What Jazz Records Would You Reccommend?

zmotula asks: "What Jazz records do you think are a must-have for a Jazz Geek? I've got about twenty records I really love (Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Tijuana Moods by Charlie Mingus, Lush Life by John Coltrane, just to mention some) and I want to spend some more money on buying more. Alas, I can only afford buying around two CDs a month. What records do you think are essential?"

Comments

John Zorn.

[Roto-Rooter Man]

If you're into easy listening, I recommend John Zorn.

Re:John Zorn.

[MrHanky]

Well, you've been moderated "funny", although you could be serious. Some of John Zorn's works are definately easy listening-ish (The Gift). Just don't expect Painkiller or Naked City to be. You should listen to John Zorn anyway. Ah, and some essential recordings for you.

If you like modern, beats and electronic oriented jazz, you should check out Nils Petter Molvaer.

Re:John Zorn.

[Cujo]

Zorn's Masada recordings aren't what I would call easy listening, but they are melodic and accessible, and you don't have to like Klezmer to get into them. Very high energy stuff, and usually featuring one of the world's greatest drummers, Joey Baron.

Simpsons Reference

[MBCook]

I'd recomend "Sex on the Beach" by Bleeding Gums Murphy. Just don't tell the record store guy he's dead otherwise he'll raise the price on you.

Re:Simpsons Reference

[lowtekneq]

Actually the record is "Sax on the Beach" Bleeding Gums is also the brother of Doctor Hibert, and got his name by never having gone to the dentist.

Re:Simpsons Reference

[stefanlasiewski]

The guy was on the Simpsons AND Star Wars!

What could be more geeky then that?

Gill Glover's Waking Life Sountrack...

[heldlikesound]

First, if you haven't seen the movie "Waking Life", do so immediately, it's a great movie. Secondly, the sountrack is very enjoyable, has more of a latin flare, but I suppose I would still call it jazz.

Re:Gill Glover's Waking Life Sountrack...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's all tango music.

It is great, though!

Two Suggestions

[StillDocked]

Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet and Ella and Louis on Verve Records (which isn't the best of either of their work, however, they are amazing together).

Another suggestion I would make is listen to the Music Choice Jazz channels, which are available on most cable and dish systems(in the States at least) They play great music and have the song/album information.

Re:Two Suggestions

[TheWanderingHermit]

I have to agree with both of these, but I'd add a comment or two on the duets by Ella and Louis on Verve. I bought one CD of their duets and it is perhaps the most played CD in my collection. The two together are fantastic. I'd add a warning: There is one Ella and Louie CD that isn't labeled as Part I or Part II, or as a "Best of" or anything else. Don't buy it (I did). Buy both CDs, Part I and Part II have much more. The single CD has selections from both, so it's a waste if you really want all the duets.

Why is this on Ask Slashdot?

[Anonymous Coward]

When did Ask Slashdot become a Q&A forum for all sorts of topics. "Im working on a supermegalinuxcluster, has anyone else done this. here is what I've done so far, I'd love to see other projects like this" would be the proper question. Next thing there will be questions like "Need 2 learn 2 hack buy monday, need 1337 wiz4rd 2 teach me"

Re:Why is this on Ask Slashdot?

[Anonymous Coward]

The banner at the top of my Slashdot page says "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters."

I guess it should read, "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters, but only in a really narrow view of the world and according to strict guidelines. Any other topics will be ridiculed."

Maybe I need to reload my cache to see that new banner.

Re:Why is this on Ask Slashdot?

[prof_vestanpance]

Perhaps you should reload your cache and look for the banner

After all it appears that the person who doesn't believe that this is the place for questions about jazz does not fit in with your narrow view of the world.

Personally I dislike jazz, but I don't feel that my opinion is any more or less valid than those who love jazz.

Re:Why is this on Ask Slashdot?

[Soothh]

it wouldnt be so bad, but jazz sucks hard, hoover like. you need some good megadeth, gets your heart rate up, mind peaking, keeps coworkers from screwing with you because they think you may go postal. Atleast thats what I do at work.

What kind of Jazz?

[ObviousGuy]

The genre is too large to simply say "this is good".

Now I'm going to say something that's going to get me flamed.

Check out Kenny G. No seriously. Stop laughing.

Kenny G represents the future of Jazz, for better or worse. Soprano sax in the fore and a solid trio in the backup is the type of music coming out of the Jazz world for years to come. Take a listen to any recent Jazz album and you will find easily followable rhythms and very few solo excursions anymore.

As an art form, Jazz has essentially played itself out. This is as much a result of its maturity as it is a result of the intrinsyc drawbacks of the style. The style allows the artist complete freedom and this was exploited for years in the form of gratuitous solos and wildly off-beat excursions. There is only so far you can go with that kind of artform because eventually it all has to come back to the essential 4 4 beat and at that point Jazz loses all its magic.

It's a shame that the best American musical artform is on the verge of dying (BSD trolls begone!), but there's simply nowhere for the music to go except into Kenny G-like easy listening, no chance taking, simple, boring, and unsatisfying albums.

It's kind of like being an Altair aficianado. The only thing you can do is look to the past because they just don't make what you want anymore.

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[GypC]

Why suggest Kenny G because it's the "Future" of Jazz (which I don't buy at all)? There are thousands of records from the last, what 75 years (?), that are worth buying. After you've run through all of those and are sick of them (the work of a lifetime, really) then, sure, devolve to Kenny G...

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[GigsVT]

I like Flim and the BBs. Some might not consider it Jazz in the strictest sense. You've probably heard their work and didn't know it, they did the theme for All My Children.

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[The Mayor]

OK. I really tried to stop laughing. But I can't.

The problem with American jazz is that in America, jazz has lost its commercial appeal. Some of the best attended jazz performances these days are in France. The French jazz scene is far better than that in the US. Even if you are interested in American performers, they tend to spend a great deal of time in France.

If you want fluff, go ahead and listen to Kenny G and Yanni. They may be the future of jazz, but that doesn't make them good. Let me give you a parallel: rock has turned the way of Brittany. That doesn't make her a good musician, though. It just means that she is marketable.

Want the future of (good, imho,) jazz in the US scene? I think bands like Widespread Panic and the Jazz Mandolin Project are where it's at. The jam band scene has borrowed a great deal from jazz over the past 35 years. The jam band scene seems to me to be showing their jazz influences much in the way that the jam bands from the 60s and 70s showed their influences from folk music.

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Question: Pat, could you tell us your opinion about Kenny G - it appears you were quoted as being less than enthusiastic about him and his music. I would say that most of the serious music listeners in the world would not find your opinion surprising or unlikely - but you were vocal about it for the first time. You are generally supportive of other musicians it seems.

Pat Metheny's Answer: Kenny G is not a musician I really had much of an opinion about at all until recently. There was not much about the way he played that interested me one way or the other either live or on records. I first heard him a number of years ago playing as a sideman with Jeff Lorber when they opened a concert for my band. My impression was that he was someone who had spent a fair amount of time listening to the more pop oriented sax players of that time, like Grover Washington or David Sanborn, but was not really an advanced player, even in that style. He had major rhythmic problems and his harmonic and melodic vocabulary was extremely limited, mostly to pentatonic based and blues-lick derived patterns, and he basically exhibited only a rudimentary understanding of how to function as a professional soloist in an ensemble - Lorber was basically playing him off the bandstand in terms of actual music. But he did show a knack for connecting to the basest impulses of the large crowd by deploying his two or three most effective licks (holding long notes and playing fast runs - never mind that there were lots of harmonic clams in them) at the key moments to elicit a powerful crowd reaction (over and over again). The other main thing I noticed was that he also, as he does to this day, play horribly out of tune - consistently sharp.

Of course, I am aware of what he has played since, the success it has had, and the controversy that has surrounded him among musicians and serious listeners. This controversy seems to be largely fueled by the fact that he sells an enormous amount of records while not being anywhere near a really great player in relation to the standards that have been set on his instrument over the past sixty or seventy years.

And honestly, there is no small amount of envy involved from musicians who see one of their fellow players doing so well financially, especially when so many of them who are far superior as improvisers and musicians in general have trouble just making a living. there must be hundreds, if not thousands of sax players around the world who are simply better improvising musicians than Kenny G on his chosen instruments. It would really surprise me if even he disagreed with that statement.

Having said that, it has gotten me to thinking lately why so many jazz musicians (myself included, given the right "bait" of a question, as I will explain later) and audiences have gone so far as to say that what he is playing is not even jazz at all.

More right here...

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[babbage]

My problem with jam bands -- and yes, the scent you're about to pick up just might be the smell of me talking out of my ass -- is that it's mostly monotonous riffing over the same scales & chord structures. It's fairly easy to go noodling on for 45 minutes as long as you're basically sticking to a 12-bar blues (or whatever -- my music theory is flaky at best). All of those jam bands, from the Dead to Phish, Blues Traveller, and Dave Matthews band, just annoy the living crap out of me.

Honestly, for interesting jam music outside of the jazz genre, my two favorites are nominally punk bands: Sonic Youth & Fugazi. They can make fascinating instrumental music that, crucially, does not put me to sleep :)

On a similar tack, every one of Radiohead's albums has been more interesting than the one that preceded it, and as far as I can tell a lot of that has to do with the influence of electronic dance bands like Autechre, Massive Attack, and Portishead. All of which are, again, fascinating and progressive and jazzy and rocky and in no way sleep inducing.

To the guy who suggested that Kenny G is the future of jazz, no way. He may be the commercial future of jazz, but so what -- boy bands are the commercial future of rock but that doesn't keep creative people like Radiohead from putting out enormously successful albums at the same time. And yes, I'll concede that the hippie jam bands do draw from classic jazz as much as Sonic Youth or Portishead do, and they all do a decent job of reintrepreting the old ideas once again. But the jam bands have not in my opinion assumed the role of sole defenders of the genre today, and thank god as far as I'm concerned :-)

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[The Mayor]

I like your choices...Sonic Youth (remember when they were Psonic Youth?), Fugazi, Radiohead, Portishead, Massive Attack (gonna have to listen to Autechre...not familiar with them). But they're not Jazz. Widespread Panic is much closer to the jazz genre. And the Jazz Mandolin Project is jazz music through and through. JMP is nothing like DMB, Phish, GD, and the rest of the folk-inspired jam bands (nor is WP, but you can definitely tell the folk roots, too). I'm talking explicitly here about the jam bands that draw primarily from jazz. The jam band genre, with its long and winding improvisations, have much to borrow from jazz, even if most of the more popular ones show far more folk roots (with the 4-4 timing and the 12-bar blues).

I'm not speaking here of jam bands with jazz influences...I'm speaking of jam bands that are essentially jam jazz bands. The jam band genre is expanding a great deal these days now that Jerry Garcia is gone. From what I see of the jazz world, this is where a lot of the interesting work is being done in jazz within the US. Outside of the US, I think you really need to look to France for the cutting edge jazz.

It's all good, though. That's what makes music so wonderful. It's got a basic common language, but every style and every piece can be so different if the artists let it.

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[tcak]

Ermmm.... I can understand about Kenny G's CDs being dumped at the Jazz section, but Yanni??

Yanni belongs to the New Age genre. Though he might incorporates a couple of jazz progressions here and there, it's definitely not jazz.

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[haydenth]

Thanks for posting that link, it expressed my feelings about kenny G in words that I have a hard time expressing...

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Metheny is so obviously an authority on technique and style. It really comes home from someone like him, rather than my own words - my authority is just a good set of ears!

Re:What kind of Jazz?

[thenightfly42]

One of my favorite comparisons:

Kenny G is to Jazz
as
sugar is to soup.

Get Dizzy.

[handsomepete]

You've got to have a little Dizzy Gillespie in your collection. Pick something from later in his career (there's a three disc Verve comp that covers his career pretty thoroughly), then pick up Groovin' High which has some really beautiful orchestrated music that's perfect for... well... anytime, really.

Re:Get Dizzy.

[darthtuttle]

Dizzy is a must have. I love his 75 Birthday live CD. There's a version of a Night In Tunisia to die for. The whole cd is just amazing, considering it's live.

I think for the sort of jazz the author mentioned I would recomend anything that has the original recording of Ko-Ko by Charlie Parker. For this recording Miles was on trumpet, Max Roach on drums and the piano player was in jail. Dizzy was checking out what his buddy from the Charlie Barnet Orchestra was doing during this recording and listening while a young Miles could not keep up. With the Piano player out Dizzy sat in to play piano. With Miles not keeping up he played Miles' trumpet! This is quite a feat as Dizzy normally only playes a bent trumpet and the song is fast (must have been, Miles couldn't play it). The piece is considered the first BeBop song recorded and was the start of something new.

Let's See

[GypC]

"Mingus Ah Um" Charles Mingus

"Bitches Brew" Miles Davis (early acid jazz, very unnerving)

Try some big band stuff, you can't go wrong with anything by Duke Ellington.

You're definitely going to need some Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday.

Re:Let's See

[BrokenHalo]

Anybody who's into Miles Davis might be interested by a somewhat lesser-known recording (among the hundreds that he has made) is a soundtrack to a French movie "Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud" (Lift to the Scaffold). One of the sexiest recordings he ever made.

Re:Let's See

[pedro]

I've always had a soft spot for "On the Corner", one of Miles' unappreciated gems.
But then, I've always felt that "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" was one of Zappa's best, too.
Guess I have strange tastes :)

Re:Let's See

[The Mayor]

Hmm...Weasels Ripped My Flesh is definitely a good one in my book. But, just for some contrast, one of my favorite Miles Davis albums has to be Sketches of Spain. Nothing like Zappa, and it might even be a little too orchestral to be considered true jazz. But to hear Miles pumping that trumpet on the opening...I am almost brought to tears just thinking about it!

Re:Let's See

[BrokenHalo]

If you like Sketches, you'll probably also like Porgy and Bess, another collaboration with Gil Evans. Miles' version of "Summertime" is the most gorgeous ever recorded. And that's a fact :-)

Good Jazz Labels

[mcSey921]

Good Jazz is easy to find by label. Look for anything on:

• Blue Note (anything)
  
• Prestige (50's to 70's)
  
• Verve (60's)
  
• Atlantic (make sure it's jazz;) (50's to 70's)
  
• Savoy (any)
  
• Pacific related jazz labels (50's to 70's)
  
• CTI (any)
  

Further if Creed Taylor produced it, buy it. If Rudy Van Gelder engineered it, for Chrissake buy it!

Getting CD reissues of a lot of these labels is not a problem, and you always guaranteed pretty good stuff. Also check out Emusic.com, they've got a pretty good selection of jazz in a hastle free (though sometimes crappy quality) mp3 format.

mcsey

Emusic has 128 Kb joint-stereo mp3s? What is this 1999?

Re:Good Jazz Labels

[FatRatBastard]

2 great samplers of Verve Jazz are "A Night Out With Verve" and "A Night In With Verve". Both box sets are 4 CDs chocked with great stuff from the Verve vaults and they're pretty cheap as well (around $20 if I remember). You really can't go wrong.

As for a single album: "Mystery Lady" by Etta James. James is more well known for her Blues work, but this album of Billy Holiday tunes is spectacular.

