Rating: 
Summary: I concur with the other posted reviews, this is THE guide.
Review: I concur with the other reader reviews posted, that this is THE essential guide for jazz recordings, both for its comprehensive coverage -- it covers many artists not even mentioned in other guides -- and for its razor-sharp reviews. For my taste, I am happy that this guide pays great attention to the "avant-garde," the "atonal" free jazz and free improv artists, as these are the recordings of particular interest to me, and they are given particularly short shrift in the other published guides. However, for those of more conservative tastes, the Penguin book is equally fair-minded, well-informed, and comprehensive. I echo the reader who wished for an on-line version which could be continually updated; further, rather than publish the whole book over and over again in new editions every several years, I would suggest ONE MAIN TEXT, to be followed by SUPPLEMENTS, which could be published every six or twelve months. These supplements could contain only NEW material, so that in buying new editions we would not be paying for reprints of much material already in our hands. However they choose to publish it, though, this is the MOTHER of all jazz cd listings. GET IT!
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Summary: Excellent judgments articulately expressed.
Review: This guide delivers consistently excellent opinions with expressive details about jazz artists and releases. The only problem is that when you walk into a store, there are new compilations not in the book and you're kind of back to square one.A comprehensive guide like this is probably best suited to a perpetually updated online format. The writers have good taste and appreciation for each artist, and discuss the quality of the releases both as worthwhile consumer products, and aesthetic artifacts, with useful notes for both completist collectors and beginners. The biggest drawback is that space probably doesn't permit them to list the individual songs on each album, and when you're in a store, the Cds are sealed, so you're constantly dragging the book around and comparing it to track listings on the shelf. Overall, a must-read for background on each artist -- though hopefully they'll have an online version with running updates).
Rating:
Summary: An indispensable reference, with a caveat.
Review: This is THE most comprehensive reference for jazz recordings. Reviews are straghtforward and can be trusted. HOWEVER THIS ONLY COVERS CDS CURRENTLY IN PRINT IN ENGLAND. The authors are British, which occaisionally colors their tastes, but hey, I like a little color. Right on the money in picking the best example of a performers work. If you have any interest in starting a jazz cd collection, you gotta have it.
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Summary: The best guide for Jazz in CD
Review: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on Cd is by far the best and most complete source of information for Jazz in CD. The Penguin Guide covers most of the jazz scene on a worldwide basis (which is a welcome, considering that such irrelevant but popular publications as All Music Guide to Jazz only covers an extremely basic range of jazz music and jazz musicians) and is a real adventure for jazz lovers. Considering the variety and the quality of the information it contains, it should be called the Complete Jazz Encyclopedia. Weak points: Their authors tend to benefit extreme improvisation and atonal jazz over other jazz styles and surprisingly some well known jazz players (as Al Di Meola for example) do not have their own page in the Guide. Anyway, this is a "must" for all jazz lovers, so do not waste your money buying any of the several guides for jazz in CD.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible
Review: This book is the greatest resource for jazz fans, whether beginning or expert. It's comprehensive and catholic in its views, and provides detailed, agenda-free reviews of thousands of recordings. The reviews are far beyond the standard pop-critical fare; many have detailed biographies of the most important musicians and are both learned and accessible. As a jazz musician who must carefully shop for recordings I feel I need, the guide is indispensible. One caveat, the star ranking system can be inconsistent, but this is a minor flaw.
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Summary: The best of its kind: witty, erudite, magnificent
Review: Many US readers complain that Cook & Morton are "biased" or that the book isn't helpful to them because there's a lot of material available in the US that isn't in Europe. The fact that this is the most well-written, coherent, tightly argued and wide-ranging reference book covering jazz CDs currently available in *any* world market seems to escape some of these readers. Of course it must be frustrating; but nothing is getting in the way of a scholar or two doing the same thing in the US... except perhaps for the existence and sheer authority of this very work. The AMG volume is the only contender, but its breadth is not quite compensated by the often dire quality of the commentary it contains. The accusation of "bias" is an interesting one - it presupposes the possibility of something called "objectivity". Of course the Penguin guide is highly opinionated; it's also full of wit, irony, wisdom and all the qualities that make great writing and criticism a joy to read. Criticism is after all nothing but cleverly expressed opinion. No other book helps you to make sense of the present and future of your jazz collection more ably and persuasively than this one.
