“On the surface, More Important Than the Music is an esoteric book, but Epperson has successfully managed to breathe life into the subject, weaving a story that opens up the field to a broader base of interest. He deals in fine detail with the origins and development of jazz discography, providing fascinating personal background on the major figures as well as addressing foundational issues such as plagiarism. A major contribution to jazz studies.”

“Jazz discography is a home-grown science that evolved side by side with recording technology as well as the music itself. Counting both fanatical collectors and experienced scholars among its ranks, its practitioners have served as detectives, catalogers, musicologists, and historians. Over the course of nearly a century, they have created a body of knowledge that not only provides access to the music but also presents the possibility of analyzing and understanding the music on a larger scale. With jazz studies becoming more established in academia, there is a crucial need to understand its history. Epperson has presented the fascinating story of the field of jazz discography, clearly showing its development by illuminating the significant contributors and their projects.”

“Epperson has produced a solidly researched work that traces the evolution of jazz discography from its humble beginnings as a hobbyist’s pastime and skillfully analyzes the issues confronting all discographers, past, present, and future—from plagiarism, copyright issues, and validity of sources to adaptation in the digital age.”

“For many who think of jazz as captivating sound, alluring rhythm, and charismatic style, jazz discography might seem like a soulless business conducted by grim introverts obsessing over record matrix numbers. Epperson knows this, but he also knows that a certain group of people who have approached jazz with a ‘passionate attention to facts’ regarding its recorded history have been absolutely critical to the life of the music—critical, that is, because the acts of producing, distributing, collecting, and listening to jazz records are themselves primary acts of jazz interpretation, evaluation, canon building, and meaning making. Epperson, a scrupulous bibliophile who writes with a lucid and graceful clarity, has given us a fascinating book, a book that conceives of jazz as a field of music that is also a field of knowledge. More Important Than the Music not only opens our eyes to the importance of jazz discography; it also charms us with its deft portraits of the nerdiest of jazz nerds in all of their eccentric, indispensable glory.”

“We don’t normally review other publishers’ titles, but this one is exceptional. . . . Although Bruce covers only jazz discography, the issues he examines —including copyright and plagiarism, validity of sources, the need for better documentation, intramural squabbling, and adaptation in the digital age—will be of interest to collectors in all fields. It’s a great read.”

“In addition to being a superb researcher, Epperson is also an engaging storyteller and he makes these historic figures come alive through their own words and actions.”