Duke Ellington - Live at The Newport

[Fished]

This is hands-down my favorite jazz album (he says as he trotts over to iTunes.) Remember: real Jazz is LIVE Jazz. Even a recording of a live performance loses something - most Jazz albums are over-engineered to my taste. "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue" has probably the best trumpet solo I've ever heard. This is also historically important - it represented an important comeback in Duke Ellington's career.

Hey, Lets not jump the gun...

[ihtagik]

I'd reccommend (sic) learning how to spell (or at least spell check) first!
Is is just me who is bothered this glaring spelling mistake?

Re:Hey, Lets not jump the gun...

[Anonymous Coward]

I am more concerned with the fact that you're too pussy to post with an account, you anonymous bastard.

Re:Hey, Lets not jump the gun...

[ihtagik]

**insert sheepish grin here**

Jazz? Well, if you must...

[Tumbleweed]

If you don't have Jelly Roll Morton in your Jazz collection, you don't HAVE a Jazz collection. Jazz can be really excellent at times, but most is pretty bad. If you want really great music, you must acquaint yourself with the Blues.

Re:Jazz? Well, if you must...

[Anonymous Coward]

Good point! Nobody played blues after 1929.

Wait? Did you say blues? Never mind then, EVERYONE PLAYS THEM ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

There are lots of good reasons to listen to Jelly Roll Morton. "Because you won't be familiar with the blues otherwise," is a shitty one.

Re:Jazz? Well, if you must...

[Tumbleweed]

You seem to be confused. Jelly Roll Morton is usually considered to be the first Jazz artist, not Blues. My comments about _Blues_ were not related to Jelly Roll.

Coltrane, etc...

[gmaestro]

I have the Coltrane Impulse Years recordings and they're great. My Favorite Things is, of course, a must-have Coltrane album.

Most of the quality jazz music I can talk about intelligently is third-stream avant garde. Attaining the rank of "jazz geek" would have to include the following numbers. Milton Babbit has an interesting tune called All Set, Gunther Schuller makes some interesting use of the style in Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee along with others. And Stravinsky did excellent work in the Ebony Concerto written for Benny Goodman.

And of course, giving a shout to my alma mater, the North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band is the only college jazz band to recieve Grammy nods. (Hey, I played in the Nine O'Clock! :-) My favorite tune: Overture to the Royal Mongolian Suma Foosball Festival on Lab 75.

Re:Coltrane, etc...

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as we're listening to Coletrane, a great collection is The Complete 1961 Village Vangaurd Recordings. It definately includes some of Coletrane's more experimental work. The best part is being able to listen to 3 or 4 different versions of many of the songs. Though considering it is a four CD box, it's rather pricey.

Currently I've been listening to Oscar Peterson and his various trios. I suggest checking out Nigerian Market Place and Tristeza. Both showcase superb jazz piano, bass and drum trios.

Re:Coltrane, etc...

[tea41]

I've become a huge fan of Coltrane, mostly through his Impluse era albums. A Love Supreme is definitely my favorite jazz album, and ranks in the top 5 for all genres. Impluse has recently (last few years) been re-releasing many of the classics from this era. Bonus tracks, good packaging and liner notes.

Re:Coltrane, etc...

[BrokenHalo]

For anybody who's into Coltrane, Afro Blue Impressions and A Love Supreme are what I would consider essential in any collection.

And one which I had 20 years ago on vinyl (it was stolen) which I have only just been able to get a new copy of on CD is Twin House, a a set of guitar duos recorded in 1976 by Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine. This CD (on the ACT label) has 5 "bonus" tracks to bump up the old 40-minute-LP format to ~65 minutes, but these tracks are totally out of keeping with the original album (IMHO) so I've burned a fresh copy, leaving them out.

And the RIAA can just chew on that; I think that should be legal, even if it isn't.

Have a decent Internet connection?

[roc_machine]

Can't afford the CDs but have a decent connection? Then just stream it if you listen to music when you're computing. A radio station in my home town plays nothing but Jazz. You can find it here: Cool FM.

It'll at least help you decide what other CDs you might want to buy.

Chet Baker, White Blues

[Anonymous Coward]

It's just too good.

Re:What sort of nonsense is this?

[fredrikj]

Keep downloading the pop music from the Internet if you like, but do buy music like jazz in stores - it'll do musical diversity a favor.

What about modern Jazz

[linkages]

Ok. Enough suggestions for classic Jazz. If you want some more modern sounding albums, I would suggest the following:

Any Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.
You really can't go wrong here.

Jaco Pastorious in any form which includes solo albums and any Yellow Jackets CD you can find.

Victor Wooten
By far the best modern Jazz bassist around.Also part of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Stanley Jordan
This man is just amazing. Plays the guitar with both hands like its a piano. If you can find any of the live stuff you will defineatly be able to tell that it is live and he is just that good.

If you want more mellow stuff try John Pattatuci (spelling?). Modern Jazz bassist that plays with lots of emotion which most will translate into lullabies. Morons.

Can you tell that I am a bass player.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[SimplexO]

Can you tell that I am a bass player.

And on the modern saxophone front:

My personal idol, Michael Brecker. My fav CD is Two Blocks From The Edge. On there is Delta City Blues which shows Mr. Brecker's extraordinary control over his overtones... It is phenominal!

Also, try Joshua Redmond's Wish. He playes with (among others) Pat Matheny who is always a treat. I know it might sound corny, but you ought to listen to their version of Tears in Heaven. Tasty!

Also:

Any GRP All-Star CD is worth your money. It's like having every big-time artist under the GRP label playing in one of the tightest big-band's ever. I'm just surprised they could keep their egos in check!

Dave Grusin Presents: West Side Story is a remake of the original, but (in my opinion) is better than the original soundtrack.

Hope someone found these helpful.

P.S. It is always the best to get CD's of people you have played live with. I have played with Patitucci, Jim Widner, The Jazz Ambassadors, and other less-known yet still stellar guys.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[xmbrst]

Jazz is its history (can you really call it jazz if it isn't blues-based?), but some contemporary jazz musicians recognize this fact and play with it. Of all the jazz historians among the "young lions," my favorite is Marcus Roberts. Try "Deep in the Shed" or his recent CD of Cole Porter reinterpretations.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[crisco]

Al DiMeola's Kiss My Axe is a great modern showcase of one of fusion's greatest guitar players.

Agree on Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, amazing stuff. Stanly Jordan has the chops, definately a pioneer. Wooten has blown me away as well. I must admit to not being as familiar as I should be with Pattatuci's work, maybe I need to 'sample' some.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[fuzzbrain]

I second this, though I would choose as my favourite his eponymous first album. I remember the summer after it came out I went to a Jazz camp and all of us saxophonists had stolen riffs from that album.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[oever]

And for some really good modern jazz, check out Nils Wogram. He can really make a trombone come to life. Especially on the album Speed Life.

Can you guess what's on the cover?

Re:What about modern Jazz

[ConceptJunkie]

I saw Victor Wooten play and have heard some of his recordings... he's impressive.

To this list I would add some of my favorites, off the top of my head:

Frank Gambale - As excellent jazz guitar player who crosses over to rock styles sometimes... as much as I like his electric work, his acoustic stuff is even better. He oftens works with Stu Hamm (see below) and Steve Smith (who used to drum for Journey and is an accomplished jazz drummer).

Stu Hamm is my favorite jazz bassist. He's probably best known as Joe Satriani's bass player, but has put out numerous albums on his own and with Frank Gambale and others. Stu also crosses genres frequently and well.

Duke Robillard - Although really he fits more into the "blues" category, he's done a couple of excellent swing albums and always includes lots of good jazz on his other recordings. You might know of Duke from the Fabulous Thunderbirds or the premeire album from Roomful of Blues.

Michael Manring - Sadly, this inhumanly talented bass-player's best album "Thonk" is out of print, but he has other excellent recordings. Some of the Windham Hill releases are kind of bland (which is true for most Windham Hill music since the late 80's), but "Book of Flame" smokes. I would also recommend Attention Deficit, where he plays with drummer Tim Alexander and guitar player Alex Skolnick, but this veers more into the progressive/metal/jazz fusion kind of sound (and if you're into _that_, try anything by Derek Sherinian and you won't be disappointed).

Re:What about modern Jazz

[Goronguer]

Jaco Pastorius was not in the Yellow Jackets. He was in Weather Report, but only on a few albums. "Heavy Weather" is the high point of the Jaco era of weather report.

The bassist for the Yellow Jackets is Jimmy Haslip, also a fine bassist (from what I hear; I haven't heard them myself.)

Re:What about modern Jazz

[a9db0]

A few others:

The Rippingtons. Great high energy band. Start with Moonlighting or Kilamanjaro for studio albums, or Live in L.A. for real fun.

David Benoit. Excellent piano. Suggest American Landscape and Shaken Not Stirred.

Fourplay. Great foursome, all successful artists in their own right. Good vibe, great for relaxing.

Pau;l Howards. Great sax. Seriously awesome sax. Highly recommend So The Story Goes.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[BirksNCap]

Here-Here on the Flecktones recommendations. Specifically, if I were just getting exposed to their music, I'd recommend Live Art and Left of Cool. I enjoy all their others as well, and apparently, according to stagetalk this tour, their Triple album "Little Worlds" is due out in august of 2003, and it's a studio album, not even a live one!

Charlie Hunter is an amazing young jazz "guitarist" [ it's an 8 string, which offers some interesting tonality and playing styles ]. Personally, I really like his Charlie Hunter Quartet and Natty Dread which is a wonderful jazz reimagining of the classic Bob Marley album. He's got a neat album called Songs from the Analog Playground which features a ton of guests like Norah Jones and Theryl DeClouet.

I can't say this name often enough to people want to know where jazz could be heading, at least for the "keyboard trio" lineup. Medeski Martin & Wood. They do it all. Dance, trance, hop, jive, swing-y stuff, sometimes even on the same album. Specific recommendations: Friday Afternoon in the Universe if only for the amazing "Chinoiserie" as well as the title track, and right now, I'm spinning Uninvisible a lot. It's got some oddities and strange MMW humor [ like a cut featuring some spoken word stuff from Col Bruce Hampton, called "You Are Snake Anthony" and the pingpong match recorded for "Off the Table" as a backdrop for the rest of the tune ], but it's also got some amazing DJ work from DJ Olive and DJ Logic among others, mixed into live jazz [ and they do this on stage as well, done live, so it's not "just a sample" ].

If you like your jazz funky, try some of Stanton Moore, who I think used to be in the New Orleans-based Klezmer All-Stars, and now drums for the uber-funky Galactic. He's got two solo project albums called All Kooked Out! and Flyin' the Koop, both of which are excellent [ although I'm partial to the more recent Flyin' the Koop ].

I haven't seen any John Scofield mentionings as well. Uberjam and especially A-Go-Go [ featuring the members of aforementioned Medeski Martin and Wood as the backing band ]. Scofield bridges between the Davis/Coltrane era and the modern era of post-fusion craziness.

Also, a recent discovery of what could be a jazz supergroup almost... MoDeReKo [Modereko.com], composed of former Phil and Friends drummer John Molo, [former] founding member John D'Earth, and Bobby Read of Bruce Hornsby's backing band, amazing guitarist Tim Kobza and now adding the keys of JT Thomas and bassist Dan Conway... it's just great stuff. They completed a recent tour, and finished their 2nd album, featuring acoustic loop guitar nutjob Keller Williams [ who is indeed amazing ]. They have a self-titled album out now, which little tight explorations of stuff that they improvise around in a live setting.

for the saxophone geek in me, I do love Jeff Coffin's amazing sax work. Pick up a copy of his newest "Mu'tet" album called Go Round when you go see the flecktones this summer.

It's a great question for others too. Music's a great way to code or work by too, and I do listen to all the above, frequently while doing so!

Re:What about modern Jazz

[Cujo]

What about the real stuff? Jazz that only rehashes the past isn't jazz, IMO. Innovation is its life blood.

There are some great living players. Here are a few:

• Henry Threadgill - alto player and a great composer who easily gets bored of reepeating himself.
• Susie Ibarra - drummer/composer with Eastern influences. A thoughtful, subtle player.
• Myra Melford - pianist and composer who often works with some of the best players around. Her album Above Blue is terrific.
• Dave Douglas - the Masada trumpet player.
• Ken Vandermark - terrific sax player and sophsiticated composer
• Ornette Coleman is still alive and kicking, and will continue to challenge.
• Egberto Gismonti - if you want something a little softer but still brilliantly conceived and executed.
• And of course, John Zorn, who resists labeling as agressively as anyone, but is one of the most talented and accomplished (and devious) musicians we have anywhere in the world

Of those no longer living, I don't see any mention of Eric Dolphy, who was one of the greatest improvisational geniuses of whom we have an accurate record. Check out Out to Lunch to get your neurons humming.

Re:What about modern Jazz

[Cplus]

As I was reading through all of these wonderful responses I was hoping someone would mention Charlie Hunter. One of the best shows I've ever seen was Charlie Hunter and Leon Parker performing together at the Montreal Jazz Festival a couple of years ago. An incredibly intense performance for something so laid back, just the two of them working it back and forth. The album 'Duo' was recorded all in one take if memory serves me with only one drum overdub...I mention this because this fact amazes me everytime I listen to the album, it sounds like it could be five guys instead of two. 'Duo' by Charlie Hunter and Leon Parker.

Pat Metheny

[Anonymous Coward]

Still Life Talking by Pat Metheny.

Re:Pat Metheny

[pedro]

I'll see your feeble Metheney and raise you a
John McLaughlin "My Goal's Beyond".

Re:Pat Metheny

[AveryT]

Still Life Talking was my first Metheny CD. It is awesome. Pat has never made a bad or even an average album but my personal favorite is Secret Story. It will simply blow you away.

basic idea

[The Clockwork Troll]

I am by no means a Jazz afficionado but if you can get your hands on the 5-volume Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, you will get a good, broad introduction from ragtime to "free jazz" and will be better equipped to figure out what artists/eras you want next to explore.

The collection appears to be out of publication but I would suspect a local library or eBay could help out.

You can google for a track list in a number of places.

Not Recordings, But...

[TheWanderingHermit]

The best thing about Public Radio is that they have a good number of jazz shows syndicated nationwide. While some stations don't play them, see if your local one does. They're good at not just playing jazz, but in talking about artists, recordings and history of jazz.

One show I love in particular is Blues Before Sunrise, played nationwide on Saturday night/Sunday morning (on East coast it's from 1 am to 6 am on Sunday). It has a website (either BBS.com or BluesBeforeSunrise.com) which includes info on where you can hear the show streamed over the net every week.

While these aren't recordings, I've found that NPR (and their competition, PRI) are GREAT at educating the listeners about the music they play and guiding people toward good artists and good recordings.

Jazz essentials

[servicepack158]

Well I'm a trumpet player so I recommend : anything maynard fergesson or arturo sandoval and also Blues and the Abstract Truth (Oliver Nelson and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet) Good stuff.

Re:Jazz essentials

[yomegaman]

Another great trumpeter to check out is Lee Morgan. "Sidewinder" is one of my favorite albums, super groovy.

Single Cuts

[TheWanderingHermit]

These aren't albums, but here's a few single cuts I can recommend, which may be found on several different albums (some are considered some of the best jazz recordings ever).

