Johnny gave up playing to concentrate on writing the Lord discography switches to his arranging and conducting. Invaluable when you’re putting a radio programme together. Johnny remarked that I knew more about him than he did himself. In fact Lord’s CD-ROM does.

Let me boggle your mind. It can do anything with tune titles. Enter Lady Be Good and be informed instantly that it was first recorded in London on May 17 1926 by the Gilt-Edged Four. When I have a couple of weeks to spare I plan to examine the list of hundreds of Ladies Be Good that follows.

You can be more specific. Enter Ben Webster and then Duke Ellington and the discography presents every record that Ben made with Duke. You could do the same with Candoli and Kenton, Christian and Goodman ad infinitum.

The 26 original volumes averaged out at $60 each. This disc, containing every word, costs $350 when bought on line through the website at www.lordisco.com (it’s well worth a visit just to look around). Alternatively it can be ordered by mail, email, or phone. Here are some details: Lord Music Reference Inc., 5975 Matsqui Street, Chilliwack, BC, Canada. Tel: 604-846-6608.

Incidentally, those are US dollars. They are a modest outlay for the most amazing application of technology to our music that I have ever seen.

THE TOM LORD DISCOGRAPHY ONLINE

Let’s start by sorting the somewhat complicated publishing history of The Jazz Discography (TJD) – this information offered by the publisher. Working with Cadence, Tom Lord started publishing the book version of TJD in 1990. In 2001 he published the first CD-ROMs of the full A-Z discography, which included updating of the original book volumes. A yearly updated CD-ROM has been published since then and the 2010 version is CD-ROM 11.0. Of course, since the CD-ROM has to be manufactured, each edition of the database must necessarily be frozen at a specific point in time each September, prior to publishing the CD-ROM each October. Lord reports that each year another 5000-8000 new recording sessions are added to the database, in addition to thousands of re-issues and corrections. Subscribers wanting the latest information necessarily had to wait 12 months to get updated information. That wait will now be eliminated for users who migrate to the new TJD Online. Lord reports that this subscription discography is updated on a daily basis: as new releases, reissues, and corrections are added as they appear. I can’t show you what the screen looks like, but TJD Online is designed in a similar format to the CD-ROMs while offering new features that will gladden the hearts of record geeks (like me) everywhere:

a) New/Reissues button – by clicking on this button a user can see the latest issues and reissues added to the discography. Subscribers can select up to 31 days to see the most recent additions to the discography.

b) Cataloging your own record collection – Subscribers are able to catalog their record collection with a few keystrokes for each recording session. Once a session is added to “My Collection” the record company and release code information appear highlighted in green. Lord notes that for box set reissues, like those on Mosaic, the keystrokes only have to be done on one session containing a Mosaic release number and all the other sessions on that release automatically catalogued. Once the subscriber has records cataloged s/he can do all the searches and sorts on their own collection that can be done on the main discography. For example, search your collection for “Body and Soul” and the database will bring up all the occurrences of that tune including full session information with your releases highlighted. It’s also possible to switch back and forth between your collection and the main database to compare (using the “My sessions” and “Full database” buttons).

c) Want List – If a user doesn’t need the Cataloging feature it can be used as a “Want list” of recordings they hope to obtain.

d) Record Label Search – This feature allows a user to search for a specific label and release number.

There is also a “My Preferences” button I hadn’t noticed on the CD-ROM version which allows one to customize various things like how many lines appear on an index page, or font size, etc. I also notice that the online version allows one to highlight information and paste it into other documents—useful when writing about music—but that wasn’t possible on the CD-ROM version.

All told, I think the online version of TJD is a remarkable, even invaluable accomplishment. In fact, it’s hard to imagine that most who have invested in the paper or CD-ROM versions will be any longer satisfied with those options. Of course, the downside of the new online version, as with any online subscriber reference tool, is that henceforth you can never “own” your copy—you can only rent it, subscribe to it. You get temporary access by paying an annual fee. But this is the new online world, right? And on balance it seems in this case a fair tradeoff since making the trade means you’ll always have the latest version. In my own case, I hate the idea that my reviewer’s pass expires this month: having seen the online TJD I simply have to have it. For subscription information click here.

Steve Voce

I find the Tom Lord discography absolutely indispensible, and use it nearly every day. I certainly couldn’t manage without it, and can’t imagine how any serious jazz fan can. The more discographical knowledge people have available, the longer our music is going to stay alive. Apart from all that, TJD is an amazing achievement, beautifully thought out, and improving logically and usefully every year. There’s nothing in jazz remotely as important to the music, except the actual recordings themselves.

Steve Voce – reviewer for Jazz Journal – November 2018

Steve Voce

Reviews The Jazz Discography Online (TJD Online)
Jazz Journal, January 2016

“TJD Online is a priceless tool for both collectors and journalists and I’d hate to have to try and manage without it.” Click here to read the full review

Steve Thornton — New subscriber to TJD Online — April 2014

“This database is going to bankrupt me and possibly cost me my job and my marriage! I love it!”

Ken Kasl — Seven year subscriber to TJD Online — July 2014

“Keep up the great work. I get a lot of questions answered using your files.”

Jimmy Brannen — Four Year Subscriber to TJD Online – July 2014

“Love the site. Keep up the good work. A real collector’s dream for research.”

Ken Harrison — Six Year Subscriber to TJD Online

“Lord Jazz? Wouldn’t be without it!”

Scott Wenzel — Mosaic Records

Commenting on The Jazz Discography Online (TJD Online) April 2014

“An awesome online service… love it and it’s been a big help”.

Peter Bevan

Reviews The Jazz Discography Online (TJD Online)
Jazz Journal, July 2012

I’ve been subscribing to TJD Online now for nearly 12 months and cannot Imagine being without it… It is surely the most comprehensive jazz discography presently available and the speed and ease with which one can trace the information make it invaluable, largely displacing printed versions.Click here to read the full review

Michael Coyle

Reviews The Jazz Discography Online (TJD Online)
Cadence Magazine, Jan-Feb-Mar 2011:

All told, I think the online version of TJD is a remarkable, even invaluable accomplishment.

Cheryl LaGuardia

Reviews The Jazz Discography Online (TJD Online)
LibraryJournal.com “E-Views”, March 28, 2008:

“If you want definitive information about jazz recordings (including the names of sidemen and their instruments!), this file is for you and your library.”

Single-User
(Special Introductory Offer!)

Subscribe to TJD Online for only $9.99/month
(Almost 25% off).

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Multi-User
(Libraries / Institutions)

The Multi-User version of TJD Online has been designed for use by libraries and institutions. There are two types of multi-user subscriptions available.

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