Reading about jazz

1/ After John Coltrane, I listened to Charles Mingus, and particularly loved Mingus Ah Um and Oh Yeah. Bold, raw, exciting. Very different from the musicians I’m used to.
His best composition is “Moanin’”—the version in Nostalgia in Times Square (not the one in Blues& Roots, which sounds more hesitant and has less life).
Listen:



2/ I have been listening to jazz for several years, but in an unsystematic and superficial way. I am a literature and cinema person, not a music person—my musical knowledge is minimal, I don’t even have a good ear.
A few weeks ago I asked a few friends for jazz reading recommendations. 1 of them raised the question on fb, and half a dozen helpful people stepped in to recommend musicians/tracks I could listen to. I mean, thanks, but that wasn’t the question?
I enjoy listening to jazz, and my responses are mostly emotional—some knowledge and guidance would help the listening and understanding. Anyone can enjoy a film, for example, but knowledge about composition, lighting, acting, editing, sound design, production design, and so on, would help you have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the film as a work of art; and sometimes, you might have even more respect and admiration for a film and the filmmakers if you have been involved in filmmaking and know what goes behind the scenes and how difficult it is to get a certain shot or create a certain scene. It is similar with music, and jazz (unlike, say, pop music) makes demands of the listener.

3/ I’ve just read 30-Second Jazz: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Styles and Performers, Each Explained in Half a Minute, edited by Dave Gelly.
It’s a helpful book, introducing some core concepts such as front line (instruments at the front of a band: brass, saxophones…), back line/ rhythm section (instruments at the back, which create the rhythm: drums and bass), jump band, big band, jam session, polyrhythm, cross-rhythm, third stream (synthesis of jazz and classical music), ensemble, reed section (the saxophone section of a big band, whose members play additional reed instruments such as clarinets), mute, gypsy jazz, Latin jazz, fusion music, bossa nova, scatting, close harmony, acoustic, stride piano, and so on.
Of course, as you can tell from the title, the book explains everything in a very basic way—it is good as a general introduction to jazz, but doesn’t explain anything in depth. I still don’t know, for example, the difference between bebop and hard bop, or I know the definition but my ears can’t recognise modal jazz.

4/ 50-Second Jazz makes me realise, though, that jazz is extremely vast and diverse, and I don’t know shit about jazz.

5/ Yesterday I listened to Django Reinhardt, one of the most significant figures in jazz, especially for starting gypsy jazz. 
He’s good, especially considering that he lost feeling in 2 fingers on his left hand. But gypsy jazz is quite different from the kind of jazz I’m used to, and it’s strange to hear the instruments—I have always associated jazz with only saxophones, trumpets, double basses, drums, and pianos.

6/ 30-Second Jazz has a very liberal, open, and welcoming stance on jazz, its various subgenres, and development. 
I don’t want to ditch anything, but I have no interest in fusion (jazz mixed with rock, funk, and R&B) nor nu jazz (mixture of jazz and electronic music).

7/ At the moment I’m reading How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia.