Printed Music Guides

[MagicAlex]

Although I listen to most genres of music enthusiastically...jazz is my primary love and therefore the only paper format guides that I purchase (as opposed to internet reference...which I use constantly as well). I have the AMG Guide to Jazz and find pretty much the same faults with the printed version as I do with the web presence, mostly with recording dates and personnel.

I have to supplement my reading with Penguin's Guide to Jazz. I find that this rounds out my review experience.

Anyone else using other resources or have any comments about 'Music Guides' in general?

[Kayaker]

I too use AMG online and Penguin as a supplement. It strikes a nice balance as AMG over inflates ratings while Penguin tends to under inflate them. I really feel that the people who write the Penguin Guide are better listeners. However, Penguin is not as complete as I would like it to be. Often they group albums by an artist and discuss them together when they should be handled separately. Both do not discuss audio quality enough. J&R records here in New York is nice enough to provide a review copy of both in their Jazz section - nice not to have to carry them to the store.

[Matt]

In the end, it's good to outside the music guides and read other books. I like Ted Goia's (sp?) book on the history of jazz, which is very thorough. These are not buying guides, but they do mention significant albums. If they don't point out a specific album, they'll mention certain periods, label work, or recorded work by a specific combo that is worth investigating.

Gary Giddins also wrote a nice book called "Visions of Jazz," though I'm not a big fan of the 'history's great figures' format he follows.