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This is really a great book for people who wants to start to know jazz music. Afrobeat. But - why Fela Anikulapo Kuti and some other foreign great jazz players are missing (for example, another one: Tenorinho/Tenorio Jr). Are Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever really playing jazz music.
He's a rock drummer (not jazz) and even he worked in at least five Fela Kuti albums (but he is here, while Fela Kuti isn't). And - like Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock - Fela Anikulapo Kuti started as traditional jazz player (see "L. Sessions" or "Koola Lobitos") to evolve then in a fusion player, giving a new name ("Afrobeat") to his music just to highlight his african roots. So - in my opinion - the authors can't cancel (as they do) one of the greatest keyboardists ever (Fela Anikulapo Kuti), one of the greatest jazz drummers ever (Tony Allen), as well as a trumpet player like Babatunde Williams. Even Ginger Baker is inside this book. This is the best starting point.
A. When the authors will put these jazz musicians on these pages this book will be 5/5. Someone could say - Fela Anikulapo Kuti doesn't play jazz, he's playing Afrobeat. They are included in this book because their genre is "fusion", and some members of these bands are very famous (and American), but which is one of the best "fusion" music ever.
ill just stick with google, then i can have more than enough info. Ever heard of the secondary market. verve does this as of this post. if you can find this at your library , check it out before you buy.what about download only jazz reissues. used shops , thrift stores, people trade music all the time, almost half of my 3000 cd collection has been obtained through these means, yet because bluenote for instance lets a jackie mclean cd go put of print, they dont review it. i just dont understand the logic.
Please, that's as tonedeaf a statement as I've ever heard). If I'd been taking their advice these last twenty years, I would never have heard some of the best new jazz that's out there. Well, they didn't include it. This guide does a tremendous disservice to jazz if it's dissuading buyers from taking chances on new artists. Morton and Cook's smug, dismissive, snarky, often hostile reviews were appalling. OK, I'll be the voice of dissent.
(I found a rare Bobby Hutcherson CD at Amoeba and consulted the store's 2008 Penguin Guide to determine the lineup). (Kurt Rosenwinkel is "boring". Bear with me: I've been a dedicated jazzhead for 20+ years and have bought an ungodly number of CDs based on word-of-mouth, industry buzz and personal encounters. Who are these guys and what are their musical credentials. I'd advise jazz enthusiasts to trust their own ears, not the taste of these twits.This "guide" is to jazz as "toilet paper" is to bathroom reading. Today was the first time I've ever looked to the Penguin Jazz Guide for shopping advice.
So be it.But then I started thumbing through it, looking up some of my recent favorites.
Right now, the book simply cannot compete with the resources that are available online, and even not with simply checking the Amazon reviews for a record. For example, in order to help new comers, the authors list "core recordings" which should be in every basic collection, but include in this core collection artists like Cecil Taylor, who is a great pianist, but not very accessible. Normally, people start listening to jazz after being introduced to relatively accessible artists such as Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and the like. First of all, the fall out of copyright of many recordings presents the collector with a choice of several available versions (with different remastering) for the same record.
Fourth, the guide has more ommissions of new recordings than in the past. This book is simply not complete enough to serve this purpose. If you know what artist and or record you are interested in, the web will be much more useful to you than this book.So the usefulness of the book is currently limited to (a) experienced collectors, who want to learn about new artists and records from it, and are willing to then do more research online and find which version is the best (b) people who enjoy reading well written reviews about jazz records.All this said, the effort is still admirable, and the book is fun (to me at least) but you better know what to expect before you buy. First, there is not much information on the artists themselves, their style, and even of a more basic level, what styles are there in jazz and how do they differ. This is definitely the case with the authors, who show a strong tendency to recommend complex and demanding works which are not suitable for beginners.
Worse than that, most of the time the authors simply recommend the "french classics" series, which (a) does not include alternate takes (b) usually has flawed remastering compared to other labels and (c) is quite expensive. However, it has some flaws that you need to consider before buying. Often, their taste develops over the years and they tend to focus more on avant-garde, complex recordings. It uses a star rating method to rate recordings, provides at least a few lines (but sometimes much more) of information about each record, and includes discographical information and personnel lists. It is more like a catalogue of reviews.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings is the most comprehensive, and definitely one of the best guides for Jazz music. For that, you should try Tom Lord's series of books.The third type of guide book is for experienced collectors who are interested in recommendations, in learning about new artists and recordings, and in comparing their opinions about certain records to the opinions of others. You will not get an answer. The penguin guide will not serve this purpose well for several reasons. In the past, the guide served such collectors quite well but I am sorry to say that this is no longer the case for several reasons. For any serious collector, Mosaic sets are indispensible, especially since in some cases they are the only good option to obtain the music (for example, Lionel Hampton's 1930's music).
It includes over 14,000 reviews and benefits from the excellent writing skills and the encyclopedic knowledge of the authors. A second controversial decision is to not include box sets by Mosaic records in the book. Especially, the authors miss the fine efforts of labels such as JSP and Proper. Are the Rudy Van Gelder remasters better than the original transfers. It would be very useful to learn which is best, but the guide rarely lists more than one version of the same record. So, if you are a newcomer, this book is absolutely not for you.
I realize that it is no longer possible to include everything, but a good way to progress would be to have a complete Kindle version, as well as a selected paperback version.
While I can understand the motivation, including such CDs may help getting them reissued, plus the guide is not very well updated and includes many CDs that are out of print unintentionally.
I think an album should be judged for what it is and how good it is in it's genre and compared to the other albums of the artist in question, but this is not what the Penguin Guide does.
A third controversial decision is to not include out of print CDs.
I will consider several possible goals that a guide book such as this can fill and discuss how well it does for each.The first type of a guide book is a guide book for people who are new to Jazz and would like to learn where to begin and which records to buy in order to establish a modest collection of key recordings and recordings that are good introductions to jazz.
Do you want to buy your Django Reinhardt on JSP, Mosaic, Fremaeux, or another label.
Try allmusic's guide to jazz or the rough guide instead.The second type of a guide book is for extremely experienced collectors who are interested in a complete discography including all sessions for the relevant artists.
Second, the authors are very experienced Jazz fans and it shows.
Charming albums which are great but undemanding get lower ratings.
I will wear it out using it. Indispensible reference for any true Jazz fan. Talk about information by the pound. This hefty volume has everything you were afraid to ask for.
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