Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.

Life and career

Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles.

Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz editor for Record Review. In September 2002, Yanow was interviewed on-camera by CNN about the Monterey Jazz Festival and wrote an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic. He authored 12 books on jazz (including 2022's Life Through the Eyes of a Jazz Journalist), more than 900 liner notes for CDs, and more than 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.

Yanow contributed to the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz, serving as co-editor. He has written for DownBeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, Syncopated Times, Jazz Artistry Now, the Jazz Rag, and The New York City Jazz Record.

Yanow has produced a number of records under the Allegro record label. He also hosted a regular radio show called Jazz After Hours, which was broadcast on KCSB-FM. He has also served as a jazz listings editor for the Los Angeles Times.