Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz
- Place of Publication: New York City, NY
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1956
- Periodicity: Single issue
- Editor: Leonard Feather
- Publishers: Horizon Press
- Type: Full Text
- Continued by: New Yearbook of Jazz
The 1950s were the heyday of jazz annuals. Both Down Beat and Metronome published an annual, Jazz-Hot in Paris produced L’Annuaire du Jazz, and there were independent efforts such as American Jazz Annual and Jazz New York. The Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz was Leonard Feather’s contribution to this genre. Functioning as both an annual summary and reference work, it was more ambitious than its peers, providing nearly 200 pages of mid-century perspectives on jazz.
Benny Goodman provides the foreword to the volume, a view on how jazz changed across his two decades of performing and leading groups. Feather then offers a perspective on jazz in 1956: trends, genres, international perspectives, media, education, relationship with rock 'n’ roll, intellectualism, and more. His survey of jazz fans follows, a reader-response survey which showed a young and engaged audience. Following a series of photographs, a survey of disc jockeys, a “musicians’s musicians” poll, and an overview of international jazz polls can be found. A very long list of biographies – supplementing or updating those previously published in Feather’s Encyclopedia of Jazz (1955) – consumes some 80 pages. Reviews of 52 albums of the year, a list of favorite versions of various jazz standards, and a list of jazz clubs concludes the issue.
The Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz was continued two years later with the New Yearbook of Jazz.