Features individuals who are musically classified in categories, including Arrangers (Burt Bacharach and Marvin Hamlisch), Bandleaders (Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller), Hip-Hop Musicians (LL Cool J and Tupac Shakur), Jazz Musicians (Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie), and Rock Musicians (Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix).

Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain...these are the people who helped shape the history of music. Their stories and others are told in Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century. This five volume set offers biographical and critical essays on over 600 musicians in just about every genre imaginable, from Accordion Players to Musical Theater Composers to World Music, and everything in between.