Though flawed, the first three-quarters of the book make for fascinating reading, if only because this information has probably not been collected anywhere else to date. Jazz fans will encounter stories and tales about the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Goodman that are not on record in print anywhere else. Furthermore, the story of the founding of the New York Hot Jazz Society, the Hot Notes newsletter, and eventually the museum itself is a fascinating one; it is the story of the love of what has repeatedly been dubbed the only truly American art form and the quest to record and preserve its history.

Unfortunately, as the story of the New York Jazz Museum takes a turn for the worse in the book's final quarter, so does the style and tone of the narrative itself. While Fischer gives an relatively objective history of the museum through its founding and heyday, when it comes to its fall and eventual demise, he clearly has an axe to grind. Justified or not, his complaints and protestations litter the closing chapter of the book until the story itself simply trails off into self promotion.

Thus, while much of Jazz Expose is unquestionably praiseworthy as a unique and compelling history, the volume's denouement serves as little more than a cautionary tale. Nonetheless, one could easily argue that this volume deserves a place on the bookshelf of every true jazz fan, even if only for completion's sake.

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