Rating: 
Summary: rips the all music guide to shreads
Review: witty, intelligent, knowledgeable, and horribly biased and opinionated... just the way it should be
Rating:
Summary: Paperback and CD-Rom
Review: A huge book about jazz is good. A book and a cd-rom would be better. Both and the permit to use the content for a homepage would be the best.
Rating: 
Summary: mixed
Review: I have a few quibbles. The most glaring of which is the authors' annoying predilection for slathering all sorts of praise over European free improv, especially when collective - large ensemble- improv is concerned, e.g. Peter Brotzmann, Vienna Art Orchestra, etc. Another problem, as I see it, is the praise free pianist zCecil Taylor receives, without an srgument for why he is so significant in 'jazz'. So it is difficult to wade through this kind of often extreme bias and to get to the purpose of the guide, I mean that a guide is supposed to give the listener an idea of what to seek out - not a lengthy accolade of the authors favorite artists. At least in my opinion. Additionally, the authors, occasionally paraphrase the liner notes of the CDs theyre reviewing - intellectual plagiarism? Or necessarily so? You decide. I think crriticizing a book of this sort leads to a basic disagreement over personal preferences, so I'll not gt into that too much. ZThe above ideas, as well as some of the charges of the other reviewers , speak enough of the problems with this book. But if you REALLY want a guide to jazz, check out the All Music Guide, as it has charts chronicling the history of the music, and not just specific reviews. So buy both. Or, better yet buy neither and search the web (or whatever other kind of word of mouth) for more info on what to buy. Or, pick stuff out at randm and get an idea of what you like. I hope this review, as with the others, has given the prospective buyer ajn idea of what this book is about, and whtether it's worth the $$$ you might shell out. For what it's worth. Showing MY bias I must say that I like reading it and occasionally get some good info out of it.
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Summary: best jazz guide available
Review: This is the best guide to jazz available. all reviews and ratings are made by the authors. most guide books (like AMG) rely on a group of reviewers and therefore thir ratings are often inconsistent.Some ideas on how this book could be improved . 1. a searchable index (either on the web or CD) so it is easier to find what I am looking for 2. instead of a new editiopn every 2 years.- publish a short annual covering the music released in each year 3. expand coverage to out of print albums and special edition reissues(like Mosaic records) 4. include more information on where to obtain the CDs and list price 5. more coverage of international jazz musicians especially those from sfrica and brazil.
Rating: 
Summary: Pompous Cynicism Not Even Expected From A Penguin!
Review: Aside from not being very comprehensive, "The Penguin Guide to Jazz" is marred by an ever-present pompous cynicism that one wouldn't even expect from a penguin! For a useful text, see the "All Music Guide to Jazz"...for people.
Rating:
Summary: very good, but...
Review: This is where I discovered jazz (I bought the 3rd and 4th editions). The two suggestions I would make is (yes) a separate list for the crowns (I'm the second Italian to ask that) and the review of out-of-print CDs. With so many record stores selling used CDs, it is a pity that an album is not cited because it's out-of-print. grazie
Rating:
Summary: not recommended
Review: This is a book that can't decide whether it wants to be a recording catalog or a dictionary of jazz. It is of little use as either. It gratuitously and gracelessly interpolates into its text unsupported and arbitrary opinion. Its prose is sloppy, glib, puerile, and humorless. Recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Resource
Review: With all that jazz out there, where do you start? What's good? This indispensable book is the bible on jazz recordings. Well-written and authoritative. A must for any jazz fan.
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Summary: An interesting but Euro-biased Guide to Jazz:Non essential.
Review: The Penguin Guide to Jazz will provide the reader with some knowledge and insight to Jazz although I find some of the authors assesments seriously of the mark. Also many key performers are not even cited. Since this book is of UK origin the discography is problematic for U.S readers at best due to differences in record label catalogs in the U.S vs the UK. The authors take on such bonafide classics as Coltrane's "Bluetrain" reek of that brand of peculiar off the mark preciousness that British music writers seem to purvey. Another example is dissing Charlie Hadens Quartet West recordings while praising his recent psuedo New Age duo album with Pat Metheny "Missouri Sky". Novices and fans alike seeking a better overall guide to Jazz from both an esthetic and discography standpoint would be better served to pick up the All Music Guide.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: The Penguin is definetely the best Jazz Reference I know (though I haven't seen the AMG, and I also like The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz). Like other readers, I too have purchased all 4 editions, and I very much like the North American and European coverage. Here is my wish list for next editions of the book: 1) Better regional coverage (For example Australian and South African musicians). 2) Review of all the important albums, deleted or not, LP and CD (maybe with a note about availability). 3) I would very much like a searchable CD-Rom to quickly locate what I'm looking for, as an option.
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