Penguin Guide 9th Edition

[JohnS]

Any discernible change in tone or coverage with Morton taking over?

Not that I can see. I imagine that Cook would have had a significant input.

[Erik Weidinger]

Any word on new "crowns" or "core collection" discs?

Well. Now have I bought the book and looked at it only once. It seems that there are 3 new crowns and further 2 to Louis Armstrong.

The 'Core Collection' have removed 12 and added 20 'new' albums + 12 Core Collection albums from Louis Armstrong.

It seems that Brian Morton do like Armstrong A LOT!!!

Oh!! By the way. There are a Richard D. Cock biography in the beginning of the book, and he got a crown and 4 stars.

[BillF]

Richard D. Cock

Boasting!

[Free For All]

Richard D. Cock

Boasting!

Especially if you call him Dick.

[Erik Weidinger]

Richard D. Cock

Boasting!

Especially if you call him Dick.

Typo. Sorry.

[xybert]

Bump.

I've never checked out Eric Alexander but have seen his name quite a bit in the "what are you listening to" thread... thought i'd look him up in the Penguin Guide to see what they think; was surprised to see there doesn't appear to be an entry under his name as a leader in the 9th edition (the only edition i have). Checked in the index and there are a ton of sideman entries, checked Wikipedia and he has a large discography as a leader. Seems like an odd omission, a mistake perhaps? Did he have a leader entry in previous editions? Did every leader date of his mysteriously go out of print leading up to the 9th edition being produced? For some reason this is really bugging me...

[Leeway]

I have the 4th edition handy, and Eric ALexander does have a leader listing, with about 7 albums listed.

[king ubu]

Bump.

I've never checked out Eric Alexander but have seen his name quite a bit in the "what are you listening to" thread... thought i'd look him up in the Penguin Guide to see what they think; was surprised to see there doesn't appear to be an entry under his name as a leader in the 9th edition (the only edition i have). Checked in the index and there are a ton of sideman entries, checked Wikipedia and he has a large discography as a leader. Seems like an odd omission, a mistake perhaps? Did he have a leader entry in previous editions? Did every leader date of his mysteriously go out of print leading up to the 9th edition being produced? For some reason this is really bugging me...

They started deleting some entries that remained the same over several editions, eventually (don't know from what edition on, prob. 7th or 8th). Kind of makes sense, since they operated under the assumption that most readers would have previous editions ... and in light that the book could not just grow bigger and fatter, I guess it was the only way to be able and include new stuff. (Though they could also just have done one without all the over-rated british trad jazz, mind me )

[BillF]

Who is Eric Alexander?

[xybert]

I have the 4th edition handy, and Eric ALexander does have a leader listing, with about 7 albums listed.

They started deleting some entries that remained the same over several editions, eventually (don't know from what edition on, prob. 7th or 8th). Kind of makes sense, since they operated under the assumption that most readers would have previous editions ... and in light that the book could not just grow bigger and fatter, I guess it was the only way to be able and include new stuff. (Though they could also just have done one without all the over-rated british trad jazz, mind me )

Ah, i guess that kind of makes sense. If that's the case it might have been helpful for them to still have the artist's name but just have a note along the lines of "refer to (previous editions) for album information."

Who is Eric Alexander?

Funnily enough that's what i was trying to find out a little bit more about!

[Leeway]

All the reviews were 3 stars in the 4th edition, and the comments suggest they did not see Alexander getting any more interesting, e.g. "not a world-beater...no advance," etc. They may have just stopped listening to him and then deleted the entry altogether, figuring they already said what they had to say about him.

[etherbored]

Who is Eric Alexander?

very clever. i'll take the bait (a little). eric is a friend and former neighbor of sorts. the rare musician who is as genuine and nice as his playing suggests (imho, of course).

[colinmce]

As a side note, the 9th ed. is OOP and majorly pricy on the secondhand market. A real shame.

[etherbored]

is there an online/download-able penguin guide these days?

[Leeway]

As a side note, the 9th ed. is OOP and majorly pricy on the secondhand market. A real shame.

Holy cow! The resellers on Amazon are asking some crazy prices. I've had some luck picking up older editions as garage sales and second-hand bookshops.

is there an online/download-able penguin guide these days?

No Kindle edition yet.

[A Lark Ascending]

I saw Richard Cook do a talk at the Cheltenham Festival some years before he died. When asked which current jazz player really impressed him he talked enthusiastically about Eric Alexander.

Edited November 22, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[Tom 1960]

It's a shame they couldn't put together an online edition comparable to what All Music Guide already does.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Tom 1960

[BillF]

I saw Richard Cook do a talk at the Cheltenham Festival some years before he died. When asked which current jazz player really impressed him he talked enthusiastically about Eric Alexander.

I got the same response from Jack Massarik, jazz correspondent of the London Evening Standard.

[Leeway]

I saw Richard Cook do a talk at the Cheltenham Festival some years before he died. When asked which current jazz player really impressed him he talked enthusiastically about Eric Alexander.

I got the same response from Jack Massarik, jazz correspondent of the London Evening Standard.

Either Cook's thinking evolved, or Eric's playing did. Or both. Nothing wrong with that. It should happen more often. Their 3 star ratings in the 4th were not bad, although the comments were somewhat dispiriting and so it's a little surprising that Cook came that far along.

[ghost of miles]

It's a shame they couldn't put together an online edition comparable to what All Music Guide already does.

My thought exactly...something that would include all of the reviews from every edition. I'd be willing to pay decent money for something like that, even though I'm no fan of the e-book format. In the case of something like Penguin, though, it would make a lot of sense.