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:

Gene Krupa, “Jazz Legend,” DCI Music Video (60 min., $29.95). Through his stint with Benny Goodman and subsequent career as bandleader, Krupa established the drums as a central force in jazz. This diverse document finds him in the company of Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, Anita O’Day and others, ending in a drum battle with Buddy Rich and Mel Torme. The narration is by Louie Bellson and Steve Allen.