- Body and Soul, by Coleman Hawkins
- Sing, Sing, Sing, by Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall
- Someday My Prince Will Come, by Miles Davis
- Time Out, by Dave Brubeck
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, by Cannonball Adderly

Just my $.02 worth.

Re:Single Cuts

[SN74S181]

The Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall (1938) is a must-have concert album.

The whole concert was recorded from one microphone in the auditorium ceiling. So make sure you have your 5.1 wizzywhoo speaker system properly placed. heh.

Re:Single Cuts

[onomatomania]

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, by Cannonball Adderly

I second that; just about anything by him you find will be good. His brother Nat also put out some albums, which were alright too.

So as not to just <aol>Me too</aol>, I will also suggest the Nuclear Whales, an all-sax ensemble from bass/contrabass(!) all the way up to soprano (and possibly sopronino, I forget.) Good stuff, although not all jazz, but a lot of overlap in styles and tastes. Also Herbie Hancock / Head Hunters. An all time classic.

My Top Ten album

[light101]

"Kind of Blue" Miles Davis Columbia CK 40579

"Night Train" Oscar Peterson Verve 821 724-2

"Time Out" Dave Brubeck Columbia VCK 40585

"Birth of Cool" Miles Davis Capitol Jazz C2-92862

"A Love Supreme" John Coltrane MCA Impulse GRD155

"Getz / Gilberto" Stan Getz/Jao & Astrud Gilberto Verve 810 048-2

"Giant Steps" John Coltrane Atlantic 781337-2 Rhino R2 71984

"Blue Train" John Coltrane Blue Note B2-46095

"Sketches of Spain" Miles Davis Columbia VCK40578

"Bill Evans Trio Sunday at the Village Vanguard" Bill Evans Riverside RCD-018-2

Re:My Top Ten album

[tea41]

This is a great list. I haven't heard a few of your picks (O. Peterson and B. Evans) and I might not put Birth of Cool on there.

I would add:

"Somethin' Else" Cannonball Adderley
"Brillant Corners" Thelonious Monk

And slightly more unorthodox:

"Pangea" Miles Davis

Re:My Top Ten album

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

I was just about to add Somethin' Else!

Rahsaan Roland Kirk needs to be added here. Wow, where do you start with this guy? Maybe Domino, with Herbie Hancock as a sideman, too.

On another track: Brother Jack McDuff. Really, almost the most laid-back of the Hammond B3 players. Once you listen close, and see where he's going with the band...

It's hard to go wrong with The New Boss Guitar of George Benson, with the Brother Jack McDuff Quartet . Benson's debut at about 21. McDuff has him lead the group, and you can see just what He built his original reputation on.

Oh Yeah, Herbie! How come no one's mentioned Herbie Hancock so far? I know he doofed bad in the '70's (like Benson) but c'mon! Takin' Off!

Re:My Top Ten album

[The Mayor]

OK. I'm finding lots of good subthreads here. This one here rocks. I'm going to have to look up the guys I don't recognize from the 2 previous parent posts.

I couldn't agree more about Herbie. He really progressed the genre of jazz the way few others did. In my mind, perhaps only Miles can surpass him in terms of his influence on the genre. His stuff rocks. His 70s funk/fusion stuff is great. The older stuff is fantastic, too. Hell, I even like hsi foray into pop music. Great stuff.

And Oscar Peterson...one of my favorite pianists. Great stuff. Looks like I've got a nice list of bands to look for on my p2p networks...

Re:My Top Ten album

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Thanks...

This is pretty cool for an ask /. !!

If you did the weird pop/jazz crossover stuff, there's also Dobie Gray. Into him bigtime, but not everybody's taste. Me, I can get behind a Jazz pianist who digs Archie Bell and the Drells!

Jazz on Slashdot?

[yawble]

omg, has the world collapsed?

regardless of the collapse, I'd recommend most anything from John Coltrane, and seriously recommend anothing by Liquid Soul. Its that kinda jazzy grooby jazz that make syou wanna get naked and find pictures of famous movie starts to Photoshop yourself into.

Its serioulsy *that* good.

They have a cover called "salt Peanuts" that may sound familiar to some of you old skool jazz ppls, but their take on it might open up a new avenus of swet sounds to all you "youngsters" ;)

I have the mp3s available, but only to those that ask. I don't need an RIAA enema today =]

Re:Jazz on Slashdot?

[babbage]

Ahh yeah, I've got a recording of "Salt Peanuts" on an old Charlie Parker album, I think "The Yardbird Suites". Very catchy song. I'd like to hear this cover of it...

Haven't seen here yet -

[Anonymous Coward]

Clifford Brown. That guy was a motherfucker.

I recommend "Hot meets Cool," now retitled "The Immortal Clifford Brown." (He died in his mid 20's)

I'm not a jazz wonk, so I don't know what to say about his playing, other than to mention his impressive technique.

Re:What sort of nonsense is this?

[SN74S181]

Hell no. There's a great binary newsgroup for (old) jazz. alt.binaries.sounds.78-era has many jazz greats.

King Oliver rules.

I like this type of Ask Slashdot

[The Mayor]

When I am new to a music form, I tend to seek out the opinions of "experts" with that music form in order to start my collection. I'd love to see this same question asked with other music forms. Rap, house music, world music, jam bands, alternative music....let's see a string of these questions.

If the music labels would only wake up and realize that people that engage in P2P filesharing actually buy *more* music, they might realize that this is the perfect application for (illegal) downloading of copyrighted material. Want to expose yourself to some of this music? Download a bunch of mp3s. Buy what you like (some of the liner notes on these jazz albums are fantastic), and delete the rest. After all, you don't want the RIAA on your butt when they come to arrest 1/6 of the population!

Re:I like this type of Ask Slashdot

[onomatomania]

By the way, I've found the Allmusic Guide to be really good for this. Particularly, you can explore genres and styles (and representative artists / important albums), explore artists entire cataloges, find out who has worked with whom, and lots of just general reading about everything music related. It's pretty much like the IMDB of music, and a great deal of the albums and artists have actual thoughful reviews or mini-bios.

Don't ask me, find out for yourself

[babbage]

It sounds like you're off to an excellent start -- you're about where I am in learning about great old jazz. If you want to go beyond this, I highly recommend raiding the CD section of your local library. I've gotten to sample box sets from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, a great Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington set, etc from there, not to mention lots of individual albums.

To go beyond that, read & listen. When Christopher Lydon used to do the public radio show The Connection from WBUR in Boston, he used to do lots of great jazz shows. The ones on Kind of Blue & A Love Supreme greatly deepend my appreciation of what was already two of my favorite albums, and Lydon's enthusiasm for the music also got me interested in hearing more from people like Count Basie and others. Thanks to the magic of RealAudio and the generosity of Boston University, you can still listen to these great radio shows today. On a similar note, NPR's Curious Listeners Guide to Jazz looks like a pretty good overview of the genre but deeper conniseurs than me might disagree about that one.

Really though, the library is the best thing. Check out everything you can, make a note of what you like & what doesn't do anything for you, and focus on the artists & time periods that you like the best. For me, the stuff from the late 40s (Davis' "Rebirth of the Cool", 1948 [?]) through the late 50s (1959 gave us Davis' "Kind of Blue", Mingus' "Mingus Ah Um" & "Blues & Roots", and Coltrane's "Giant Steps" -- four of my favorites) and into the early 60s (Contrane's "Blue Train", 1961) seems to have been the golden age of jazz. Before that was a lot of big band & swing (fun, but not as personally satisfying to me) and after that came a lot of avant garde & psychedelic stuff that I only care for in small doses.

As for whether you'll like modern stuff, I dunno. The 60s & 70s seemed to bring a lot of psychedelic free jazz & funk, but personally I haven't yet found anything from that era or since that has won me over. The closest thing I can find to modern jazz that I like is Martin Medesky & Wood, who in some ways do an interesting blend of that older cool jazz mixed well with modern hip hop -- making me wonder just what John Coltrane would have done if anyone thought to have a DJ in a band back in the 60s. My problem with MMW though is the whole hippie jam band thing, which I find great for naptime. Oh well. The other modern jazz person I've found to be consistently interesting is John Zorn; if you've ever heard Mr Bungle's albums and tried to puzzle out how they got to be so different from what Faith No More did, blame/thank John Zorn. To the extent that the first Bungle album didn't sound like "The Real Thing", to my ear it's almost all Zorn's influence (he produced the album). This stuff is fascinating to listen to, but it can barely be described as music in any conventional sense: his Cobra album seems to go out of its way to discard rhythm, melody, harmony & tempo -- it's just vaguely organized bursts of sound on disc. Very very weird.

Bonus points: compare & contrast the album cover for "Blue Train" with that of one of the Cowboy Bebop DVDs -- the cover art & logo are similar, and the back cover tiny font text are like mirrors of each other. First time I ever got a chance to see Cowboy Bebop (again, at the library -- I don't have cable tv :), I could tell just from the cover that the people that did this had excellent taste :) :) :)

Anyway, this is al

Re:Don't ask me, find out for yourself

[jhealy1024]

I totally agree that finding out for yourself is the best way to get what you like. That said, there is a *lot* of stuff out there, so it helps to have a few suggestions. I'm a computer geek, but I played in a big band during college. Here are some of my picks FWIW:

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (with Wynton Marsalis). These guys are some of the finest jazz musicians playing today. Their "Live from Swing City" album is all Duke, and it's superb. Even if you have the Duke himself (which you should), get this album as well, especially if you're into swing.

The Mingus Big Band. Organized by Sue Mingus (Charles' wife), these guys get together to play tunes written by the great bassist. I've seen them in concert, and I don't have the words to describe their awesomeness.

Jimmy Smith moved the organ from the church into the concert hall. His short career (a few years in the 60s) saw numerous albums with some great grooves. If you like him, you might look into the current group Soulive (they've moved on to a more modern sound, but their earlier albums are all soul, and impossible not to dance to).

For a little splash of New Orleans, check out the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (I'm a tuba player, so they hold a special place in my heart).

Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones... there's so many to choose from! Talk to your friends, trade your CDs (while it's still legal), and see what you like!

Swiss Movement

[Mr. Piddle]

What about "Swiss Movement" starring Les McCann and Eddie Harris (Atlantic Recording Group)? I really own only four or five jazz CDs, but it is the one I enjoy the most. Kinda gritty with good rhythm (definitely not easy-listening sleepy-time Jazz).

Jean Luc Ponty

[wowbagger]

Jean Luc Ponty. Anything by him. Great violin jazz.

Re:What sort of nonsense is this?

[BrokenHalo]

Hmmm. I've found P2P fairly useless as a means of "stealing" music, though it's probably all right if you have very pedestrian tastes.

di.fm

[frankjr]

Digitally Imported, known mostly for it's dance music stations, now has a modern jazz station.

Some artists and jazz genres

[Conesus]

I'll name a few artists from a few genres.

Looking for current, then check out Medeski, Martin & Wood. They rock, they jazz, and they are still touring. They have almost a dozen albums out, and have quite a groovy, funky, and acidic jazz feel. I'd recommend Combustication, Shack-man, and Friday Afternoon in the Universe.

Miles Davis. Period. He played with everyone good. Start out getting Miles Davis albums. Plus, he has a few periods that span classicals, originals, romance, electrical, and acid. Recommendations: For classical and originals: Milestones, Miles Smiles, Birth of the Cool (and it was the birth of the cool, hence your adam sandler joke about peeing, coolness, and miles davis), and Kind of Blue For his electrical and acidic: Panthalassa (and the remixes too! Bill Laswell in '93), Bitches' Brew, Big Fun, and Dark Magus. Follow who he played with, like John Coltrane, who is amazing. Check out his A Love Supreme.

For upright bass (contrabass, double bass) the king is Charles Mingus. If you can get the album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. Check the song II B.S. Yopu'll recognize it from a Volswagen commercial. (Hey Booboo.) Also get Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

And lastly, get Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. And for that great 50s feel, get Booker Ervin's Booker n' Brass. Questions, reply. Comments, reply. Please, reply.

Re:Some artists and jazz genres

[gt384u]

I can vouch for some of the above selections. particularly Medeski, Martin and Wood since Miles Davis really needs no one to vouch for him. Definitely check out MMW's Friday Afternoon in the Universe and if you're interested in the idea of a Hip Hop/Jazz fusion, "What happened to Gus?" off the Combustication Remixes. One of my favorites is actually the album Notes From the Underground, if only for the Dostoyevsky allusion in the title (the novella Notes From the Underground is incidentally the inspiration for Brett Easton Ellis' "American Psycho").

As for Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, how many other albums are cool enough and have enough longevity to be sampled regularly by hip hop's best and brightest? I've even heard Old Dirty Bastard drop his name in songs (I'll be like Herbie and hand you a cock). Headhunters is one of those albums that polarized audiences when it was first released. As you can read in the liner notes, one review referred to it as "future shit" in reference to its heavy use of synthesizers. Initially, I bought the album for the song "Chameleon", as it has one of the funkiest, dirtiest bass lines worthy of a George Clinton project combined with a awesome horn line. The rest of the tracks were kind of out there on my first listen, even 30 some years after it was released (kind of like the Bill Laswell remix of Panthalassa, actually) but in the end every single one of the tracks just grew on me. Do yourself a favor and pick up Headhunters. I count it as the singularly best $5 purchase I ever made.

Finally, I applaud you for deciding to culture yourself a bit and branch out your musical tastes. I notice a lot of the Slashdot crowd that I actually know are all about hacking Perl or debating the best Linux distro (they all are lacking as far as I'm concerned) but when it comes to being well rounded as human beings, there's really no interest. View it as hacking yourself if you have to, guys, but it just makes you generally a more interesting person...not to mention more likely to be successful with the ladies. And if that's all I manage to do, then I've been a success because if I have to read one more off-topic post bitching about not being able to ask a chick out or not getting laid, I will kill many, many people. Good luck with the music searching.

One word.. Squarepusher.

[Peter Cooper]

Squarepusher is typically known as a techno/drum'n'bass demi-God, but he released one album a few years ago which was actually pure jazz. He played all of the instruments himself and did the recording, and it came out amazingly. It has often been compared to the best of Miles Davis, which is high praise indeed.

What's so interesting about it is you can clearly tell that there's a big modern influence, even a drum'n'bass influence if you will. Where the influence really occured the other way around, his jazz album makes it sound like D&B came first, and then jazz was a progression on from THAT. This leads to some extremely interesting tunes.

The album is called 'Music is Rotted One Note'. I suggest you look at the reviews of it at Amazon (not an affiliate link) and even listen to a few clips. The best track by far, in my opinion, is 'Don't Go Plastic' which has a real Miles feel.

Get an anthology!

[driptray]

You need to buy a five-disc jazz anthology from the good folks at The Onion.

Stan Kenton, and The Crusaders

[n3bulous]

If I had to recommend two, it would be these two. They are also more in line with what you already have mentioned ("respectable" jazz?) As always, Amazon is your friend, until they sell your personal info to asian spammers, but you can listen to samples...

Unfortunately, most of the Jazz I hear on the radio that I like has been out of print for decades... Temple's radio station used to be all Jazz but when they acquired a classical library from a failed classical station they became a mediocre classical station that played jazz occasionally. You can see their playlists, though, and listen, I think.

Stan Kenton, New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm - All I can say is that it goes with me on all road trips. I can listen to this album for hours, over and over again.

