Author | Richard Cook Brian Morton |
---|---|
Original title | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette |
Language | English |
Series | Penguin Guide |
Subject | Jazz |
Genre | Non-fiction Encyclopedic Reference |
Publisher | Penguin Books |
Publication date | 24 September 1992 (1st edition) 2010 (10th edition) |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Paperback |
Pages | 1312 |
ISBN | 978-0-14-015364-4 |
OCLC | 468362981 |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom.
The first edition was published in Britain by Penguin Books in 1992. Every subsequent two years, through 2010, a new edition was published with updated entries. The eighth and ninth editions, published in 2006 and 2008, respectively, each included 2,000 new CD listings.
The title took on different forms over the lifetime of the work, as audio technology changed. The seventh edition was known as The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD while subsequent editions were titled The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The earliest edition had the title The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette. [1]
Richard Cook died in 2007, prior to the completion of the ninth edition (2008). [2] [3] Penguin released The Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums in December 2010, which contains fewer reviews and a different format from previous editions. [4]
In the first nine editions, artists were listed alphabetically and the entries began with short (usually one paragraph) biographies before a comprehensive listing of a musicians' available recordings in the United Kingdom at that time. Each disc was given a rating of up to four stars and details of its label and catalogue number, musicians featured on the disc, month and year of the recording or the span of time in which the tracks were recorded and finally a review of varying length. Often a number of discs were reviewed together.
Two extra features, author's picks (crowns) and "core collections", were added to succeeding editions. The first showed entries flagged as personal favorites while the latter made special note of the "more essential" albums for a jazz CD collection. John Eyles comments in a review that "the implication is that the choices for crowns are subjective, while the Core Collection is somehow more objective", when in fact both lists are decided upon by the same two editors. [5]
Bootlegs and limited-edition Mosaic Records releases were excluded. Some various-artists compilations were reviewed in the first edition but were dropped in later editions. Due to the increasing numbers of CDs on the market, space limitations and depth of coverage became an increasing problem: in the seventh edition, for instance, the index was dropped to save space, but it was restored in the eighth edition (though a number of entries were dropped or shortened to make room for it).
In the 10th edition, titled The Penguin Jazz Guide (2010), Morton revised his and Cook's entries from previous editions, and pared down the content to 1001 reviews of what Morton had selected as the best jazz recordings. [4] Morton also presented the reviews in chronological order by recording dates, rather than alphabetically by artist, and included historical context for the recordings as well as biographical details. [3] The 10th edition also dispensed with the starred rating system, the Core Collection, and Crown accolades. [6]
Though the first nine editions did not "spring any great surprises", the book "has a tried and trusted formula that works". It is also praised as being "of equal value to both experienced jazz listeners and novices". [5] Alison Kerr, reviewing the 2010 Penguin Jazz Guide in The Herald , noted the lack of an index as a hindrance, but cited the chronological format as one of the book's strengths. [3] Kerr also noted the subjective nature of Morton's selection of the best jazz albums. [3]
Edition | Title | Year | ISBN |
1st | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette | 1992 | 978-0-14-015364-4 |
2nd | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette | 1994 | 978-0-670-85816-3 |
3rd | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | 1996 | 978-0-14-051368-4 |
4th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | 1998 | 978-0-14-051383-7 |
5th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | 2000 | 978-0-14-051452-0 |
6th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | 2002 | 978-0-14-051521-3 |
7th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | 2004 | 978-0-14-101416-6 |
8th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | 2006 | 978-0-14-102327-4 |
9th | The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | 2008 | 978-0-14-103401-0 |
10th | The Penguin Jazz Guide | 2010 | 978-0-14-104831-4 |
A Love Supreme is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones.
The Real McCoy is the seventh album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and his first released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 21, 1967, following Tyner's departure from the John Coltrane Quartet. It features performances by Tyner with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones. Producer Alfred Lion recalls the recording session as a "pure jazz session. There is absolutely no concession to commercialism, and there's a deep, passionate love for the music embedded in each of the selections".
Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section is a 1957 jazz album by saxophonist Art Pepper with pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, who were the acclaimed rhythm section for Miles Davis at that time. The album is considered a milestone in Pepper's career.
The Original Memphis Five was an early jazz quintet founded in 1917 by trumpeter Phil Napoleon and pianist Frank Signorelli. Jimmy Lytell was a member from 1922 to 1925. The group made many recordings between 1921 and 1931, sometimes under different names, including Ladd's Black Aces and The Cotton Pickers. Richard Cook and Brian Morton, writing for The Penguin Guide to Jazz, refer to the group as "one of the key small groups of the '20s".
Arthur W. Hodes, was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Tears for Dolphy is a 1964 album by jazz trumpeter Ted Curson. The album's title track, an elegy for Eric Dolphy, has been used in many films.
The Complete Last Concert is a double CD live album by American jazz group the Modern Jazz Quartet featuring performances recorded at Avery Fisher Hall in 1974 and released on the Atlantic label originally as a double album The Last Concert (1975) and More from the Last Concert (1981) before the complete edition was released in 1988.
Jazz Advance is the debut album by pianist Cecil Taylor, recorded for the Transition label in September 1956. The album features performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy.
Air Lore is an album by the improvisational trio Air featuring Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins performing compositions by Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin. It was reissued on compact disc by Bluebird/RCA in 1987 and included in the eight-CD box set, Complete Novus and Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill and Air on Mosaic Records.
Fuego is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded on October 4, 1959 and released on Blue Note the following year. Byrd's quintet features saxophonist Jackie McLean and rhythm section Duke Pearson, Doug Watkins and Lex Humphries.
Groovin' at Smalls' Paradise, Vols. 1 & 2 are a pair of separate but related live albums by American jazz organist Jimmy Smith, recorded at Smalls' Paradise in New York City on November 15, 1957 and released on Blue Note the following year. The album was rereleased as a double CD with four bonus tracks recorded at the same performance.
Brown Rice, reissued as Don Cherry, is a studio album recorded in 1975 by trumpeter Don Cherry.
Fantastic Frank Strozier is the debut album by American saxophonist Frank Strozier, recorded in 1959 and 1960 for Vee-Jay Records. The personnel includes the rhythm section from part of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, recorded earlier in 1959.
Soft Hands is a 2007 jazz album featuring trio led by bassist Ron McClure and also featuring tenor saxophonist Rich Perry and multi-instrumentalist George Colligan, here playing piano.
Mulgrew Miller was an American jazz pianist. His appearances on record date from at least 1980 to 2012, the year before his death. They include more than 15 albums under his own name.
The Dark Tree is a live album by pianist Horace Tapscott recorded in 1989 and released on the Hat ART label as two separate volumes in 1991. The album was re-released as a double CD in 1999 and 2009
Last Year's Ghost is the debut album by Loose Assembly, a quintet led by American jazz drummer Mike Reed featuring alto saxophonist Greg Ward, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, cellist Tomeka Reid and bassist Josh Abrams. It was released in 2007 on 482 Music. The recording started in 2005 and completed in 2006, but the original sessions were lost and the album is a re-creation of the lost recordings.
2gether is an album by cornetist and fluegelhornist Warren Vaché and pianist Bill Charlap released on the German Nagel-Heyer label in 2001.
We See, subtitled Thelonious Monk Songbook, is a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, which was recorded in Switzerland in 1992 and first released on the hat ART label in 1993. The album was rereleased in 2002 with an additional track from the concert.
2 Ts for a Lovely T is a 10-CD limited-edition live album by American pianist Cecil Taylor. It was recorded during August 27 - September 1, 1990 at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, and was released in 2002 on the Codanza label. The album features the group known as the "Feel Trio," with Taylor on piano, William Parker on bass, and Tony Oxley on drums.