Customer Reviews

All Music Guide to Jazz 3rd Edition

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's very extensive and it gives a good history of jazz, different styles, many albums are included, etc. But the reviews don't say much about the albums. Most of the time the band members are mentioned and there's very few information about the music that's on it. For example, for every album made by the mid-60s Miles Davis quintet the band members are mentioned and there's something like: 'The music is challenging but quite rewarding'. But it doesn't say anything about the differences between the albums. For a guide that tells you more about the music, look for 'Penguin Guide To Jazz'.

This huge book is a great resource for the jazz fan. it is very comprehensive and has a useful overview of the different genres in jazz. nearly 20,000 albums(including Out-of-Print albums) are reviewed. the only flaw if that it uses a team of reviewers to cover all the material and as a result some artists may be reviewed inconsistently. On the whole this is a good reference for both dedicated jazz fans and people who want to start a jazz collection.

I use both the All Music Guide to Jazz and the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. If I had to choose between them, I'd choose the All Music Guide because of the capsule biographies (including birth and death dates) of each artist that are included with every entry. Also, it lists more albums, although some of them are not on CD, but on vinyl only. I also love that it has such a wealth of additional material: music histories and charts of the various genres, "maps" of significant players, and even essays and book reviews! Books about jazz and biographies of jazz artists are reviewed; if that weren't enough, there are also listings and reviews of jazz videos! Truly a wonderful book! In most ways it is much more complete than the Penguin Guide, for example, in the All Music Guide, there are 89 listings under "John Coltrane" whereas in the Penguin Guide there are only 66. On the other hand, many of the Penguin reviews are more lengthy and in-depth than those in the All Music Guide. For myself -- I need both of them!

The AMG website is no doubt the best and most efficient way of finding out the basic facts about a recording, be it in circulation or not. Its printed counterpart for jazz is practical, but it lacks the depth, scholarship, style and vitality of the Penguin Guide. It also, crucially, lacks an index. However, it is helpful in that it isn't concerned -as the Penguin is- with whether a recording is available or not. That way it tantalisingly points to material that has not been reissued or is still only on vinyl. Those of us who love the hunt for rare records will be delighted by this. The writing is competent and highly informed, but stops short of erudition and wit. It's also slightly overenthusiastic, as if there were few bad recordings in jazz. Of course there are, in their thousands. And sophisticated listeners want to become discerning; they want to know why something good is good, and why something poor is poor. To become discerning you need more challenging books than this. But it remains essential as a basic reference item for its breadth alone.

My reasons for liking this book is probably different than most people. As an LP collector, I welcome information on vinyl no longer in print. I also like the fact that this book tells you the original title for the LP. Many CD's change the title and add alternate cuts. If I am going to purchase CD's I'd prefer the programming to be just like it was on the original LP.

As far as the reviewer's being too easy with their ratings , I've purchased nearly 600 LP's and CD's from various sources over the past year and many of them I bought at the recommendation of this book, only 1 of them was not to my taste (The World Saxaphone Quartet's Tribute to Ellington).

I've also had the opportunity to utilize the penguin guide as well others guides, I actually found the Penguin to be way to critical on some of the greatest recordings in Jazz History. The Penguin also doesn't seem to be as user friendly to vinyl fans.

One area that this book may come up short is for fans of "Smooth Jazz" it is easy to see that the author is not a fan of this genre (neither am I for that matter)!

I'd recommend this book strongly to anyone wanting to purchase a Vinyl and CD collection. I'm sure an argument can be made for the Penguin book, it is also a sound option, but as for me I'll take the AMG!

Unlike the Penguin, you can use this book as a reference to what albums the artist has made. Many reissues hit the shelves each year and I can count on finding some info about them here. I do think that often the ratings are overrated and as an audiophile I would like to know if remastering has been done recently. If the album is given a star (white or black,) you can be safe in assuming it's a top choice.

This is one of, if not THE finest jazz reference books around. Encyclopedic and thorough in reviews of numerous jazz CDs. The authors are very knowlegable about jazz but sometimes present themselves with a stuffy expert attitude. Nonetheless, is complete in terms of an artist's catalog, major sidemen, capsule biographies, etc. For people who are getting started in jazz and for those who have been around awhile...highly recommended.

I get a lot of use out of this book. When I learn of obscure artists of whom I had not previously heard, they're almost always in here. When I've got too big (read: expensive) an armload of CDs at the store, I use the AMG to help me winnow them down - good stores usually have a courtesy copy available. When I need a break at work, I enjoy browsing the entries for a few minutes. There's a great deal of information, and as a collector I particularly appreciate that AMG has entries for out-of-print recordings, which are generally not in the Penguin or Rolling Stone guides.

However, I've found that I cannot put too much reliance on the authors' ratings. It's not so much that I disagree with them, although there are of course instances when I do, but that too many records are rated too favorably. So many recordings are highly rated, especially Blue Note hard bop sessions and large box sets (e.g., everything Mosaic ever issued), that one cannot discern the truly exciting, essential sessions from the more workaday. A record has got to be pretty bad for Scott Yanow, who wrote the vast majority of the reviews, to refrain from praising and recommending it. The Penguin critics are much better in this respect, but their guide is less encyclopedic. I recommend that one gets both books.

I've also picked up a few factual errors here and there, but a few errors is a minor criticism given the vast amount of material presented. More attention to mentioning the recordings that stand out for especially good or bad sound quality would also be an enhancement. But all told, the AMG should serve as an important and interesting reference for most serious jazz listeners.

This book (encyclopedia) rates and describes nearly every quality jazz album available. It provides essays about the different jazz genres from traditional, to bop; thirdstream, to fusion, and all in between. Music maps chart the prominent players of each genre and instrument throughout jazz history.

The discographies of these musicians are amazing.

I use this book constantly. It may make a jazz student out of you too!

This book, in all three of its editions, has been a constant companion on record and CD hunts with me. Not only is the third edition far more thorough than in the past, it also serves as an excellent place to keep track of what I've got in my collection. Given the constant repackaging of recordings, it's been my misfortune in the past to double up on recordings more than once. Not any more! Informative, deeply researched, and backed up by an online service that adds new releases, the "All Music Guide to Jazz" is an indispensable resource. Now, if they could only convince the record execs to release (or re-release) everything that's out-of-print on CD, I'd be very happy indeed. You can't go wrong with this book!