Scott Yanow is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.
Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles.
Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz editor for Record Review. In September 2002, Yanow was interviewed on-camera by CNN about the Monterey Jazz Festival and wrote an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic. He authored 12 books on jazz (including 2022's Life Through the Eyes of a Jazz Journalist), more than 900 liner notes for CD<nowiki/>s, and more than 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow contributed to the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz, serving as co-editor. He has written for DownBeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, Syncopated Times, Jazz Artistry Now, the Jazz Rag, and The New York City Jazz Record.
Yanow has produced a number of records under the Allegro record label. He also hosted a regular radio show called Jazz After Hours, which was broadcast on KCSB-FM. He has also served as a jazz listings editor for the Los Angeles Times.
Books