Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series,[1] the album covers the genre's growth from the turn of the 20th century to the 1930s, largely focusing on the "Jazz Age".

The compilation was produced by Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network.

[2] Curation was performed by Robert Parker, an audio engineer specializing in the period and host of the radio show Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo.

[3][4] Keith Farley of AllMusic called it a "fine introduction".

[5] Michaelangelo Matos, writing for the Chicago Reader, claimed it "buried" the contemporaneous Swing Revival and noted his surprise at the number of "obscure white groups".