The Crusaders, The Golden Years - A greatest hits type of collection. Two of these three discs are really good, with the third being so-so.

There's swing jazz, like the Brian Setzer Orchestra(the albums are good, but he's great live).

There's guitar jazz like Al DiMeola (a little eclectic for some, though, try Casino or Splendido Hotel, though don't try to use either of these as "mood" music...) and Larry Carlton (played with the crusaders and steely dan). Acoustic Alchemy is excellent.

Someone else already mentioned Bela Fleck, but I wouldn't bother with anything except the first 3 albums. The first two are by far the best, and after the third they become kinda boring. Sinister Minister is the best example of their work. Try Greatest Hits of the 20th Century

St. Germain

[Momomoto]

Take things in a new, exciting, and decidedly more modern direction. I highly recommend St. Germain's two studio releases: Boulevard and Tourist..

St. Germain is, in my opinion, a luscious blend of jazz and electronica/trip-hop. It's organic and ultimately enthralling. They're both amazing party albums, and St. Germain's obscure enough in North America that you'll be hailed as a god among men.

Ani Difranco

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, don't discount this one. For those who don't know she started as a ridiculous angry folk singer, but then 3 albums later she was getting a foothold, getting sane, and had clever, heart-warming lyrics and songs with pace (I don't blame her for the ridiculous angry bit, if anyone here put out an album when they were that age it'd probably be as silly, take Linkin' Park for example -- you just have to forgive them and hope they'll do better).

Anyway, if you're interested in Jazz + Blues + Folk then grab her UP UP UP UP UP album, and To The Teeth. Her live stuff ain't too good - don't bother, but those albums are excellent. Particularly, "Hat Shaped Hat", "Back back back", are great jazz/blues songs. Here are some lyrics,

Back, back, back
In the back of your mind are you learning an angry language?

Tell me, boy boy
Boy, are you tending to your joy, or are you just letting it vanquish?

Yeah, back, back, back
In the dark of your mind where the eyes of your demons are gleaming

Are you mad mad mad
about the life you never had
Yeah, even when you are dreaming?

Who are these old, old, old people in these nursing homes
Just scowling away at nothing?
Like big rag dolls
Just cursing at the walls and pulling out all of their stuffing

Yeah, every day is a door leading back to the core
Yes, old age will distill you
And if you're this, this, this full of bitterness now
Some day it will just fill you

New to Slashdot?

[Beatbyte]

He must think we pay for music.......errr SORRY RIAA!!!!

Jazz enough?

[bmorton]

Hard Normal Daddy by Squarepusher :-D *snicker*

Django

[MaxQuordlepleen]

Lots of the Good Stuff (Monk, Coletrane, Ella, Brubeck) has already been mentioned.. But you should check out Django Reinhart, the original guitar god ;)

Re:Django

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're going to do that, also get some Chet Atkins. He perfected Django's style. The RCA anthology is a good spread, and any of his stuff with Les Paul is absolutely awesome.

Diana Krall

[Tigris666]

If you want some modern stuff, you can't go past Diana Krall, however, if you want some classic jazz, try John Coltrane or Peggy Lee

Re:Diana Krall

[6hill]

Krall is absolutely fabulous, especially live -- on record she comes across as a swing singer, live she's a true piano playing goddess. I'm terribly envious of Elvis Costello :).

I'd also add Harry Connick Jr. to the list of good contemporary jazz. His album "20" is an instrumental jazz masterpiece.

Courtney Pine

[buffy_fan]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist /glance/-/57579/

Very interesting modern jazz, with bits of hiphop and scratching.

Apologies to any fans, because that sentence really doesn't do him justice. Try it, it's great.

My Top Choices

[ignatzMouse]

• Keith Jarrett - The KÃln Concert
• Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette - Standards Vol 1
• Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
• John Coltrane - Giant Steps
• John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
• John Coltrane - Concert in Japan
• Thelonious Monk - Underground
• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Complete
• Fats Waller - Any and all
• Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport
• Duke Ellington - Black, Brown & Beige
• Mahalia Jackson - Live at Newport
• Charlie Parker - Jazz at Massey Hall
• Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings
• Billie Holiday - Hmmm, where to begin?
• Janis Joplin - Live at Woodstock: August 19, 1969

Herbie Hancock

[Craig Maloney]

I recommend anything by Herbie Hancock very highly. The Best Of... albm from Blue Note Records especially, for a taste of where to look for his earlier work, and His work with the Head Hunters for some serious funk. Future Shock is a good foray into early synth sounds, and you'll recognize at least one song on that album, no doubt. :)

Have fun exploring!

Mulligan & Baker

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a CD with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker doing a couple of live sets: just awesome "West Coast jazz". It was published in 1991, and titled "The Best Of The Gerry Mulligan Quartet With Chet Baker".

I'd give you more details but I lent it out to a friend a couple of weeks ago and still haven't gotten it back (grrrr! :).

You may want to go through the Verve "Jazz Masters" to experiment with artists you don't know about: it's how I learnt about Mulligan.

BTW, you may want to also checkout the "Live at Storyville" CD by Mulligan (Quartet?).

Being someone who studied jazz for four years...

[amarodeeps]

...I happen to be a pretentious snob who thinks he knows what he's talking about when it comes to jazz specifically and music in general.

Well, let's get started.

I basically think of five musicians as being the major movers and shakers of 'jazz' (or African-American classical music, or the only truly American classical music, or whatever you want to call it that will piss somebody somewhere off...):

• Louis Armstrong
• Duke Ellington
• Charlie Parker
• Miles Davis
• John Coltrane

First of all, that's leaving a hell of a lot of very important people out. You could supplement that list with: Sidney Bichet, Jelly-Roll Morton, Art Tatum, Bessie Smith (arguably), Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Johnny Hodges, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Lee Konitz, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Yusef Lateef, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman, Nina Simone, Mary Lou Williams, Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Jaco Pastorious...I think I spelled his name wrong. Anyways, I'm losing track. All of these people are potentially of equal importance for various reasons, depending on who you talk to. And I'm leaving out a lot of people who others might argue should go on that list and are more important. I also left out a lot of bassists and drummers; this is not to diminish their importance but to emphasize my ignorance.

So, next time you are hanging out with Wynton Marsalis (also potentially on the list, along with his brother and a bunch of their current associates, cronies and sycophants) ask him what he thinks jazz is and was, and see if you don't get a radically different answer compared to the one you'll get from Lester Bowie (Art Ensemble of Chicago, also a horn player). Everybody is an expert with this stuff, and trust me, Wynton Marsalis is not the only one; he just got Ken Burns and a hell of a lot of other people to think he is, along with Stanley Crouch, the definitive guide to jazz.

Okay, that out of the way, I can proceed to tell you what some of my favorite albums/artists, in no particular order, are:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue--this in my opinion is one of the GREATEST albums ever made in any genre, but I'm biased. I'm also quite fond of the Richard D. James album (Aphex Twin), Talib Kweli & Hi Tek, Sonic Youth's 'Murray Street,' Deerhoof's 'Apple O,' Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life,' Tom Waits entire oeuvre, Missy Elliot's latest (Under Construction?), Debussy's and Schumann's piano works especially, and etc. etc. (yes I am an insufferable music snob, but I think you'd still like talking to me because I try not to be a complete prick about it) so I think you would agree I have eclectic enough tastes that I'm basing this on a wider range of music than just jazz. But anyways, I'm probably still biased.

But I mean, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Miles, together? Those three are some of my favorites, and some of the best soloing EVER. The rest of the band isn't too shabby either...

Oh, and as far as Miles goes, also check out: Birth of the Cool (I don't particularly like this album, but people tell me they do and that it is important, YMMV), Volume 1+2 on Blue Note (probably my second favorite Miles album(s)), all the sixties stuff with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and to digress for a moment, all of Wayne Shorter's sixties Blue Note stuff--the man is brilliant, and he always had a good side band, with people like Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, etc.--and, to get back to Miles, Bitches Brew is a classic, and of course there are MANY MANY more Miles albums...he was making music FOREVER in 20th century, really the entire second half of the century.

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Witch Doctor-- some early Wayne Shorter's on this one I think, I love him. I just love this album for some reason, it's

Vocals

[riclewis]

An interesting vocalist named Kurt Elling has been playing out of the Green Mill in Chicago for the past few years. He's probably the next to carry the vocalese torch in the retirement of Jon Hendricks.

His 'Live from Chicago CD is a knockout album with a good recording. It's worth purchasing just to hear him pull off Wayne Shorter's NightDreamer. 'The Messanger' is probably my favorite of his studio albums thus far.

He can wax a bit eccentric at times (he began as a beat poet), but for my money, he's the most exciting male vocalist on the scene right now.

say goodbye to your money

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously .. see, Jazz is an IMPROVISATIONAL medium. Listening to one version of a tune is like eating a recipe exactly once. You'll never get the ESSENCE of song or of a musician by listening to the studio cut of a standard.

So of course you'll have to buy a couple live versions. And then a couple more and then the box set with all the live versions you had before, plus ONE MORE GOOD ONE!! ARRRHHHGGG!!!!!

I was already an obsessive completist about CDs, but it's easy to buy all the CDs when the artist has only put out 6-7. What about if there are *FIFTY* different compilations? AARRHRHRHGG!! NO MORE MONEY!!!! BROKE!!!

For instance I was looking for ella fitzgerald .. maybe a good CD of her stuff .. well the one I bought was 16 CDs and nearly $200 bucks. GOODBYE MONEY!!

Seriously, if the artist is dead, just get the tracks from filesharing. That's my new policy.

I can't believe I haven't seen it yet

[NetChick]

Nina Simone is a must.

Classics

[Anonymous Coward]

Anything by Oscar Peterson or Dave Holland should be required listening.

Expand your Miles

[xmbrst]

With all the Miles listed here, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Miles Davis Quintet sessions preserved on the 4 records Cookin', Workin', Steamin', and Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. You get not only Miles but also early Coltrane, and they're incredibly fun and listenable. Whenever I put one of these on as background music for a party, someone inevitably remarks on it and asks who it is. My favorite is Steamin'.

If Miles is too cool for you, try the following live fire:
--John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard (the Master Takes)
--Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot (vol. 1)

Must have Stan Getz and some other suggestions ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Stan Getz's album Sweet Rain is a definate contender for a 'must have' that's not obvious. All of the tracks are absolutely beautiful -- it's the kind of album that you can put on around people who aren't into jazz, and they'll like it. I would say it's in the same genre/league as Kind Of Blue (and those are bold words).

Another favourite (and somewhat well known) of mine is Charlie Hunter. He writes songs that sound like they were written in 2002, rather than 1965. You can hear a lot of hip-hop and latin influences in his work (and a lot of his work gets sample by hip hop artists).

I would also like to echo the sentiments of one of the poster's above. Go to a record store and check out squarepusher's Music is one rotted note. It's worth listening to in the store, but DO NOT just order it without listening to it!

After having tried to convince myself to like 'important artists' and albums, here are the ones that I find myself listening to the most, or would recommend that you check out:

A Tribe Called Quest (any) - Hiphop, but jazz-like. I'm not a huge hip hop or rap fan, but Tribe is really good. Lots of jazz samples.
CharlieHunter (any) - Modern (ish), but in a good way :)
Dizzy Gillespie with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt - duets. Beautiful work here.
John Coltrane - Giant Steps and My Favourite Things are pretty extraordinary.
Josua Redman - Really good young sax player.
Miles Davis - If you don't have them, Milestones and Seven Steps to Heaven are good, but all his work is pretty amazing. Lots of different styles in his work, and all of very high quality.
Tito Puente - Goza Mi Timbal. Jazz standards played by a latin band ... soooo good and tasteful.
Winton Marsalis - Standard Time Vol. 1. He's playing Jazz standards ... standards are played by everyone for a reason: they're really good songs. This is a great album if you're limited on the number of cds you can purchase, because it covers a lot of really important songs.

Now go listen! Enjoy!

WTF?!

[psyconaut]

Crikey, if there's questions about jazz on /. now, I'm gonna start asking about pickup lines!

-psy

Re:WTF?!

[The Mayor]

eh? /.'ers can't listen to jazz? I can understand the stereotype with respect to pickup lines (even if I disagree with it)...but to music? Haven't there been enough studies done on the links between music & math with respect to brain development? Haven't you realized that there is a fair share of musicians among the computer literate crowd? Come on, now!

Re:WTF?!

[psyconaut]

Judging by the amount of DJ and electronic music production equipment in my loft, I'm pretty sure there are some /.ers who like and create music.

Just thought it was kinda lame to be asking for Jazz record advice on /. rather than another forum where you wouldn't have to deal with the abuse ;-)

-psy

MMW, Monk, and JMP

[phisheadrew]

A few of my favorites:

Thelonious Monk - Specifically Solo Monk and Traditionals

Medeski Martin & Wood - The Dropper and Uninvisible

Jazz Mandolin Project is also good.

If you can't afford it, you could always look for live recordings of them (not sure about Monk though) online, legal and free. www.furthurnet.com , www.etree.org

my picks

[bcrowell]

• Mingus at Antibes
• Joe Henderson, Page One
• Dexter Gordon, Go!
• World Saxophone Quartet, Metamorphosis
• Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come

Re Miles Davis, you already have Kind of Blue, which is an all-time great. Some people like his fusion stuff, but I can't stand it myself.

For Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, look in one of those books that rates jazz records and see what's good. They churn out lots of compilations every year, and some are much better than others.

emusic.com has a lot of good jazz

[curt_k]

I haven't checked it out in a while, but emusic.com had a pretty damn good selection of jazz stuff available. I don't think you'll find the top selling stuff like Kind of Blue or Take Five, but there's plenty of good stuff in the margains that they had. Also early blues stuff and some outside "classical" music (jazz equals (maybe?) blues + 20th century "classical" music ideas, all mixed together via ideally collective instant composition (e.g., "improvisation")?). Was it Duke Elington who said that there are two kinds of music, good music and bad music? Of course, the same can be said of jazz, and hence your question. I'd rather download the stuff at $10 a month or whatever they're charging and sample to see what I dig. WNUR (Northestern's college radio) seems to have some very good jazz shows and web streaming. http://www.wnur.org Curt.

Jazz is boring....

[Anonymous Coward]

Elevator music is much better!

Chick Corea

[Moridineas]

Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but I like Chick Corea a lot. Return to Forever.

'What Game Shall We Play' today is one of my favorites. Nice vocals.

yes Verve is a good label to look for and make

[Bob Bitchen]

sure to get Bill Evans too, there's a concert in Tokyo that's very good. Really any Bill Evans is good to have around. Chet Baker is wonderful.Find a good jazz radio station to listen to and jot down the ones you like. KLON from Long Beach is good and you can listen live via the net. Diana Krall's not bad (she's about to marry Elvis Costello BTW). Remember with any jazz that the more you listen to songs the more you like them. I've found that sometimes I won't like a song the first time thru but find after hearing it more that I enjoy it more than the previous listen.

Jazz at the Pawnshop

[Anonymous Coward]

is good.

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

[netringer]

Get John Coltrane and Johhny Hartman on Impulse!(Verve). It has only 6 cuts but they're all keepers. You'll play it over and over. This version of Lush Life is the reference classic. It's a good romance soundtrack.

Also get Bird and Diz for the Be-bop classics. The Bridge by Sonny Rollins.

