Rating: 
Summary: A Good Guide
Review: Cook and Morton obviously love Jazz, and this book is in many ways an impressive achievement. It is well written and a lot of effort has gone into its production. They are obviously very knowlegable about the music. If you like Blue Note music of the 1960's and ECM in the 1970's this is the book for you. I do have a couple of complaints. 1)They are purists so a lot of records which I think of as jazz don't get reviewed, this strangely includes music by a lot of music British artists, such as Ian Carr, Mario Castronari and Phil Robson. They are also a bit snobbish about much of the output of Corea, Bley, Miles and Jarrett.
2) My suspicion is that they are journalists rather than musicians, so their taste in records can be a bit strange. I have bought records on their recommendation and been disappointed. The Rough Guide to Jazz is better at identifying the key disks of the major astists.
Rating: 
Summary: The 6th edition is as good as always - with the same issues.
Review: The Penguin is still the best Jazz recording reference I know, and as readable as ever. I have had them all. The format has been improved in the fifth edition, and new artist biographies have been added for all artists. And the book proves that Jazz does not only happen in the USA. Warning. This book will cost you more than what you think. Should you buy the new edition? The authors must have the greatest job in the world. Constantly reviewing great music. But it will cost you more than the cover price if you are a music collector. Personally, I have developed an obsession with collecting all works that have been crown-rated - since the first edition. This has profited the shareholders of Amazon.com immensely. Right now, there is ONLY ONE ITEM that I can't find. Does anyone want to sell their copy of Lars Gullin: The great Lars Gullin Vol.5 (1954-55) (Dragon DRLP 181)? :-)) (Apparently it is getting reissued at some stage). Anyway, my knowledge of Jazz has definitely increased a lot (across all styles) over the last 10 years, and my Jazz CD collection has improved from mediocre to excellent. However, a number of issues have been carried forward from the previous editions:
* The amount of typos is probably acceptable for a book of this size, but it is unfortunate that the same errors appear in subsequent editions. A good overall edit is due for the next edition. Many reviews have not been updated since the first edition.
* While coverage of the northern hemisphere (even Asia) is good, coverage of the southern hemisphere is still lagging behind. Only European and US artists have been rewarded crowns. Maybe it says something about the current state of Jazz down south, but I think that the authors need to get on the plane, come downunder and explore. Get to know emerging musicians, but at least update the works of well-known artists. That goes for Africa, Australia and South America.
* European catalogue numbers have been provided, but not the US equivalents. This will be confusing when you order from Amazon.com. Often there are equivalent editions available in other countries.
* LPs were covered in the 1st edition, but are no longer covered. Deleted albums are excluded from new editions (deleted titles should at least be listed with a rating, even if the review is cut, imho).
* Searching and indexing has not been improved. I would very much like a searchable CD-Rom to quickly locate what I'm looking for, as an option. For all these reasons I am still only giving it 4 stars this time. Lets hope for a refreshed 7th edition. But despite all these issues, this reference work is as good as it gets (currently).
Rating:
Summary: This (3rd) edition is now getting out-dated.
Review: The Penguin is the best Jazz Reference I know. I have had all editions, and recently re-purchased a used copy of the first edition - because of its LP coverage. Unfortunately deleted recordings do not make it into the new editions. Keep the first and the last edition, and you'll have most bases covered.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't upgrade
Review: The previous reviewers have been 100% correct. While a first time buyer can't go wrong with the Penguin Guide, there is just not enough new content to justify upgrading from the 5th edition. I am actually quite disappointed in how releases from 2000 and 2001 are noticeably absent from this edition. Quite honestly, I feel ripped off for upgrading.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Product Gone Stale (Sell-by Date Expired)
Review: This review is for the new SIXTH edition. The Penguin Guide to Jazz has long been the premier guide to recorded jazz. It continues to outclass its only serious competitor (the All Music Guide to Jazz) in erudition and in its wide ranging catholic tastes. (Yes, great jazz IS produced outside the western hemisphere.) Unfortunately, the once great Penguin Jazz franchise has become moribund. I have all six editions and must report that the authors have been coasting for the last two (or, perhaps, three) editions. The newest (2003) edition is woefully out of date for the year 2000, much less the present year. This is not a matter of British vs. European vs. U.S. music distribution systems nor is it a matter of unavoidable lags in publishing schedules. These guys just aren't keeping up with the times! Hundreds of major releases that I have seen in the CD bins in Berlin, Paris, and Rome (not to mention U.S. stores) simply don't appear in the pages of the newest edition. I can only attribute their absence to author negligence. Accordingly, I cannot recommend the purchase of the sixth edition for buyers of previous editions. There just isn't enough new material to merit the expense. For first time buyers, though, it is still a good buy. Since the text has changed remarkably little, all the old strengths and weaknesses remain. Avant-garde and second tier European artists get respectful reviews while more traditional soul/gospel-influenced artists get condescending or patronizing reviews. (These guys are tone-deaf when it comes to music from the so-called "chitlin circuit." Maybe they just need to fly over a get a few plates of decent ribs and other BBQ delights. I dunno. Somehow they just don't "get" some important aspects of the American socio-cultural milieu that is reflected in certain types of jazz.) Still, this is a minor aesthetic quibble. The Penguin Guide remains the best available guide to recorded jazz. Alas, it is woefully out-of-date in evaluating jazz as it is being played today in any and all genres.
