Improvisation, swing, blue notes, glissando, scat...these and other ingredients have made jazz a unique musical genre, unmistakable and loved in every corner of the globe. Born in the United States at the end of the 19th century, jazz has its roots in Afro-American music, but has succeeded in becoming contaminated owing to contributions from different styles, fragmenting in turn into countless currents and categories. From the first New Orleans bands, passing through the absolute genius of 'Satchmo' Armstrong, this book retraces the history of jazz, lingering on the most outstanding personalities and musical excerpts that have marked this musical genre more than any other.