As much as I hate to say it, The overrated Ken Burns 4 CD Jazz collection is a pretty good sampling. I mean he overrates himself. The music didn't need his endorsement, but at least he got the word out.

I was digging the 4th disc today. It has Sonny Rollins, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Bruibeck, all of the classics.

Dave Holland!!

[chocolatetrumpet]

In the "modern" category, I'm afraid Dave Holland carries the torch.

His work with his quintet is really amazing- some of the finest ensemble playing anytime, by any standard. The style his group has developed is really wonderful; heavy on improvisation and eastern influences. Billy Kilson takes the drums from a "groove" role to the front of the ensemble - taking on almost melodic roles. Generally, there are multiple solos going on at any time. Even the written music sounds improvised.

This is some of the most wonderful, euphoric recording... really great. My favorite recordings of anything, ever.

Here are some to check out:
Prime Directive
Points of View
Not for Nothin'

Enjoy!

Jazz for beginners

[Van Halen]

A few years ago I stumbled upon this page and really enjoyed what this guy had to say. I'm still building my collection and slowly expanding my own tastes. Right now in the Jazz genre of my collection, my biggest favorites are Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis. I've got a fairly basic collection of early Miles Davis stuff, and lately I've been getting into jazz guitar (as you may guess from my username, I'm a huge fan of instrumental rock guitar already). Lately I've been really digging Charlie Hunter (plays an 8-string guitar, doing the bass and guitar parts simultaneously -- quite amazing) as well as Frank Gambale, whose style I suppose may be considered a bit of a fusion of jazz and rock (though is it "Fusion"? I don't think so, but I don't know much about that genre yet).

Anyway, just some ramblings and potential starting points if anything interests you.

Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter

[innerFire]

My favorite recordings of Ornette's are Free Jazz and The Shape of Jazz To Come.

Herbie Hancock's Headhunters is a tremendously enjoyable classic.

Anything with Ron Carter (bass). Playing anything from Miles Davis to Bach to Erykah Badu, the guy is great.

Famous Jazz records

[ptaff]

Some standouts from the post-bop era:

* Time Out, Dave Brubeck, 1959
Although it seemed far out at the time, with all these songs in weird meters (5/4, 7/4) - when the jazz scene was all playing standard 4/4 bars - this album ironically became a best-seller.

* Giant Steps, John Coltrane, 1959
This guy expanded what we knew then about harmony. This album (especially the title track) will show the way to all structured atonal jazz.

* Bitches Brew, Miles Davis, 1969
The first fusion record, with some of the greatest jazz players ever: Wayne Shorter, Josef Zawinul, Dave Holland, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham. Some would shout 'experimental', but on a few listens it grows on you. The best music to listen to when there's a storm outside.

* The Inner Mounting Flame, Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1972
I don't think there are other jazz fusion records that intense. If you're looking for tight musicianship, and like electric instruments, this is the way to go. Odd time signatures throughout.

Re:Famous Jazz records

[raind]

Those are all great recordings.....personally I'm a drummer and like anything with great drummers. Check out anything with the following: Tony Williams, Dave Weckl (he's played with many
people including Chick Corea). Art Blakely, etc. check out www.moderndrummeer.com

Django Reinhardt

[jpkunst]

I'd like recommend the recordings from the 1930's by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli (Quintette of the Hot Club de France). Groundbreaking and virtuoso (acoustic)guitar and violin playing in a unique 'European' swing idiom (double bass, 2 rhythm guitars, lead guitar, violin).

Some ideas:

The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order
Quintette du Hot Club de France: 25 Classics 1934-1940

Also, EMusic has a lot of this stuff available for download.

JP

Charlie Hunter

[turbosk]

charlie hunter owns! i had the great fortune to see him while i was in college a ways back. he was playing in a bar i also played at. probly the next time i see him he'll be playing at the 2,000-seat halls and not the tiny joints with the sawdust on the floors.

and also that is a nice link you had. your guy seems to have a good ear and some taste. unlike some other kenny g lovers around here :)

GO GO GO CHARLIE GO!

TWIN HOUSE ON CD!

[stanwirth]

This is great, great news. I drove through Yellowstone and half of Wyoming on a tape of Twin House. One CD I still haven't been able to find is Lambert, Hendricks and Ross -- a recording they did that had "Cloudburst","Centerpiece" and "Twisted" (amongst others).

My favorite Coltrane has always been Giant Steps , which shows up in the bargain bins all the time, as does a CD that has both Sonny Rollins albums Tenor Madness and Saxophone Collossus .

There's a delightful duo of Earl Hines and Stephane Grapelli out as well, a single session, their first (and last) meeting, where they do just an incredible version of "Moonlight in Vermont."

Re:TWIN HOUSE ON CD!

[BrokenHalo]

FYI: I got it at www.discoweb.co.uk after much googling. Take my advice about the so-called bonus tracks, though, you'll be in for a shock if you're expecting something of the calibre of the "main" album.I thought to search for it again in a similar fit of nostalgia: moonbathing parties on the beach, and all that sort of thing back in the days when... :-)

I've been hunting for Lambert/Hendricks/Ross for a while, but so far no joy :-(

Re:TWIN HOUSE ON CD!

[LandGator]

http://www.ralf.org/~colomon/vocalese/lhr.html has much useful info on LHR discography

Re:What about "modern" Jazz?????

[SimplexO]

Trolling? Why yes you are. I'll bite.

Since I think you are talking about Joshua Redmond, I just want to let you know that back when Wish was released, he was rated (don't ask me how, I don't remember exactly -- I think it was a contest of some sort) the number 2 sax player in the world. He might sound like MUZAK to the untrained ear, and Tears in Heaven might sound a be a little corny, that doesn't mean that he doesn't rock. However, I don't think I can say anything that will change your mind.

And you are damn right I dropped names... in the same way that geeks 'round here drop languages they can program in. It's shit you put on your resume. I played with him, him, and them. It's kinda like what you did with Billy Cobham (who?). Also, there is almost always somebody better than the other guy.

And you should know better than to argue musical tastes. It's not like I'm advocating Kenny G (whom I can't stand) -- we're talking about renowned pros here different strokes for different folks.

If I spelled John's name wrong, you ought to tell his website that they got the domain name wrong too.

While I'm replying, if anyone is reading my flame here, go and pick up anything from the Chick Corea Elektric Band. Akoustic is good, but Elektric is better.

My faves

[byoon]

• Out to Lunch! - Eric Dolphy
  A brilliant multi-insrumentalist who died way too young. Cut his teeth playing with Mingus and Coltrane then ventured out on his own. The great trumpeter Freddie Hubbard also plays on this album. Out to Lunch! is very Monk-inspired in places but ventures far beyond.
• Mingus, Ah um - Charles Mingus
  My favorite Mingus album and one of the first where he had full control of the music and the band. "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus" are two of the best.
• My Favorite Things - John Coltrane
  This is the album where Coltrane left be-bop behind and started experimenting with modes. It also introduced his classic quartet of McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison and featured his first usage of the soprano sax. A good place to start with Coltrane because it is the bridge from his more traditional playing to his more free-form compositions. His solo on the title track is brilliant.
• Change of the Century - Ornette Coleman
  This album isn't as noticed because it's sandwiched between The Shape of Jazz to Come and Free Jazz but I think it's brilliant in its own right. He uses a smaller group, his classic quartet of Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, but still makes big music. It's very free-form improvisational but the way the musicians on this record feel each other keeps it from getting too dissonant.
• A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
  This is probably the only album that gives me a feeling of spirituality. You can feel the spirit coming from Coltrane and his group on this record. Words really can't do it justice.
• A Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
  This is where Miles began to experiment with the modal jazz that Coltrane would expand upon on My Favorite Things. This album is worth the price just for the band. It features Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Bill Evans. "So What" is probably one of the most recognized melodies in jazz.
• Supersonic Jazz - Sun Ra
  Sun Ra is probably the single most fascinating character in jazz history. Born on Saturn and sent to earth to save humanity, he produced a huge amount of work with a variety of bands, but this album is probably his classic. His brilliant arrangements and nothing-less-than-perfect attitude are best exemplified with this record.
• Ask The Ages - Sonny Sharrock
  You've probably heard Sonny as the musician behind the "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" theme and if you liked the sound of that guitar, this album will blow you away. He plays with Coltrane alumni Pharaoh Sanders and Elvin Jones on this album. "Who Does She Hope to Be" is probably one of the most heart-breaking instrumental ballads ever recorded. The trade-off between Sonny's guitar and Sanders' honking sax on the upbeat tracks are purely visceral.
• Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra
  My favorite "fusion" album, Birds of Fire, is a guitar masterpiece. John McLauglin (guitar),Jan Hammer (keyboards, yes the "Miami Vice Theme" guy), and Jerry Goodman (guitar) soar above the thundering bass and rapid-fire almost heavy metal drumming of Billy Cobham. Besides, fusing jazz and rock, this record also features a very heavy Eastern influence. A must have for guitar geeks.
• Ascension - John Coltrane
  Not for the faint of heart, or faint of hearing, Ascension was Coltrane's most out record. It features a 10-piece band that improvises between solos. It's a mad cacophony of wonderful and scary sounds. I sometimes listen to both versions at the same time (they did two 40-minute takes). It's a lot of fun and you always discover somthing new.

Come Shine

[bj_rmz]

A song, but also a band: http://www.comeshine.com/, plays standards, best I've heard in years.

Kurt Elling is excellent

[byoon]

I saw him at the Green Mill a couple of years ago. He's one of the only notable male jazz vocalists going right now, and his band is always top-notch. He's been nominated for several Grammys, too.

I've noticed that Jazz vocals have been somewhat overlooked here and there is so much incredible stuff out there. The big ones: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan. The wonderful Nina Simone. Bobby McFerrin. Johnny Hartman. Karrin Allyson (her most recent album of Coltrane ballads is excellent.)

jimmy lunceford

[footility]

amazing

Short-sighted

[superyooser]

"Everything that can be invented has already been invented." - Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899 (Disclaimer)

Even if you were right, there are millions of us youngsters born in the 70s and 80s who don't know a lot of these names, much less ever heard the music. It's new music to our ears.

There would be lots of life left in jazz if the music got more exposure and promotion.

Kurt Elling! Plus Oscar, Keith, Chick....

[briggers]

Kurt Elling is IMHO the finest male jazz vocalist alive today, if not the finest jazz vocalist alive today full stop. His 'vocalises' (settings of poetry to transcriptions of great instrumental improvisations) are pretty extraordinary, and his subtle phrasing and clean (mainly) vibratoless sound is a delight. 'Flirting with Twilight' is a subversive disc of standards and is a good (if somewhat atypical) introduction to his art, while 'The Messenger' contains a version of Nature Boy that has to be heard to be believed.

Some pianists you must consider:

* Oscar Peterson - wonderfully big-hearted, and a great example of a phenomenal technique used brilliantly for emotional expression. 'Exclusively for my Friends' is an essential four-disc set.

* Keith Jarrett (The Koeln Concert in particular is a powerhouse of free, unbounded improvisation)

* Chick Corea. The gonzo jazz-rock fusion of Return to Forever isn't to everyone's taste (it is to mine), but he has a wonderfully crisp style with a totally distinctive harmonic language. A fine composer too (his Piano Concerto is one of the more successful jazz-classical crossover attempts).

* Michel Pettrucciani. This man is was a genius, despite being quite badly disabled. A triumph of the human spirit. I highly recommend the two-disc set of him live at the Champs-Elysees (solo) - the highlight is an incredible continuous 30min+ 'Medley of my Favourite Songs'. Talk about stamina!

Trip Hop or Jazz?

[oliverthered]

You are saying that portishead is not Jazz.
Can you please explain the differnace between trip hop and Jazz?

this may help

Here are some great ones:

[kashmirzoso]

Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby Coleman Hawkins - Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster Thelonious Monk - Live at the It Club Jimmy Smith - The Sermon Hank Mobley - Workout

Re:Here are some great ones:

[kashmirzoso]

Let me revise that list. I am a Software Engineer, and while I am coding, these are what I listen to most, with Bill Evans getting the most play. Thelonious Monk - Monk Alone
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
King Curtis - Soul Meeting
Horace Silver - Song for My Father
Sidney Bechet - Blues in Thirds
Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby
Bill Evans - Undercurrent
Coleman Hawkins - Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster
Thelonious Monk - Live at the It Club
Jimmy Smith - The Sermon
Hank Mobley - Workout

Smooth Jazz / Jazz Fusion .... and Classical Jazz

[tcak]

The best of recordings:

1. The Best of David Benoit 1987-1995
2. Eric Marienthal Collection
3. The Best of Fourplay
4. The Very Best of Acoustic Alchemy
5. The Best of Spyro Gyra: The First Ten Years

Also, do not forget to pick up the classic "Rhapsody In Blue" by George Gershwin

record or cd....

[Thelonious Monk]

Avoid buying the cd's... buy actuall records. Jazz sounds a whole lot better on vinyl. =)

Play Loud

[reallocate]

And just assume that there's a "Play Me Loudly" label on the Mahavishnu CD. Great stuff: electronic keyboards, dual-necked guitar, bass and violin. The guitarist is John McLaughlin, who's been cranking out good electric and accoustic stuff for years.

Ken Burns Jazz: The Story Of American Music

[geophile]

If you're just starting out, this anthology might be the place to start, but see this review first.

A Night in Tunisia

[bacontaco]

Gillespie at his best! Just remember a few things if buying it at auction:

1. Make sure that you give Dr. Harmon the patented Huxtable "VOICE OF DOOM!"
2. If phoning in a bid, make sure your wife doesn't start bidding against you on the auction floor.
3. EAT THE JELLO, DAAAAHHHH!

Re: Jazz Recs (Sun Ra)

[amonduulii]

If you start out with Sun Ra, you'll be on the right track for the rest of your life. Check out "Space is the Place" for starters.

Re:And a unique one and a great one...

[op51n]

Along with the superb Brubeck, it's well worth at least checking out:

Tom Wiats (pretty much anything - but Nightahwks at the Diner is my favorite - live show with a small audience)

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (Very unique record, definitely worth checking out. He kind of started the big Jazz/Fusion kind of thing back in the 70's.)

Modern Jazz Quartet (More traditional Jazz but well worth listening to, superb stuff)

And you can't go wrong with the classics - Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk et al.

AAAGH!!! No one mentioned Charlie Parker yet?!

[Bravo_Two_Zero]

All due respect to Davis and Coltrane, but...

Charlie Parker!
+ The Cole Porter Songbook
+ Jazz at the Philharmonic, 1949 [LIVE]

And, with Dizzy Gillespie
+ Bird and Diz

With the added benefit of getting to know the Cole Porter songs. Ok, it's not that experimental stuff from the 60s and 70s, but man is it sweet. I credit The Bird with helping me land my wife of 11 years!

my picks.

