The PL Yearbook of Jazz
- Place of Publication: London, United Kingdom
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1946
- Publishers: Editions Poetry London, Nicholson and Watson
- Type: Citation Only
With a title referencing the publisher, Editions Poetry London (PL), The PL Yearbook of Jazz was a project of the editor, Albert McCarthy (1920-1987), the longtime jazz writer and critic. Although he intended for the Yearbook to become a multi-year project, only a single, over 200 page volume appeared which covered jazz from a British perspective. The cover features Louis Armstrong, “the greatest personality in jazz” according to McCarthy.
In his opening editorial, McCarthy notes that 1945 was an important year in jazz. Between the “revolutionary discovery” by dance hall and night club owners of “real jazz” – he cites Bunk Johnson and Kid Ory as examples of such music – and the commercial viability of such music in England, he sees a positive trend for jazz. Coming out of the second world war, when the availability of recordings was severely limited, newly available recordings from the United States and homegrown talent were creating new opportunities for jazz lovers.
The PL Yearbook proper begins with a history and appraisal of jazz in England by Charles Wilford, followed by an account of Bunk Johnson at the Stuyvesant Casino by Frederic Ramsey, Jr. Charles Fox writes on orchestral jazz, McCarthy tells the story of Tommy Ladnier, Hughes Panassié provides an account of Fats Waller in Paris, Roger Pryor Dodge writes on sensuousness in ensemble playing, and Nicholas Moore explores individuality. The central feature of the Yearbook is a significant summary article by Max Jones on the blues, providing a survey of its sociological, racial, and economic history in the United States for British readers. Following a section of jazz poems, surveys of jazz in Europe are given by Henk Niesen, Jr. (The Netherlands), Charles Delaunay (France), Carlos de Radzizky (Belgium), and Kurt Mohr, Jonny Simmen, and Enest Zwonicek (Switzerland). Articles on recordings, and a selection of important recordings from 1945, are contributed by R.G.V. Venables, Jeff Aldam, and Charles Payne Rogers. A bibliography, discography, and photographic section concludes the Yearbook.