Videos

Compact discs are generally the gift of choice for the jazz enthusiast, but books and videos on jazz can be provocative and informative alternatives. Here are some of the year’s top books and videos, as selected by members of The Times’ jazz staff:

“Branford Marsalis: The Music Tells You,” SMV Enterprises (60 min., $19.98). D. A. Pennebaker (who directed “Monterey Pop” and “Don’t Look Back,” among numerous other music films) has a deceptively simple style: Let the musicians play, let them talk, and the story will shape itself. The result, in this 60-minute view of the Marsalis trio on tour, is a superb snapshot of what it means to be a working jazz musician in the ‘90s.