[Woody]

some of my favorites:

• ornette coleman - free jazz - just an amazing album. this is not easy listening; it's piercing and sweet at different moments, like a drunk schizophrenic uncle... with a knife... who still tells hilarious stories. this might take some repeated listening to fully appreciate it, but i'll never look back.
• cecil taylor - unit structures, any of the live albums, with group or solo - maybe the most innovative piano player in the last sixty years. ominous and brooding to sparse and barely there, taylor's playing is all over the place, but it's always perfectly directed. the live solo albums are my personal favorites.
• django reinhardt - early recordings or collections - it doesn't matter what you buy here, just get something with music by reinhardt's 'hot club' quintette included. this will make you want to dance. you will dance, and you'll have a good time doing it. beautiful stuff.
• john scofield - a go go, oh! - one of the only modern jazz guitarists that i actually like... virtuosity with an unexplainable humility to his music. scofield's been doing some seriously under-appreciated work for years.

looks like you already know about coltrane, mingus and miles, so you're on the right track. look up thelonius monk, too - great jazz of the highest order.

as an aside, i picked up mississippi john hurt's avalon blues: the complete 1928 okeh recordings for $9.99 last week, and it's the sweetest blues that i've ever heard. his guitar playing is absolutely out of this world - the tonality of it never fails to amaze me, and his flow is gorgeous. fahey and kotke both realized a lot of their music by emulating hurt, skip james and the like early on. not incidentally, delta blues is where early american jazz guitar cut its teeth; check out some of the players for roots music to which anyone can relate.

-rbw

emusic.com

[Engdy]

You can only afford 2 CDs a month?

Run, do not walk, to emusic.com. For $10 bucks a month, you get unlimited MP3 access to an outstanding jazz collection. They've got some great historical collections, a reasonable sampling of modern artists, and you've got an easy way to try out some music you otherwise wouldn't have risked money on.

Plus you've still got leftover money for a CD each month!

The Canon + personal favorites

[mattmunz]

Without knowing your taste (beyond the selection you presented), and knowing that you have a small jazz collection at this point, I can reccommend to you the jazz canon (as I see it), as well as my personal favorites (of course).

The Canon -- The artists/albums a jazz collector should be familiar with regardless of specialty (dixieland through free jazz):

The Blues (Robert Johnson/Bessie Smith/etc.) -- Jazz starts with the Blues -- I've learned a lot about Jazz by listening to pre-Jazz Blues artists.
Louis "Pops" Armstrong - material from the early days where he plays trumpet at least as much as he sings.
Django Rheinhardt
Fats Waller
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Count Basie (w/ Lester Young)
Duke Ellington
Benny Goodman Septet (w/ Charlie Christian)
Lester Young
Coleman Hawkins
Oscar Peterson
Charlie Parker, anything
John Burkes "Dizzy" Gilespie, "Sunny Side Up", anything he did with Charlie Parker
Thelonious Monk (w/ Charlie Rouse)
King Pleasure, "Moody's Mood For Love"
Sonny Rollins, "Freedom Suite"
Miles Davis, "Birth of the Cool", "Kind of Blue"
Dave Brubeck (w/ Paul Desmond), "Time Out"
Stan Getz (w/ Gilberto)
Charlie Mingus
Cannonball Adderley
Wes Montgomery
John Coltrane, "Giant Steps"
Wayne Shorter, "Speak No Evil"
Ornette Coleman, "Shape of Jazz to Come"
Charlie Haden, "Liberation Music Orchestra"

My personal picks:

Tal Farlow
Bobby Hutcherson
Chic Corea, Origins band (w/ Avishai Coehn and Steve Wilson)
Keith Jarrett
Kenny Garrett, "Triology"
Wynton, Ellis, and Brandord Marsalis
James Moody
Charlie Mingus, "The Clown"
Oliver Nelson, "Blues and the Abstract Truth", "More Blues and the abstract Truth"
Benny Carter
Phil Woods
Yusef Lateef, "Eastern Sounds"
Charlie Parker, "Mango Mangue"
Tony Bennett
John McLoughlin (w/ Remember Shakti)
John Scofield (w/ Joe Levano if you can find it)

These lists, are, needless to say, very incomplete.

Remember when buying albums that until a certain point (in the 40's?), most records were more like today's singles, containing only a couple of tracks. As a result, compilations are probably your best bet for jazz until after Charlie Parker. There are, of course, many exceptions to this...

As you collect, you might also notice a gap between Swing and Bebop, where there is this radical shift in style. In reality, there was an extensive recording ban (strike), that coincided with the inception of bebop. Recordings from this period are highly valued by collectors.

Good Luck!

Re:The Canon + personal favorites

[Anonymous Coward]

Louis "Pops" Armstrong - material from the early days where he plays trumpet at least as much as he sings.

I bought some discount bookstore bargain colection of Armstrong's from his 1920's work.

This stuff was not his "Hello Dolly" or "Wonderful World" gentrified later years work.

I was blown away by the virtuosity, showmanship and improvisation in the music.

Listen to this older music and you will get a feel for what a giant the man was back in this time.

Re:The Canon + personal favorites

[byoon]

Love the Oliver Nelson records. Very underrated. You should listen to Delfeayo Marsalis, too. He's the family trombone player and has a couple of very good records out ther.e

eMusic

[EisPick]

... has an excellent back archive of jazz -- over a thousand albums worth downloading. For $120 you can subscribe to eMusic for a year and sample freely to learn what you do and don't like.

Listen to After Hours

[uw_dwarf]

The Canadian Broadcorping Castration's Radio 2 network has a 2-hour jazz program called After Hours . Ross Porter, the host, plays a mix of old and new jazz, with occasional features and interviews. Listen for what you like. Porter has also selected tracks for about 4 different compilations, so you can sample from there and shape your collection according to taste.

Red Holloway, Weather Report, Stanley Clark

[Sxooter]

If you've never heard Red Holloway pick up some of his work. Never made a bad disc. His 60s work defined Acid Jazz, and his more modern discs are bluesly stuff with one or two acid jazz cuts.

And, of course, Weather Report 8:30, one of the greatest albums ever made.

Stanley Clark, School Days

check out WEMU - wemu.org

[danpritts]

We have a great Jazz & Blues radio station out of Ypsilanti, Mich - WEMU. streaming at www.wemu.org

I'm a bit of a dilletante in jazz myself, but my favorites include:

• Dave Brubeck - Time Out in particular
• Miles Davis, of course - in addition to the usual suspects I have a soft spot for Sketches of Spain
• Billie Holiday - I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned her. Maybe people think of her as blues, not jazz. There is a great 10-cd set of all her stuff on columbia from the 30s and 40s, and a smaller set of the highlights from the big set. I'd recommend her earlier, 30s and 40s recordings, not the 50s stuff.
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk - I don't know much about him but I like the song "bright moments" that WEMU plays a lot
• I am surprised people above think of Tom Waits as jazz - i think of him as more blues/rock. You can't go wrong with any of his stuff. For a very bluesy interpretation of his stuff check out Wicked Grin
• Medeski Martin Wood - don't know well, but like what i have heard

Re:check out WEMU - wemu.org

[zonker]

I am surprised people above think of Tom Waits as jazz - i think of him as more blues/rock."

I agree wholeheartedly... Waits does have some jazzy stuff, but I would hardly consider it jazz. Not to take anything away from his work though, as he is my 2nd favorite singer/songwriter.

Here are some guitarists

[Mr. Quick]

Lenny Breau - unknown canadian, murdered, arguably the best jazz guitarist ever, kooky 7-string player

Kenny Burrell - one of the best, plays with B.B. King now, straight ahead bob

Wes Montgomery - one the first, one of the most influential

Charlie Christian - the first, groundbreaker

Ed Bickert - i think I've seen him play live about 50 times, just incredible, and he uses a Telecaster

John Pizzarelli - wonderful tone, fantastic voice, good trio, and his dad Bucky is quite good as well.

There are a lot more, Tal Farlow, Herb Ellis (Oscar Peterson), Russel Malone (plays with Diana Krall and Harry Connick), Jim Hall.

Re:Here are some guitarists

[Mr. Quick]

I should have added this link:
Classic Jazz Guitar

oops.

From the birthplace of Jazz...

[WhyCause]

Take a listen at WWOZ out of New Orleans. They play a wide variety of old and new Jazz. It's mostly local programming that is pretty unique.

If you're interested in some of the modern Brass Band Jazz that New Orleans produces copious amounts of, check out Rebirth Brass Band (you can listen to some of their songs there). They are one of the best known of the Brass Jazz bands, but there are many others. Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, Los Hombres Calientes (heavy latin flavor), Irvin Mayfield, and Jason Marsalis (all on Basin Street Records) are also all very good, and very popular locally.

If you are ever in New Orleans, be sure to venture out of the French Quarter to see some of these guys. Kermit Ruffins plays every Wednesday for free at a place uptown called Le Bon Temps Roule, and most of the other bands I listed play regularly, usually for a very moderate cover price (especially if you are used to D.C., New York, or LA covers).

Re:From the birthplace of Jazz...

[LandGator]

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band should not be overlooked. http://www.rosebudus.com/dozen/discography.html

Check out the "NPR Jazz" site (and your library)

[fiji]

The NPR Jazz sit at www.nprjazz.org is a great resource. An especially good starting point at that site is the Basic Jazz Record Library.

You should also consider looking at the stuff your local library has. If they loan out CDs you can see what you like before you buy it.

-ben

Not mentioned yet: Dolphy, Byrd

[jonesvery]

I think that whether they're "essential" depends a lot on who you're talking to, but three of my favorite albums don't yet appear to have been mentioned:

A New Perspective, Donald Byrd Band and Voices
Rather different from much of what Byrd recorded, the vocal work can sound a little...well, cheesy, to some people, but it's fascinating to me.

Add to that Last Date and Out to Lunch by Eric Dolphy. Jazz flute doesn't grab everybody, but the man was an extraordinary musician and performer.

Otherwise, it seems like the postings have already covered a lot of what people can agree on as fundamental to a jazz collection: Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, Somethin' Else...I'd add most of Sonny Rollins' recordings to that...hmmm...also some Sun Ra -- I seem to recall that Holiday for Soul Dance was pretty accessible and appealing to me from the first listen.

Ah, well, I could go on forever, and I still have a lot of work to do today...have fun... :)

Miles, "in a Silent Way"

[praxis22]

Very sparse "thinking music" though my dad (who was alive in the 50's :) swears by Thelonius Monk, and real early blue grass and ragtime jazz. Disclaimer: (I own a Kenny G single... :) later jb

Jazz on a budget

[Blackbrain]

I have two el-cheapo suggestions.

The first is to check out the collections from Proper Records . For the price of two regular CD's you can get a six disk compilation. The music hasn't been digitally remastered, but it sounds all right to me. Sometimes their choices are strange, for example they have selections from 'Birth of the Cool' on their BeBop collection, but it is a load of tunes for the money.

The other suggestions is to check out KPLU.ORG. KPLU is a public radio station in Seattle that streams their programming on the Web with Windows Media and RealPlayer. The selection is REAL Jazz with no Kenny G in site. If you like them, donate your months CD budget to the station to keep them alive.

Lee Morgan, Charles Lloyd

[ahess247]

Essential components of my collection:
Lee Morgan's "The Gigolo"

and Charles Lloyd's "Forest Flower/Soundtrack".

Everyone human living must hear Duke Ellington's Live at Newport, 1956, particularly "Diminuendo in Blue/Crescendo in Blue" which some consider the high point of Ellington's public performance career, thanks to a Paul Gonsalves trumpet solo that can only de described as divinely inspired.

Those are essential, as is anything by Dave Brubeck, starting with the obvious Time Out, Jazz Impressions of New York, Jazz Goes to College, and the recent compilation Love Songs.

There's a few suggestions that should keep you busy.

john pizzarelli

[Anonymous Coward]

some people look at him and wish Bucky Pizzarelli didn't have kids. I like some of his work though (I've heard playing solo/duets on Piano Jazz and Fresh Air). He has a CD that's all beatles covers, if you like rock/jazz crossover stuff. I've heard blackbird as an instrumental jazz piece, too.

Birth of the Cool

[kjs3]

Miles Davis "Birth of the Cool" was one of the albums that absolutely sold me on Jazz.

Once you dig that, start at the beginning of the Blue Note Records collection and let us know when you are done...:-)

"Jazz is dead"

[Anonymous Coward]

As Miles Davis himself said. "The music of the museum." All these people giving these modern jazz albums, they are nice, but nothing that hasn't been done thirty or more years ago.

for classic jazz, and trying to avoid all the obvious suggestions, picking a couple of favourites at random: 'Parade' by Ron Carter, 'Red Clay' by Freddie Hubbard, 'grass roots' by Andrew Hill.

As for modern jazz, you have to get away from the traditional form. Obviously not into smooth shit like Marcus Miller or Kenny G, but into something that takes the feel of jazz onto new levels. Check out Bugge Wesseltoft's album 'Moving', Hajime Yoshizawa's 'Violet Lounge' or Roy Hargrove's lastest, 'The RH Factor'.

Why, Art Tatum, of course!

[Art Tatum]

Art Tatum was a ground-breaking pianist in the 1st half of the 20th century. His harmonic inventiveness and astonishing technique are impressive; but they become even more so when you realize how long ago the recordings were made. Way ahead of his time.

Also, pick up some stuff by Marcus Roberts. His reinterpretation of Rhapsody in Blue blows me away every time I hear it. His use of the piano to its full potential is Liszt-like.

My favorites ...

[Mr. Mai]

There a far too many jazz records to recommend here are two examples:

Secrets by Allan Holdsworth
Susi a very impresive record by Trio Toykeat from Finland.

How could you leave out ...

[Rooktoven]

Kinda Blue

With John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly... This album was described as (my apologies for not knowing the origin) "The perfect album for playing at 2am on Saturday night when you're doing something you probably shouldn't be doing..."

It's the best selling Jazz album of all time, and deservedly so. It's a fantastic introduction to jazz.

I agree with Sketches in Spain being awesome. Also for good Zappa jazz try Hot Rats and Waka Jawaka.

Dexter Gordon

[Jerenk]

Dexter Gordon is also not to be missed. Try out 'Our Man in Paris' and 'Go' for some stellar Jazz albums.

Out Jazz!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Gotta get some good out/free jazz, for sure.
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz
John Coltrane - Ascension, Interstellar Space
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Cecil Taylor - Nefertiti, Unit Structures

Also look for Arthur Doyle, Sunny Murray, Don Cherry, Milford Graves (!!!), Marion Brown, John Tchicai, Peter Brotzmann, Frank Wright...

Also, most of the Actuel label represses are amazing, as are a lot of the ESP Disk Reissues. I could go on, but check it out for yourself.

It really depends on what you are looking for

[Monty67]

I decided to agree with some, and add a few extras(hopefully not repeats).

Piano - Dave Brubeck "Time Out" contains Take Five. Can't loose pick.

Trumpet - Since you already have Miles, W Marsalis (Grammy winner in both Classical and Jazz)

Guitar - John Mclaughlin his live recording hold a bit more feeling. Want something newer, try Peter Orphanos "With Open Eyes"

Sax - Coltrane "A love Supreme"

More main stream - Harry C Jr "20", or something by David Sanborn.

IMHO, tune into a local jazz radio show and see what type of jazz you like. And then go from there.

One from every major period of jazz

[djandrock]

Swing: Louis Armstrong - "The 25 Greatest Hot Fives and Sevens" [ASV]
He's the guy that made jazz popular. The ASV remasters are probably the best quality, and it's a good place to start.

Big Band: Duke Ellington - "The Carnegie Hall Concerts January 1943" [Prestige]
Duke is quite possibly the only musician of this century that people will still be listening to in 300 years.

