"Here, at last, is the definitive work...written in the best intellectual tradition. It is clear, thorough, objective, sophisticated and original. A remarkable book by any standard, it is unparalleled in the literature of jazz."--Frank Conroy, The New York Times Book Review
"A remarkable breakthrough in musical analysis of jazz. I emphasize musical because that's the element of jazz least often written about with this degree of skill and clarity."--Nat Hentoff
"A superb job, in its thorough scholarship, its critical perception, and its love and respect for its subject. All future commentary on jazz--indeed on American music--should be indebted to Schuller's work."--Martin Williams
"The best informed and most thorough work of jazz criticism thus far...It is just what we who began to love jazz thirty-five years ago wanted but could never find." --Hudson Review
"Jazz...has inspired an enormous literature. The writer always mentioned first among buffs and scholars in Gunther Schuller; his Early Jazz...is a basic book." --Wilson Quarterly
