This Paperback Book item from Penguin (Non-Classics) was reviewed on 11-Dec-2008.
Search ISBN:0141023279 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition Reference Book. Classifications : Jazz Musical Genres Music Entertainment Subjects Books General Reference Music Entertainment Subjects Books General AAS Reference Music Entertainment Subjects Books General Music Entertainment Subject . Click the following link to view the cover of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition. Related topics: Jazz. Musical Genres. Music. Entertainment. Subjects. Books. General. Reference. Music. Entertainment. requestid: df8c51b8-8431-4793-aed5-702c6639fda1
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1) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). You know Penguin is really reliable for this type of guide, and this Guide to Jazz Recordings is no exception. 1500+ pages chock full of jazz recording information on all the major stars of jazz, and most of the minor ones too. As a long time (30 years) musician who is new to the jazz world, I really needed a guide to help me wade through the monstrous amount of recorded jazz. This book is proving quite effective in the task. I especially like the "Core Collection" notations on those recordings that are considered must haves for the jazz aficionado. The list makes it easy to select what to search out and buy next, either by artist, style, instrument, backing musicians, recording era, you name it. One of my gripes is that the core collection is not listed all together in one index somewhere (I went through all 1500 pages and noted them down myself), which would have been a great help. I also didn´t like the fact that the authors sometimes fail to mention when you are going to have one helluva a hard time finding certain recordings, either because they are so esoteric, so long out of print, or just plain way out there. Still, I haven´t found any other jazz recordings resource better than this one, so I´m quite happy with my purchase and recommend this to all jazz fans.¤ 2) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). When I got the book, I looked up 50 or so jazz CDs I have either recently purchased or have considered purchasing and less than 50% were covered, although none were recently released! Similarly, many of the listed CDs are NOT readily available in the US. CDs listed are heavily slanted toward European releases, a vastly disproportionate percentage of the reviews are for the French Melodie Jazz Classics series. Since many older tracks are often gathered in similar "Best Of" type releases, it would have been possible to cross check existing compendiums by track title, but the only track listings are for a few specific tracks on a CD in the text of the review. So... for a book that is supposed to be a buyers guide, it falls far short in completeness. Well, it is published in the UK, and is probably a lot more useful there.
All that said, the reviews that are there are usually interesting, sometimes even enlightening. Unlike most efforts of this kind, the personnel listings for each CD (at least the ones I checked) seem complete and accurate. The capsule biographies manage to capture a lot about each artist in a concise form my old journalism teacher would have admired. While the highest rated CDs are mostly great choices for a beginning jazz library, there are two many levels of quality amongst the four star (highest rating) choices. On the plus side, the reviewers do deal with remastering sound quality, a significant issue particularly with older material.
The editors omitted most CDs which would have garnered 2 stars or less. I would have preferred a more aggressive paring down of the entries, eliminating perhaps most 3 star CDs, in order to discuss the really good ones in more detail and with track listings.
¤ 3) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). I replaced my 1996 edition. Many more listings. The best reference book for Jazz on CD out there.¤ 4) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). Comprehensive, as far as it goes, but. The major dissapointement is that there no references to various big bands and artists that were once covered. This is not the single source guide I had hoped. AMG and The Rough Guide, when available are important adjuncts. The day is fast approachingf when an online guide would be more appropriate, if it is produced and edited by knowledgeable editors.¤ 5) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). If you have older editions of this you may want to leaf through this latest edition before purchasing. In order to save space they have eliminated many recordings that were reviewed in previous versions. Betty Carter, Bill Charlap and Grant Green are a few examples of artists that have been short changed here in my opinion. It seems a bit ridiculous to publish a book of reviews in this day and age. "All Music Guide" is online and as a result more up to date. They may not have a written review for every release in an artists discography but at least they list it and rate it. AMG seems to be more generous in it´s ratings and reviews than Pengiun. As some other reviewers noted Penguin is really looking for that ground breaking release rather than another rehash of the same old standards. The reviewers at Downbeat seem to have a similar perspective. I appreciate that because as a result I now enjoy listening to many European "avant garde" artists that I may have never known about otherwise. "All About Jazz" is another online source for reviews but their philosophy seems to be "if you don´t have anything nice to say....."
As always tastes vary. I am a sucker for that ECM sound and I eagerly (and unobjectively!) anticipate the next release from their stable of artists. Enrico Rava, Keith Jarrett, Tomasz Stanko, Terje Rypdal and Charles Lloyd can do no wrong in my book but the Penguin Guide always brings me crashing back down to earth with it´s *** and **(*) ratings of some of my favorites!¤ 6) Paperback Book The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition by Penguin (Non-Classics). The leading guide to recorded jazz, now extensively revised
Music fans have been turning to this established reference through seven editions as a source of intelligent and insightful criticism. Fully updated to incorporate thousands of additional recordings, the eighth edition features artist biographies, detailed recording information with labels and catalog numbers, reliable and authoritative ratings, the authors’ personal selection of the essential recordings for every collection, an index of artists, and more.¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 8-Jan-2009, 01410232799780141023274, 410-790-640-310-630-3X0-A0B-7GB-8 
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition, Book, Image © Penguin (Non-Classics)
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