Review by Choice Review
The publishers who gave us the All Music Guide are now in the spinoff business. Their first offspring is reviewed here; another volume pertaining to world music will be issued soon, and no doubt more genre-specific guides will follow. This volume claims to be "the most complete consumer guide to jazz recordings ever made available." The guide has biographies, all in one alphabetical sequence, of almost 1,200 artists and bands, rating over 9,000 recordings in 700 pages. By comparison, the parent directory devotes only 236 pages to jazz. Among similar books, John Fordham's Jazz on CD (rev. ed., 1993) has the advantage of chronological arrangement, although limited solely to one recorded format and not as comprehensive in coverage. Similarly, The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz, ed. by Barry Kernfeld (1991), is broken down by period, which is useful for the novice, and the longer and more thoughtful reviews concentrate on the most important jazz recordings. Finally, Richard Cook's The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP, and Cassette (1992) contains more references to international artists, especially Europeans, than the current title. Like its parent, AMGJ has much information in it beyond the brief bios, reviews, and ratings. Noted jazz author Mark Gridley offers seven pages of useful style definitions. The editors have also included a few pages of definitions and, as appendixes, some very handy capsule-guides to the most important labels, producers, venues (limited to clubs only; a list of important festivals would have been welcome here), magazines, and mail-order sources. The biographical notes and record reviews--even those of artists disdained by the critical establishment, are generally positive and favorable. As with any work of this size and magnitude, occasional errors creep in, but remarkably few. The pitfall to such guides is that it is impossible to know what recordings are in print at a given moment, or what fine reissues might be in the works. Therefore a certain fluidity exists relative to the specifics of each entry. Recommended for large public and academic music collections. J. Farrington; Wesleyan University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
This jumbo compendium of brief record reviews contains more depth than can ordinarily be expected of a single-volume overview. Legendary along with influential but almost unknown musicians from all areas and eras of jazz are represented, and some musicians who are historically important yet underrecorded (bassist Malachi Favors, for instance) are gratifyingly given the attention they deserve. The book also defines just about all the styles of jazz, from Dixieland and Harlem stride to world fusion and New York avant-garde, and lists and describes important producers and labels, too. There are some puzzling omissions, but such are probably inevitable. Principal editor Wynn culled the artist profiles from the most important North American jazz magazines, and although various artists' fans are bound to quibble with profilers' comments, the pieces are generally quite informative and lucidly written. Neophytes will spend days absorbing the entries; hardcore fans, days disputing them; and both will think those days well spent. ~--Aaron Cohen
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
The "All Music Guide" series (All Music Guide: The Best CDs, Albums, and Tapes, 2d ed., LJ 2/15/95) should garner a warm welcome from serious musicians, jazz enthusiasts, and leisure readers alike with its compendium on jazz. Alphabetically arranged entries include 1150 artist bios and 9000 top recordings rated "best of genre," "finest," and "first picks" by top reviewers. "Music Maps," divided by instrument, artist, and style, guide the peruser through each subject's evolution over the course of the 20th century. Entries also extend coverage to such ephemeral but nonetheless interesting, topics as label histories, clubs and venues, jazz styles, and terms. Well organized, compact, and up-to-date (reflecting 1993 releases), this work represents the best published work of its kind to date. For every library.‘Cynthia Ann Cordes, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