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Summary: No index, one less star
Review: As always the Penguin (7th edition) is wonderful, especially if you are looking for European jazz. On occasion, I notice that some cds that were put out in 2002 or 2003 that had a relatively high profile aren't included but that isn't what I buy the guide for anyway. However, the lack of an index for a reference guide is both baffling and inexcusable. In the past editions, I have used the index countless times to see what other cds a certain musician may have played on. I suggest that the authors do a reference, which doesn't cost much, as I know from my own experience editing books. Then they should put it on the web so that interested readers can download it.
Rating: 
Summary: Seventh Edition Disappoints - And Where's the Index???
Review: Morton and Cook are well-informed and insightful critics, and over the years I have found their reviews in previous editions of the Penguin Guide extremely helpful. However, while this remains the best work of its kind, the seventh edition is a questionable improvement over previous versions. Indeed, in at least one very important respect it is a major step backward.
Of course, the authors have added reviews of many CDs issued (or reissued) since the sixth edition came out, though the lag between completion of a book like this and publication inevitably means that the most recent releases are not included (the cutoff point seems to occur in spring of 2004). It's nice to have these new reviews, but it would have been nicer still if the authors had also revised some of their appraisals of older material; in certain instances, their observations are beginning to seem rather dated, and there are also cases in which the recycling of old reviews has led to inaccuracies and lapses in continuity.
The new "core collection" feature (the authors identify 200 essential recordings) could have been very interesting, but comes off seeming like an afterthought. How the "core collection" designation relates to the old "crown" designation (which is retained) isn't really explained, and since most of the reviews have not been updated even for the "core collection" discs, the grounds for inclusion are often unclear. As a result, the list seems arbitrary and somewhat haphazard. For example, the MJQ's "Last Concert" is included in the "core collection" over "Dedicated to Connie," "The Complete Prestige and Pablo Recordings," and "MJQ40," despite the fact that the latter three all receive higher ratings; in fact, the review of "Dedicated to Connie" says that it "knocks into a cocked hat even the new edition of the so-called 'Last Concert.'" Of course, people can reasonably disagree about the merits of one recording over another, but it's a bit odd to find Morton and Cook disagreeing with themselves, as they seem in effect to be doing here.
Finally, the publisher's decision not to include an index in what is essentially a reference work is very unfortunate. With previous editions, the reader could use the index to identify recordings on which a given musician appeared as a sideman. (Wynton Kelly fans, for example, could easily find reviews not only of the relatively small number of albums Kelly recorded under his own name, but also of a vast number of albums on which he played under the leadership of musicians like Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Art Pepper, and Wes Montgomery, as well as less prominent figures like Conte Candoli and Steve Lacy.) This made the index an invaluable resource, and it is therefore quite vexing to find that the publisher has opted to dispense with it this time around. The Guide is much less useful without it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots if info but boring opinions
Review: My wife bought this for me and I was excited to learn more about those I know and those I dont. After finding my favourites and reading these "opinions" on which records to buy, it became clear that these folks have a fairly narrow view of what jazz is (ala Winton Marsalis). While the artist information is interesting and useful, IMHO the opinions on what is significant is way off.
For me, this book has become a tool for determining what artists I will probably like. If they pan something (0 - 2 stars), it's probably worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best guide out there
Review: But also incomplete. Too many ommissions to give it 5 stars. I also differ with many of the recordings i consider classic that are ignored or given a low rating: The Sermon, Boss Guitar, Moanin, Intuition, are a few that come to mind. But definitely worth buying. But people just getting into jazz beware: there is a lot of good to essential jazz out there that is not covered by this edition yet. Maybe they should start selling it only on a CD edition from now on.
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