Books

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:

“Bunny Berigan: Elusive Legend of Jazz,” Robert Dupuis, Louisiana State University ($24.95). The trumpeter who Louis Armstrong once said would be his logical successor is the subject of this well-researched biography. Berigan had much in common with Bix Beiderbecke: same initials, same lyrical horn, same aborted sideman stints, alcoholism and early death (Beiderbecke at 28 in 1931, Berigan at 33 in 1942.) This long overdue tribute belongs in every library.