THOSE STUPID F&%$#@*& PENGUINS

[Kenny]

Here's a copy of an e-mail if fired off today:

Hi Richard and Brian!

I have been a big, big fan of your book for a long time. One of the most heartening things, especially in the previous edition, was that the pair of you evinced a curiosity about Australian music, even if it was hampered by lack of down under product that crossed your path.

As a crusader for ozjazz, I took it upon myself in the past couple of years to encourage some of the Australian labels to send their releases to you. To my certain knowledge, releases were sent to you by Newmarket Music and ABCJazz, and possibly Jazzhead as well.

I was hoping to add to the excellent coverage you'd already given Tim Dunn's Rufus label and the now defunct Naxos Jazz.

Nope. No go.

What's up?

Deadline issues were obviously not a problem, as you've included Michelle Nicolle's The Crying Game.

But no mention of the likes of Paul Williamson (trumpet), Paul Williamson (saxophone), Mike Nock, Joe Chindamo, Fiona Burnett, Ishish, John Bell Trio, En Rusk, Assumptions, Sandy Evans, Phil Slater, Frank Di Sario's Trust and many more.

I plan to review the new edition for my newspaper, Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun (circulation 600,000+), so would appreciate any comments about your policy towards Australian music.

I had hopes that the Penguin guide was not merely another bastion of northern hemisphere chauvinism like the AMG.

Was I so worng?

Cheers, Kenny Weir
Jazz Writer, The Sunday Herald Sun
Presenter of The Pearls on 3PBS FM in Melbourne

[Kenny]

OK, I'm about halfway through a page by page perusal of the new Penguin - and the fears that inspired the above e-mail have turned out to be even more well-founded than I expected.

Aussies I have come across so far:

*AustraLYSIS - Three albums - 3, 2 /12, 2 1/2.

*Java Quartet - Two albums, both 3.

*Dale Barlow - Live album on Jazzhead (3 1/2 is included). Fine, nice writeup, nice words about Mark Fitzgibbon, but as with the above artists, hardly central or revealing of what is going on here. Worse, I suspect Dale is included (3 albums) basically because he once played with Art Blakey. BFD.

*Paul Grabowsky - They've included Tales Of Time And Space. 3 1/2 and a nice writeup, but then they fuck up by saying: "Tinkler, surprisingly, takes star solo honours." What's surprising about that? That Scott's and Aussie and Lovano and Marsalis are American? That they're famous and Scott isn't? Shit.

*Worse: Mike Nock has been dropped altogether, no live album nor the three on Naxos Jazz (OK, it's a dead label but still available, and others on that label by other artists have been icnluded or maintained).

Crap on this - I thought these guys had more class and smarts than this.

[Kenny]

As also posted on AAJ:

OK, here's the final, skimpy, pathetic lowdown (although I may have missed somebody)

*Paul McNamara - Three Rufus albums (3, 3, 2 1/2)

*Modern Jazz Duo (Dan Rader, Roger Frampton) - 2 1/2

*Andrew Robson - His ABC album On (3 1/2) joins the previous listing.

*Janet Seidel - The Real surprise. I think Janet's got a guernsey before, but in the new edition they've listed six of her La Brava albums, with 3 1/2 going to the fabulous double CD The Way You Wear Your Hat.

*Andrew Spence - Flux (3) joins a previous listing.

*Ten Part Invention - 3 1/2 for Unidentified Spaces.

OK, some gains there, but hardly anything to sing about given Mike Nock has been dropped completely.

And, as far as I can tell, not one single Newmarket release.

Spence, Robson and Seidel are distinguished members of the Australian jazz community, but including them gives a thoroughly skewed perspective of what's going on here.

Where, for hell's sake, are Andrea Keller, the Pauls Williamsons, Joe Chindamo, Fiona Burnett, Ian Chaplin, En Rusk and so on?

Shame!

Anyone want to join me in a book burning?

[Tim S]

This book has nothing to do with music and does more work for the idea that there's a Right Way of receiving and dealing with jazz than is defensible. Find a record you like. Read some history, if it interests you. Make connections for yourself and gauge the extent to which music can interact with and affect your life. You do not need these guys to tell you what's what. (I stress incidentally that this is by no means personal towards yourself Kenny, merely my tired reaction to yet another edition.)

[VHB]

Bravo Kenny, you did a good thing.

[Kenny]

Guest-Tim said:

This book has nothing to do with music and does more work for the idea that there's a Right Way of receiving and dealing with jazz than is defensible. Find a record you like. Read some history, if it interests you. Make connections for yourself and gauge the extent to which music can interact with and affect your life. You do not need these guys to tell you what's what. (I stress incidentally that this is by no means personal towards yourself Kenny, merely my tired reaction to yet another edition.)

Blimey Tim - you know me better than that! The days when I needed these characters or anybody else to tell what's what are long gone (if they ever existed in the first place). I DO find the Penguin guide, generally speaking, to be erudite and witty, even if frequently infuriatiing (goes with the territory).

My concern in this case is that I took at face value the authors' claims to great taste and broad vision. Given the opportunity, though, they've wimped it.

I don't image for an instant inclusion in the Penguin is a sales-driver, but I think it could be a significant status improver.