Bebop: Charlie Parker - "Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection" [Rhino]
Charlie Parker created "modern" jazz by developing a system of improvising harmonically over chord changes as opposed to melodically like Louis and the rest of the swing musicians.

Hard Bop: Sonny Rollins - "Saxophone Colossus" [Prestige]
My personal favorite album.

Cool Jazz: Dave Brubek - "Time Out" [Columbia]
"Take Five" off this album has become a part of American culture. Even people who don't listen to jazz are familiar with the tune.

Fusion: Miles Davis - "Bitches Brew" [Columbia]
Miles heard Hendrix and tried to add his passion and energy to jazz. Many came after, but this was the first.

Avant-Garde: Ornette Coleman - "The Shape of Jazz to Come" [Atlantic]
Indescribable.

World: Getz/Gilberto - "Getz/Gilberto" [Verve]
Appeals to fans of all types of music. Most of the songs on this album have been covered so many times, they border on cliche. "Girl From Ipanema" can be heard at the grocery store.

Check this out.

[tha_mink]

Bob Moses. Nuff said (start with "Moses/Munoz Love Everlasting")

good, new stuff

[cybin]

if you're into cutting-edge stuff, i really like the new Roy Hargrove album called "Hardgroove". the CD is listed sometimes as being by "The RH Factor". lots of cool guest artists, some freestyle rap, and just good groovy stuff. anything by Christian McBride is great too, as well as Charlie Hunter. most of this stuff can be found on the apple music store if you're on that bus, or previews can be heard on amazon.

Wynton Marsalis

[aplank]

I like wynton marsalis and glen miller.

Must have jazz...

[maiasaurus]

Just spent the day at the Playboy Jazz Festival yesterday *drool* Must say that Dve Brubeck and Al Jarreau together was truly awesome. That being said, here's Playboy's list, and I agree with almost every choice:
Cannonball Adderly: Somethin' Else
Art Blakey: Moanin'
Dave Brubeck: Time Out
Benny Carter: Further Definitions
Ornete Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come
John Coltrane: Giant Steps
A Love Supreme
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Kind of Blue
Miles Smiles
with Gil Evans: Sketches of Spain
Duke Ellington: And his Mother Called him Bill
Bill Evans: The Village Vanguard Sessions
Dizzy Gillespie, Charlis Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach: Live at Massey Hall
Herbie Hancock: Speak Like a Child
Coleman Hawkins: Body and Soul
Charles Mingus: Changes Two
The Modern Jazz Quartet: Django
Thelonius Monk: The Complete Genius
Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth
Charlie Parker: The Savoy Recordings
Bud Powell: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 1)
Sonny Rollins: The Bridge
Art Tatum: The Complete Art Tatum
Weather Report: Heavy Weather

As I said, I agree pretty much with their 25 must haves, and I'd add to it starting with the Rippingtons.

Re:Must have jazz...

[peterzen]

I absolutely agree with this list too, but think that John McLaughlin's works should not be missed either.

He's a guitarist from Scotland who have played with lots, lots of people (Miles Davis, for instance). Also, he used to be a founding member of the band called Mahavishnu Orchestra, which I wholehartedly recommend if you like extremely sharp compositions and playing and wild jazz-rock improvisations. Be careful with John's first albums though (from around '69), I got one of those which is so truely free jazz that I can't bear it despite my love of his music and even 'semi-moderate' free jazz :)

Tony Quarrington

[Jucius Maximus]

I have fallen in love with Tony Quarrington and Friends - Group of Seven Suite from CBC records. I heard it playing in the store and snapped it up immediately. It was actually presented and recorded live, although it does not sound like a live recording on the CD. (There is no clapping and such.)

It reminds me of Kind of Blue, but 'sweeter' and more 'earthy.' It is one of my favourite modern jazz albums to date.

Branch Out a Little

[rit]

Pickup the following discs, and see where Jazz became Ska...(eventually ska became reggae and rocksteady as well, and went through 3 waves of rebirth in different forms [the third wave recently finished]):

The Skatalites - Hi-Bop Ska
The Skatalites - Ball of Fire
The Skatalites - From Paris With Love

Jazz Newbie Suggestions

[jzitt]

One thing that I would eagerly recommend for jazz newbies is the series of CDs put out in connection with Ken Burns's "Jazz" TV series a few years back. While the show had its weaknesses (it wouldn't have been much different if the world had been destroyed by a comet in 1970, and not everyone things Wynton Marsalis is God), the series of CDs are excellent introductions to the artists.

Hmm... putting together a top 10 of my fave jazz albums off the top of my head right now, I get...

• Modern Jazz Quartet: The Complete Last Concert
  
• John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
  
• Miles Davis: Pangaea
  
• Ornette Coleman: Ken Burns Jazz
  
• Herbie Hancock: Sextant
  
• John Zorn: Any Masada album
  
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
  
• Art Ensemble of Chicago: Urban Bushmen
  
• Weather Report: Heavy Weather
  
• Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays: As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
  

Note that these are heavily weighted toward the more modern stuff, and others could give more useful hints to jazz pre-1960 or so.

Terrific question!

[Net0ps]

I'll be watching the answers with interest. A couple of albums that leap to mind:

* Harry James: The King James Version. Great big-band swing from a master of the art; James is a terrific trumpeter. This and the other two discs by him on Sheffield Labs are worth having for the sound alone: recorded direct-to-disc (no editing) using two microphones, the stereo imaging is so precise you can place individual instruments.

* Buddy Rich: Class of '78. Also released as "The Best Band I Ever Had", this is a tight band doing some funk-inspired jazz. The trio version of Chick Corea's fiesta shows off Rich's drumming and pianist Barry Keiner's solo on the track is amazing. It's just been re-released on SACD as "The Best Band...", so you can grab it off most common music sites.

* The previous post about the GRP All-Star Big Band recordings was spot on: they're terrific, especially the Live! album, which has some terrific arrangements. They're a little polished and studio-sounding, so if you like rougher or more edgy stuff you might look elsewhere, but the solo work is terrific.

* Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, and Branford Marsalis. Wynton may be an a$$ with some of his musical opinions, but you can't dispute these guys as great jazz musicians. Try the "Standard Time, Vol. {1,2,3}" series, or the recently-released "Marsalis Family" album that features all of 'em.

Enjoy!

Miles will show the way

[Anonymous Coward]

Miles Davis had an unprecedented musical intuitiveness that hooked him up with the right people to create some of the most important jazz music ever recorded. Follow his work and the tangential work of his sidemen for some full-immersion into the jazz canon. Some albums and the players:
Charlie Parker - Bird at the Roost: The Savoy Years, Vol. 1

Miles got his start with none other than the man himself: Charlie Parker aka Bird. Bird was the godfather of modern jazz and his voice can be heard in pretty much every jazz musician to follow.

Miles Davis - Bag's Groove

Miles teams up with powerhouse tenor Sonny Rollins, the loveably weird Thelonious Monk on piano and the cool vibes of Milt Jackson. Milt and Miles make it cool while Sonny and Monk keep it funky.

Miles Davis - Round About Midnight

The start of a beautiful relationship between Miles and saxophone god, John Coltrane. Miles knew a good thing and held onto Coltrane for as long as he could. Coltrane is IMHO the best jazz musician of all time. His playing has brought me to tears on many occassions. Also, Miles finds a killer rythm section here with Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Joe Jones on drums. This is the mid fifties quintet that put out the quintessential (pun!) post bop albums "Coolin", "Workin" and "Relaxin".

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

This is one of the undisputed great jazz recordings of all time. Piano duty is split between Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans, piano masters of the highest order. Miles and Coltrane are joined by alto virtuoso and funky motherfucker extrodinaire Cannonball Adderly. The groove, mood , improvisation and interplay is truly sublime. Also, you can hear Coltrane stretching out into transcendant territories. At this point he's ready to move on to follow his own muse and form the channeling-of-spirits quartet with the uber-bad McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Check out "My Favorite Things", "Crescent" and "A Love Supreme" for starters.

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

Miles surrounds himself with the best and brightest young players: Tony Williams on drums, Ron Carter on bass, Herbie Hancock on piano and Wayne Shorter on tenor. Each and every one a monster, fantastically evovlved bad motherfucker. These kids kick Miles ass into shape and this is the best playing of his career. IMO this is the best jazz ensemble of all time and the albums feature some of the coolest songs of all time thanks to Wayne Shorter's (and Herbie's) contribution. Must have albums include "Sorcerer", "ESP" and "Nefertiti". I would be remiss if I didn't mention Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and "Empyrean Isles" and Wayne Shorter's "Night Dreamer", "The Soothsayer" and "Speak No Evil". To my ear at this stage in my life, this is the best jazz around.

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

Miles does rock, funk and avant garde all at the same time. Here Miles plunges into the fuzzy electric realm and never looks back. This and subsequent bands produce epic space jams that make the Dead sound like Emmet Otter's jug band. Notable players from this era: Wayne Shorter, Steve Grossman, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Larry Young, Benny Maupin, Joe Zawinul, Airto Moreira, Lenny White, Keith Jarret, Dave Liebman, Al Foster and Sonny Fortune

After this Miles went into a drug induced hermitage to return in the eighties with a more sterile fusion sound that he followed till his death in the nineties. The fusion stuff is not my bag, but a lot of people dig it. Anyway, hope you liked my mini Miles bio and please check out his stuff and the people who he played with. You won't be disappointed!

On the newer edge...

[Nutrimentia]

Charlie Hunter - 8 string (3 bass, 5 guitar - plays the two simultaneously, and it isn't a gimmick). Natty Dread was the album (jazz cover of Marley's great) that got me into it. He has all sorts of albums in his name with quartets, trios, a duo, and a solo album. He has also played with Pound for Pound and TJKirk (who covered T=henolius Monk, J=ames Brown, and Roland Rahsaan Kirk). Norah Jones among many other guests was on his second to last album as well. Also plays with Garage-a-trois, but they haven't released an album yet.

Then there is Medeski Martin and Wood, a great great jazz trio famous for their live jams. Their tonic album is all acoustic, but usually Medeski play the organ. Worth checking out, but you may need to listen to them a couple times. Combustication was the album that got me into them.

Both of these bands are taper-friendly, and Charlie's stuff is available at Archive.org's audio archive, including Garage-a-trois. While you are there, might as well check out Steve Kimock and Garaj Mahal, a couple other killer jazz musicians.

My last recommendation: Jazz is Dead. Jimmy Herring, Alphonso Johnson, a couple other guys I can't remember their names off hand, do jazz covers of Grateful Dead songs. They have at least 2 albums out that are just insane.

Enjoy!

John Pizzarelli Trio

[SamTheButcher]

It's new stuff, standards heavy, but I've seen him a few times on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and have been pleased with it. His performance last week just floored me, though. Fun, upbeat stuff is what I've mostly heard. Check out the comments on Amazon.com. John's a guitarist, with stand-up bass and piano rounding out the trio.

Getz, Baker, Holliday...

[8tim8]

I used to work at a public radio station and had a jazz shift in spite of knowing fairly little starting out about jazz. I don't really follow it anymore but I do know what sounds purty:

-Stan Getz. Not as well-known as Miles Davis but the man could play. It's mostly laid back stuff. Since his death a few years ago there have been some anthologies; I have The Best of the Verve Years Vol II and it's great.

-Chet Baker: A trumpeter I don't know a lot about but I do know that his rendition of My Funny Valentine is considered a classic.

-Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday are both wonderful if you're looking for jazz vocalists.

-Jimmie Lunceford rocks if you're going for early 20th century jazz. I think he did "Flying Home" which is an *excellent* dance song.

The Jazz anthology (from the Ken Burns PBS series) is a good overview if you're looking for artists to buy. Anyone appearing on discs 2-4 you can buy and know you're getting a great CD. With disc 1 you run into problems with the sound quality not being so great and with disc 5 you run into, well, 80's Herbie Hancock.

Jan Johansson

[Fnurk]

Fire up kazaa and search for "Jan Johansson" and the song title "visa från utanmyra".

If you like that piece you should go out and look for the record "jazz pÃ¥ svenska" (transl. jazz in swedish) itÂs released by heptagon.

You can find out more about Jan Johansson here:
http://www.heptagon.se/bios/jan_json.stm

Bossa Nova

[gleman]

I highly recommend Verves Compact Jazz -Astruid Gilberto. Any recordings of Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto are definite musts for your collection.

Jazz picks...

[biogeojeff]

An already compiled list that contains many of my favorites is the NPR Basic Jazz Record Library (http://www.nprjazz.org/links/). I would agree with the list's compilers that they are all must have jazz albums. A different approach might be to flip through a copy of a "Real Book" or a "Fake Book" to familiarize yourself with what are considered jazz "Standards". Then you can be on the earlook for arrangements that please you. Personally there are too many to recommend. Different eras and styles: Swing, Kansas-city style, Bebop, Cool, Hard Bop, Modern, Fusion, etc. Perhaps you're only interested in New Orleans? Which instruments? Percussive, Strings, Piano, Winds, or Brass? Combo, solo, big-band? Vocal? Female or male singer? Solo, duo, or perhaps a chorus? Region of the country? Socio-economics of artist(s)? Black or White? Record Label? Recording studio? Whether the artist was stoned or not when they were recorded? Tenor sax suggestion: I think that everyone should have something from each of the big four tenor saxophonists: Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, and Dextor Gordon. That is all.

Chick Corea

[ralphclark]

If you get on OK with Pat Metheny (I particulrly recommend his "Still Life, Talking" album), then you are bound to enjoy Lyle Mays also, who used to play with Metheny.

You may also enjoy Chick Corea, who plays piano with a small group. Very mellow. I recommend "Eye of the Beholder". Somebody stole my copy :o(

If you like very hard Jazz fusion (eg Miles Davis' weirder stuff) then try Weather Report, especially from when Jaco Pasterius was still with them. Virtuoso performances guaranteed.

Anything with Eric Dolphy...

[ewwhite]

...If you dig avant garde jazz, check out Eric Dolphy. For most jazz-heads, even mentioning Dolphy's post-bebop era work is a sure way to gain respect. Dolphy was the master of the bass clarinet, flute and alto saxophone. He was a sideman in a number of late 50's groups and emerged as a soloist in the 60's.

Hit up google and check online samples.

Kind of Blue

[falsification]

Don't bother getting Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. It's not like the greatest jazz album ever made or anything.

Recco

[falsification]

Would You ReCCommend?

I think I would reccccccommend several. I don't feel like listing them all. You wouldn't want to hear all my recccccommendations, I 'm pretty sure.

Just saw Charlie Hunter a couple weeks ago

[byoon]

With his current band. Great show. The assholes here didn't appreciate it so the band berated the audience for talking during the solos.

Re:Just saw Charlie Hunter a couple weeks ago

[Nutrimentia]

I have a couple live shows where Charlie does that. I personally think its the greatest thing. He was really polite once, just pointing out that it would be great if people wouldn't talk, but another time he tore into someone saying "I don't need to hear this 'Oprah this and that crap' in my solo'". It was awesome that the rest of the crowd hooted and applauded him for saying it.

Two recommendations on the modern side of things..

