Customer Reviews

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on LP, CD, and Cassette: New Edition

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Indispensible. Pithy, accurate descriptions of recorded jazz from New Orleans at the turn of the century to the most up to date improvisers. I love to browse this volume and have used it over and again in selecting my own music.

This is an excellent guide to Jazz. It's a great reference to the history of recorded Jazz. They also discuss the sound quality of many of the cd issues, which is most helpful. The only real flaw is the omission of Glenn Miller as an important Jazz/Swing figure. Miller's arranged swing music is as important to the history of Jazz as any other band leader. Miller was not the first to arrange jazz music, and by no means the last to do so. Many of these other arrangers are reviewed in this book, but not Miller! Glenn's Army Air Force band could swing as hard as any other. This is a great book, but why they left out one of America's most important bandleaders is a mystery. Glenn deserves better.