Working through a good collection of Dyer's writing (Otherwise Known as the Human Condition), I intently read his essay, "Is Jazz Dead?" Although many American readers may not agree with his conclusions on the subject, along the way he shares interesting examples.
. . . which calls to mind the easy advantage of sampling jazz in iTunes format. Sampling and buying one tune at a time—this is often the way I assemble a playlist, organizing the group entirely around someone else's critical judgments. My playlist from Dyer's essay includes artists I was not familiar with, such as Rabih Abou-Khalil, Anouar Brahem, and Nils Petter Molvaer. The playlist also includes familiar artists such as Don Cherry and Keith Jarrett, both of whom were well-represented in my existing collection but not for reasons Dyer finds them crucially important.