[httpamphibio.us]

It's a Jungle in Here by Medeski Martin & Wood

Feed Me Weird Things by Squarepusher

Can't believe I missed this one earlier

[Anonymous Coward]

I would start with what I consider the central era of jazz (1940s-1960s), recognizing that there are many giants of jazz both before and after this period.

Given the above, you might start with my personal "trinity" from this core period - Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.

Specific suggestions:
Charlie Parker - almost anything, probably the Dial and Savoy recordings are most important
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (IMNSHO the greatest jazz recording of all time), Milestones, Miles Smiles, Nefertiti, Miles In The Sky, In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, _many_ others.
John Coltrane: Giant Steps, Blue Train, Coltrane Live at Birdland, A Love Supreme, _many_ others (be prepared for some serious dissonance if you get anything from 1965 or later)

Other near-deities from this era include Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard.

Pre-1940: anything by Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington, also Lester Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, many others.

1970s: a lot of electric "fusion" of variable quality was popular - some of the best was from Weather Report (Mysterious Traveler, Black Market, Tale Spinnin', Heavy Weather, Night Passage) also Return To Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

hth

My recommendations are...

[alchemist68]

Any CD from the group Fourplay.

Try some Bossa Nova, perhaps Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Steve Cole is pretty good too.

If you're into vocals, check out Al Jarreau.

Marc Antoine is also a favorite as is Peter White.

All these artists with the exception of Jobim can be heard on most smooth jazz radio stations (WNWV FM 107.3 in Cleveland "The Wave"). If you have a Macintosh with iTunes, check out the internet radio stations listed under Jazz.

Scott Joplin

[jotaeleemeese]

Where all began....

Jazz

[jefu]

I'd recommend that you sample the whole history of jazz - especially including some of the early blues stuff. I won't go as far as to say that you should buy at random (if I had the funds that would be my algorithm) - but sample stuff you don't know.

This can be much less expensive, by the way, if you have a vinyl to electron converter (ie turntable) and are willing to spend a bit of time in thrift stores - there's lots of jazz in the bins and while you do need to check for scratches, even scratched they can give a good flavor of thing very cheaply. Enough anyway to give you a feel for if you want more or not.

(Parenthetically, this is where the RIAA and their friends are losing out - much of this stuff could be made available digitally for free on file sharing networks. Doing so would hardly make a dent in their profits - but doing so would probably gain them a lot of listeners. However, I dont think the music company bigwigs are much interested in long term profits - just in this years salary and bonus.)

In no particular order, I'd suggest a few of the greats and one rather odder suggestion you'll probably not get anywhere else:

• Louis Armstrong - you can rarely go wrong with Louis. And its hard to get tired of him.
• Duke Ellington - maybe a bit formal and cool, but such cool!
• Count Basie - big bandish sometimes. Where Ellington almost sounds (sometimes) like classical piano, Basie's piano is sparser and to my ear rather jazzier
• Dave Brubeck - the album "Time Further Out" is one of the musts
• Miles Davis - "Bitches Brew" is abstract jazz on acid. Hard to listen to for a while, but after a bit you'll hear what he's doing. Very important album - it touched (one way or another) so much afterwards. Almost everything by Davis is worth hearing.
• Carla Bley - Bley does her own odd, warped, almost Dixiland take on things - not everyone lines it, not everyone calls it jazz - but great stuff. Try "European Tour".

a forumn we all agree on

[bassmastergeneral]

Just wanted to point out, that my heart is warmed that we can all agree on something so profound and great such as jazz. Though I have not read all the posts, I do find that nearly all of them are helpful, insightful and not at all destabalizing. Jazz is pure, jazz does not invoke argument (that much). Jazz is art. Even those that don't like it don't really say anything bad about it.

Philadelphia Experiment

[platos_beard]

Most exciting new music I've heard in the last few years -- Christian McBride, Uri Caine, Ahmir Thompson. I got to see these cats in one of very few live gigs -- they all got too much else going on.

I'm also a big Don Pullen fan. He died too young (50s) a couple years back, but New Beginnings and the African Brazilian recordings (Kele Mo Bana) are among the high points.

And of course Diz, Bird, Miles, Herbie, Louis, Billie Holliday!, Trane, Brubeck, Duke,... so much good stuff.

And I'll second Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Ahhhhh.

Jazz FM 98

[peterzen]

Check out Jazz FM, the Canadian Jazz Station in Toronto:

http://jazz.fm

They have excellent selections (playing mostly 'classical' jazz). Also used to stream over the net but that stopped a while ago... By the way, anyone knows what happened to that?

Re:Why Troll him? Beacuse he likes France?

[Glasswire]

Why else - it was a perfectly valid comment.
Disturbing moderation here...

The Smithsonian Guide to Classic Jazz

[NaveNosnave]

There really is no better survey of jazz up 'til the 70s than The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz . It's 5 CDs of extraordinary choices, and it took the editors a long time to work out the permissions from the various record companies to include them all. And it's got 46 pps of liner notes (that's w/ the LP set - I assume the CD set has the same notes on more pages) that will clue you in to further listening. When it was in print, it cost $175, and it was a bargain; currently it's (shamefully) out of print, but you can pick up a copy for as low as $10 on eBay. Hie thee hence, anonce!

What you should really listen to, though, rather than anyone else's opinions, is the musicians. Pay attention to who plays what instrument on the recordings you really like, and keep an eye out for them on other recordings. Google them and you're bound to come up with discographies for almost anyone that catches your ear. A nice survey book like Jazz: The Rough Guide will highlight the cream of the crop for any particular musician, and will point out any particularly fertile collaborations they may have had. Survey books, like anthologies and textbooks, tend to be expensive, though - see what you can find at your local used book store, or take advantage of the local MegaBookBarn's liberal browsing policies.

If you get into jazz pianists, a great book is Len Lyons's The Great Jazz Pianists , a collection of interviews with keyboard players ranging from Mary Lou Williams to Horace Silver to Dave Brubeck to Bill Evans to Chick Corea to Sun Ra and even further out. Find out who they like to listen to, how they approach music, and who they like to play with. And find out that almost every single one of them is a fan of the French Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel (yes, the Bolero guy), and now you've got two genres of music to spend the rest of your life listening to. ;)

I would list some of my favorite recordings, but some of them have already shown up here, and what I like isn't really relevant - it's what you like, and only your ears can tell you that. Oh, and, as others have said, hit the library - in the age of Instant Internet Information Gratificationâ, I think a lot of us have forgotten what a fabulous and improbable institution the local lending library is. Plus, you can telnet into my local library, for an old-skool thrill!

Evan Evanson

Sun Ra, Ultimate for Jazz Geeks

[asapien]

Get Sun Ra "Strange Celestial Road", Sun Ra is the Ultimate jazz geek music!

Ray Charles, Brubeck, Sinatra, James Brown

[Anomalous Cowturd]

Wow, this is a great thread. I'm learning a lot here too...

I me-too with a lot of the recommendations here, but nobody seems to have mentioned these yet:

Ray Charles: You may think of him as mainly an R&B or blues artist, but some of his stuff crosses over into jazz. Check out Blues + Jazz (2 CD set) or Ingredients In a Recipe For Soul (released on a single CD with Have a Smile With Me). For that matter, check out any Ray Charles at all.

Dave Brubeck: Lots of folks have mentioned Time Out, but also have a listen to The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall, a 2-CD set from 1963 - it cooks. On the second disc they get into some of their more esoteric stuff in weird time signatures like 11/4 and 9/8. Yes, Paul Desmond was a genius.

Frank Sinatra: Aside from the vast number of reasons to listen to Frank (he's Frank Fuckin' Sinatra, for crissake), he worked with tight bands and brilliant arrangers. It Might As Well Be Swing was recorded with Count Basie and orchestra and arranged by Quincy Jones, and has some of the best pop tunes of all time ('best' being defined as 'perfect arrangement, no imperfections whatever, shivers go up the spine'). 'Fly Me To the Moon', 'I Can't Stop Loving You', and 'The Best Is Yet To Come' fall into this category (at least in my not-very-humble opinion).

The thing that blows me away it that this album was recorded in just a few days (the liner notes talk about 3 or 4 3-hour sessions), with just a few days to work out the arrangements. Frank liked to sing live with the band, as opposed to doing overdubs in the booth.

Also: if you haven't before, check out James Brown. Not only is he the Hardest Working Man In Show Business, he had the tightest band in show business. Again, he's more R&B and not really jazz, but he had a jazz sound, and Maceo Parker is a saxophone god.

Re:Ray Charles, Brubeck, Sinatra, James Brown

[cathouse]

I've never been realy big on Jazz in general,but was turned onto a few gems that have have remained fresh for more than 40 years. When me and my brand-new 2nd Class 'Phone started engineering at KPFA in 1961 I shared one shift a week with an equaly young Phil Lesh who, altho playing piano and studying at the SF Conservatory, was #1 a Trumpet player. We swapped quite a few LP's back and forth during the next year or so and both of us expanded our musical worlds as a result.
I wore out several copys of Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain and at least as many of the MJQ album on which Milt Jackson and Laurindo Almeida brought together their two worlds and performed a very much more controlled CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ. My comment that Milt Jackson was almost too controlled was responded to with SOUL BROTHERS and SOUL SESSION the unique pairing of a [slightly] wild Milt Jackson and a [somewhat] restrained Ray Charles.
An earlier post sugested vinal/analog for Jazz, and I would strongly agree. Get a [not too] good turntable and the very best phono cartridge that you can find even if it does cost more than you can aford to spend. Do a little bit of serious homework on how to clean LP's without causing more harm than good, [no alcohol] and go hunting. The vast and growing sea of discarded records will give you 50 to 100 possibles for the money that you would spend on those 2 CD's and there is no telling where or how far they will lead.

Kenny WHO?

[Anomalous Cowturd]

I do hope you're kidding. Folks like Kenny G and David Sanborn represent all that's wrong with modern music - mediocre glop tuned for "smoothness" and a generic, homogenized sound. Just the thing for background music in your dentist's office.

You might as well listen to Chuck Mangione - I hear his gig at Mega Lo Mart is gonna end soon.

If these lamers are the future of jazz, I'll keep listening to my old records, thank you very much. Or maybe just shoot myself.

Thelonious Monk

[zerofoo]

Thelonious Monk's album "Monk" is a must have.

-ted

Morphine

[yamcha666]

Comments a bit late in the question, but I personally love the jazz band, Morphine. Check those guys out. They were around in the mid-90's, you can still buy one of their cd's on amazon

Emusic

[Anonymous Coward]

Has a decent Jazz department, not often the top albums, but good depth and the price is great.

Ella!

[Beaker1]

I love the "Harold Arlene Songbook" sung by Ella Fitzgerald. I've had a copy of it for over 15 years and I still listen to it all of the tim.

Funky Jazz

[titticut]

Don't forget Grant Green -- great, great guitarist. Even his son GG Jr. has a great album out.
If you like the sound of a big old hammond organ buy some Jimmy Smith or Reuben Wilson.

Bluenote has a lot of great mix disks -- I suggest anything in the Lost Grooves series.

Also, check out Medeski Martin and Wood (keyboards, bass, drums -- no guitar, no vocals) if you'd like to listten to something current.

Musicians' Musician & Cult Figures

[climacus]

In addition to the classics from the 60s and 70s, some of the best jazz were made by musicians who stayed under the radar screen but became cult figures because of their unique voices. Please add your favourite "hidden jewels" to the list below:

Jerry Bergonzi (saxophone)
Jackie McLean (saxophone)
Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar)
Mick Goodrick (guitar)
John Zorn (New Klezma and film composer)

Clifford Brown

[bplipschitz]

The Quintet, vol I and II.

jazz albums

[factor2]

oliver nelson: blues and the abstract truth
art blakey: at the jazz corner of the world
The Quintet: live at Massey Hall
duke ellington: money jungle
Bill Evans: live at the village vanguard
Blue Mitchell: Blue's Moods

ought to keep one busy

Check Usenet

[Anonymous Coward]

alt.binaries.sounds.jazz.mp3 is very active. You can download a track or two of many different artists and then decide who you like. You can also try the newsgroups for the 78rpm era, the 40s, etc. because those often have real gems (early Louis, Benny Goodman radio shows, Duke Ellington live, etc.) that aren't available on cd.

You have to decide which styles you like. Just to pick big band, you can get into swing big band, bop combo or big band, jazz big band or straight big band and so on.

I also recommend the Ken Burns' Jazz series. You can pick up, for example, Count Basie and get a good sample of his band from the 30's through the 50's.

Some people only like the difficult harmonies and others don't like those at all. Some people hate Modern Jazz Quartet or Dave Brubeck and others love them. It's yours to choose.

MONTREUX SUMMIT Vols. I and II

[SharpNose]

CBS arranged an all-star line-up of their jazz stable at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977 and released two double LPs of the event. The assembled musicians were a crosscut of trad and fusion Jazz - Dexter Gordon, George Duke, Alphonso Johnson, Billy Cobham, Bob James, Stan Getz, Bobbi Humphrey, Benny Golson, Eric Gale, Woody Shaw, Maynard Ferguson, Eric Gale, Hubert Laws, and others.

If those names together sound like some kind of Jazz wet dream, well, yeah, it is! And, in part because of the cross-the-board "burning monsters," the whole collection comes off like some kind of "Jazz encylopedia." If someone from another planet lands in your yard and says "-click- What is this 'Jazz' -buzzzz- -click-?", take him inside and drop the needle down on Volume I, Side 1, Track 1 and just keep flipping the records.

ALICE COLTRANE!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you really wanna go off the deep end get some of that Alice Coltrane+Pharoah Sanders stuff ... they do a few gigs with Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra ... the stuff is super stellar ...

Anyway try out that as well as some Esther Phillips and Nina Simone if you want get blue

Herb Alpert

[chimpo13]

I'm a big fan of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Try looking up Whipped Cream and other Delights on amazon. They sell it for $60, but I think I might know of a thrift store by you that would have 18 copies for a .25 cents.

Jumping in late

[mattsucks]

I missed the bulk of this conversation, but I would add a couple of compilations:

Swing Time. 3 CDs of swing music from 1925 to 1955. From old scratchy mono recordings to polished studio stuff. I lub it.

Tito Puente: 50 years of swing. Yeah, maybe this is more Tito than the law allows, but don't rule out Latin-themed jazz in your collection.

Similarly, the Buena Vista Social Club albums, especially the first, are pure sweetness.

Also consider some guitar jazz. Wes Montgomery is my fave. I've got several albums .. the only one I'm not sold on is "California Dreaming". It just doesn't hit my spots for some reason.

I'd start off with a spelling record

[Anonymous Coward]

Then you might learn that there's only one c in recommend. I'm suprised you didn't get reccord wrong.

Jazz records for cliff

[jazzycool]

Hi, And the titles are: Return To Forever [Series] - Chick Corea My Spanish Heart - Chick Corea In a Silent Way - Miles Davis Circle In The Round - Miles Davis The Essence - Ahmad Jamal Beyond Words - Bobby Mcferrin Electric Dreams - One Truth band Feat. John Mclaughlin [Fusion - electric] Getz/Glberto Feat. Antonio Carlos Joabim [Bossa Nova- Swinging stuff] Want more, let me know. Bye.

Charles Mingus

[Anonymous Coward]

get "Ah Um" and "Oh Yeah" by Charles Mingus and maybe a Thelonious Monk record.

Also a Roland Kirk record

etc