Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Jazz 3 (Rough Guide Reference)

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

 

 

I have read this book cover to cover several times by now, so I have a few opinions. Like another reviewer said, the entries for artists of the same caliber are very disproportunate. There is also a shortage of biographical info on some of the people. The mental breakdowns of Bud Powell and Billy Bolden are well documented, but no mention is made of the fact of Jaco Pastorious' breakdown and death (he's even talked about in the present tense). Here's my main gripe: while their choices for essential albums are mostly right on - though they only recommend ONE JOHN ZORN CD - at least 60-70% of the CDs they recommend are out of print and ridiculously expensive, or on import labels. I underlined quite a few that I wanted in the book and went looking on Amazon for them. It's enough to make you cry. And I don't know about you, but I automatically skip the entries on British musicians. I just don't care about British jazz. There's too much good American stuff for me to dig into. So, all in all - the book is good if you're dipping your toe into the pool, but if you've been wading in here for awhile, you might be disappointed.

I like this book, mainly because I find I share similar tastes as as the authors. If they recommend a CD, I generally enjoy it. Their selection of the best recordings of people like Corea and Jarrett I also agree with. Whereas I have been disappointed with other publications such as the Penguin and AMG guides which have a different viewpoint.

Not surprisingly, the book is very good on the British scene and what is happening on the Babel, Caber and Provocateur labels. The UK is very interesting at the moment, with lots of young exciting players and music.

This is a fine guide indeed - it covers more non-US artists than some other notable editions (European, Azian, African artists...) and it really tries to keep up with recent developments in jazz.

Naturally, all that means that traditionalists might desire larger articles on (mostly American) true jazz giants of the classical era, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

Some of the articles are impressionistic, unneceserily pointing out that an artist didn't play so well when he wisited Europe few years before he died, but failing to say why precisly was he so great, but most of the articles are (in the worst cases) fine, written with real passion for the music, and often relying on serious research.

As a fan (primarily but not exclusively) of older jazz I'd like to point to the articles on Buddy Bolden and ODJB, where the influence of this all-white group's influence on British society is comparable to the influence of later punk musicians (!?).

So, this book is not only interesting and useful, it is also thought-provoking.

i bought rough guide to soul for myself last year and couldn't put it down. so i am going out on a limb by glorifying rough guide to jazz so readily. but i feel safe in this.

and i hope my dad really likes it--it was his birthday gift this year!

guess what? he liked it!!!