Profiles twenty-six of the jazz greats of all time, from Count Basie to Louis Armstrong, through a review of their work, their life stories, and their greatest hits as reviewed by one of today's top jazz performers, Wynton Marsalis.

WYNTON MARSALIS, trumpeter, composer, and tireless champion of the art of jazz, has been instrumental in bringing the musical genre back to center stage in the United States. The first jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize in music — for his epic oratorio on slavery, BLOOD IN THE FIELDS — he has won nine Grammy awards for his jazz and classical recordings, which have sold nearly five million copies worldwide. Wynton Marsalis serves as artistic director for the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center program in New York, where he created the popular series Jazz for Young People. A recipient of numerous awards around the world as well as several honorary degrees, he was named one of America's "25 Most Influential People" by TIME magazine. JAZZ A B Z is Wynton Marsalis's first book for children.PAUL ROGERS has worked as an illustrator for twenty years. An ardent admirer of the great poster artists of the twentieth century, he has created everything from old-fashioned billboard portraits at Dodger Stadium to vintage-style neon signs. A longtime jazz buff, he says that one of the best things about being an illustrator is working on jazz-related projects, including prints and program covers for jazz festivals. Recently he was commissioned to create a limited-edition silkscreen portrait of Wynton Marsalis for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. JAZZ A B Z is Paul Rogers's first book.