Rating: 
Summary: No Competition for a Reason
Review: It is very hard to have a "complete" jazz guide these days, and I have followed this one since the first edition. Take it from me, save or buy those old editions. As a collector they are invaluable references for out of print music, labels, dead artists, etc... This 5th edition is the most comprehensive so far. Now a little bit of bitching. The authors definately do not like soul/funk/acid jazz as the low ratings of Lou Donaldson would indicate...others too. In addition, "Latin" or Afro-Cuban jazz forms are largely over-looked, fortunately there are dedicated books for that genre out there. That said though, these guys are very knowledgable and one can generally buy with confidence. I have encountered CDs that the authors shelled, and Down Beat gave a 5 Star, so do your research, or let your ears do the deciciding. I have bought many hundreds of records with this guide in hand, and it is already well travelled too. For serious collectors and novices alike.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I was a pretty recent jazz devotee when I purchased this book, and it has been worth every penny and then some as I have built up my jazz collection. The authors are tough but fair in their appraisals of these records, and I rarely find myself disagreeing with their assessments. This book has saved me a lot of money buying subpar records, and helped me to focus in on the truly outstanding material. I heartily recommend it to any jazz fan, especially one still in the beginning stages of building their collection.
Rating:
Summary: invaluable resource... some rating questionable
Review: I love this guide and use it all the time. It's truly an invaluable resource for finding the great CDs in jazz... especially for someone like me. I don't know many people who share my love for jazz. So finding out which CDs to buy is a chore... I trust the Penguin Guide to help me buy wisely when adding to my collection. ...
Rating:
Summary: A good companion to the AMG !
Review: Any avid collector of jazz should have an assortment of guides to assist them in researching music. The cost of CD's hasn't dropped much over the past few years and LP collecting is taking off again which means that finding rare LP's at a bargin price is probably a thing of the past. If you're a collector (new or experienced) who plans on buying a lot of music you can't approach purchases haphazardly. Spur of the moment buys often bring about regret. Once you've bought the wrong CD in most cases your stuck with it. If you decide to resell it, you'll rarely get what you paid for it. That is why I'm a strong believer in using music guides such as the Penguin Guide to Jazz to assit you in your purchases. The Penguin guide, and my personal favorite the AMG take a lot of the guess work out of purchasing music. Between the two guides it is easy to find the basic information on a particular album. The Penguin appears to include a better selection of newer artist and superior information on obscure music, while the AMG seems to offer more background information on the musicians in general. Both offer a brief review and other vital information such as recording dates, sidemen etc. The greatest difference between the two guides is in their actual evaluation of the music intself (the reviews). The AMG guide has been accused of not being critical enough on music while in my opinion, the Penguin guide sometimes goes overboard in evaluating certain albums negatively. Taking a look through the penguin guide, you'll find many of the greatest LP's of all time rated fairly low. This in itself is not a major issue because we should always remember that reviews are simply someone elses opinion. My suggestion is not to pick one book over the other but obtain them both, this will offer you better objectivity and you won't find yourself standing by the opinions of one book alone. They are both excellent sources for music, and they actually make great reading when you're bored!
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Compilation
Review: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, Fifth Edition
Richard Cook & Brian Morton It may seem slightly ironic that the best book on jazz recordings was written by a couple of Brits, but there it is. Richard Cook and Brian Morton have compiled the most informative and well-written collection of jazz cd reviews available, but the book is much more than that: from its pages one may discern the pattern of influences and innovations that make jazz so exciting to explore, and learn more than a little about the history of the music and its principal as well as obscure artists. Having this book around is having access to the opinions of a couple of guys who have been listening to jazz all their lives, have the most comprehensive jazz collections imaginable, and who impart their wisdom with the most succinct and inventive blend of wit and enthisiasm for the music we love to be found within the pages of a book. Yes, there are typos, errors, and Richard and Brian diss some of my favorite albums, but some familiarity with their tastes will allow the reader to make a well-informed appraisal of whether a given album is something one wishes to listen to. The book is written from a vantage-point that takes in the whole history of jazz, and more often than not their reviews are "spot-on": they know which recordings are indispensible for those of us who haven't listened to as much music as they have. In the late 1990s when I managed a million-dollar-a-year music store, we kept the third edition of this book behind the counter and consulted it almost daily, whether to answer customer queries, settle disputes between posing hipster musicsellers, or simply to "learn more about the product" (alas, jazz only accounted about 4% of our sales). Nowadays I keep this edition in the kitchen and peruse it while I'm waiting for the tea to steep, musing about my next puchase. If you love jazz you need this book. You'll probably need to buy it from Amazon too, as any copy on the shelf of your local bookstore is likely to have the binding cracked in several places from in-store customer perusal.
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