___________________________________ I saw the above post from Josh, and thought I would try to come up with a few classic jazz recordings that Josh (or whomever) might like to try -- I definitely know that feeling of standing in the record store, thinking "I know I love some of this stuff, but where the Hell do I start?" This is only my personal list -- Every fan could come up with a completely different 'introduction' list, and I'm sure there are some serious jazz aficionados here who will consider this list to be awfully pedestrian. I mostly tried to give Josh a fairly broad sampling of reasonably 'accessible' jazz in just a few recordings, from Getz' bossa nova, to Shorter's sophistication, to Armstrong's genius before he devolved into self-parody, to the revolutionary stuff from Miles and Coltrane. Miles Davis - Bitches' Brew and/or Kind Of Blue Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives and Sevens (4-CD set from JSP, if possible) John Coltrane - A Love Supreme and/or Blue Train and/or Giant Steps Duke Ellington - Never No Lament and/or Ellington at Newport 1956 and/or Three Suites Art Blakey - Mosaic Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um and/or The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil Dizzy Gillespie y Machito - Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus Freddy Hubbard - Hub-Tones For jazz vocals - Billie Holliday - Lady Day / Best of Billie Holliday Sarah Vaughan - Crazy and Mixed-Up and/or Swingin' Easy Anita O'Day - Anita Sings The Most Dinah Washington - Swingin' Miss D and/or Dinah Jams And, not actually jazz but in the same mood somehow, I must throw in a plug here for one of the greatest recordings ever made IMO - Ray Charles' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. It could be argued that this album invented the crossover in pop music - Some of these arrangements might sound a bit schmaltzy to modern ears, but this is nonetheless a true classic for the ages (get a remastered version). Once this one has you hungry for more good ol' Ray, his 5-CD set Genius and Soul is a reasonable next stop. This is a largely impromptu, 'off the top of my neck' jazz list, I'd be interested to hear other folks' recommendations (for Josh and/or other jazz noobs).
Some excellent standard basics there miami. Cool to see that you appear to be into the Latin Jazz crossover. Off the top of my head just a few more: Thelonius Monk - Brilliant Corners Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century; Tomorrow is the Question! Yusef Lateef - Eastern Sounds Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba This probably isn't the right place to mention Keith Jarrett, John Zorn, Peter Brotzman, Albert Ayler ... maybe Sun Ra.
Arh a music thread thank goodness. Lord Bemon will approve. That's a great start, very good list. I would like to share some of my favorite songs: Comin Home Baby - Herbie Mann Equinox - John Coltrane Una Muy Bonita - Ornette Coleman Volunteered Slavery - Roland Kirk Summertime - The Modern Jazz Quartet Listen Here - Eddie Harris I also listen to jazz with Brazilian / Latin/ Samba influences my fav being "Airto Moreira" and interested in darker obscure stuff... Also I religiously record Gilles Peterson Radio 1 shows to listen to on my iPod. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/ He sometimes digs rare jazz, funk and soul records. Very nice stuff.
Anything by: Johnny Hartman Ray Brown Trio Ella Fitzgerald Louis Armstrong Myles Bleeding Gums Murphy
Oh man I love Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take 5 http://www.veoh.com/videos/e1185407aYGa ... 424&rank=1 my favorite "just chilling" tune
you should give anything with Max Roach a listen, he just passed away last year but all of his musical legacy is great stuff. while more experimental in context there was this group called Soft Machine that took their name from the W.S.B novel of the same name, literally they were phenomenal sorta like Zappa without vocals & more jazz soundscape oriented. great to not be distracted by while working yet co-productive at the same time in a very fluid kinda way.
Thx Kirkland. Now I have to start doing customs. Been forever delaying it however...I have zero skills (pardon the pun). I am so bad with masking and painting I think I will stress out completely. Listening to Herbie Handcock's album Cantouloupe Island now...
Can't forget Eric Dolphy either. Like Lateef, he rocked a whole bunch of different instruments, and pretty much everything he played on was golden. The Coltrane quintet's Live at the Village Vanguard box is awesome from start to finish. I agree that it's a daunting genre to leap into - I had a few very knowledgeable "teachers" when I started listening. Everyone here has provided great suggestions, though, so you can't go far wrong if you use this thread as a guide.
Great list! I'll be checking out a few I've not heard of... You could also step out a bit closer to the edge and try the darker sounds of Miles' Bitches Brew or Black Beauty (at Filmore West) and Sun Ra's Purple Night (easy introductory) or Strange Celestial Road for something more "space-y". Both are good for introspective listening...
I'd misattributed Monk's "Brilliant Corners" to Mingus in my expediency yesterday. Error corrected. Despite my mistake, you really can't go wrong with Mingus or Monk.
There is an awesome jazz group here in Houston called The Trade. I don't know if they have any music you can buy but they have a myspace page that could lead you to some gems. I beleive it is myspace.com/trade Very much worth checking out.
Some great additional stuff here - My thinking was to try for the most accessible pieces first (while still listening to worthwhile artistry). Being 'thrown into the atonal deep end' with some of the more challenging Ornette Coleman and the like can be a little disorienting. It's not the easiest thing in the world, seemingly abandoning melody, cavalierly tossing aside everything you had previously thought of as 'music.' Josh, either your friends here are giving you a great deal of musical respect in their sophisticated recommendations, or they are anticipating the amusement of you floundering in the deep end. Garadama, aside from iTunes, I expect Amazon also has samples of every track on these albums. Xono, as to the Latin influence showing through above, I have indeed been in Miami an awfully long time, but I thought I showed admirable restraint! No Louis Prima, no Celia Cruz, no Eddie Palmieri or Arturo Sandoval*, why Hell, not even one lousy Tito Puente! But, if there are those who would like to get a taste from the spicy end of the burrito, you could not do any better than to start with Tito Puente's Dance Mania (that is, not '80's Dance Mania, or More Dance Mania, or Son Of Dance Mania, or any of the 741 other ripoffs/sequels/etc. of this classic disc). Guaranteed to liven up any party, and it's a nice sampling all on its own - some bolero, some mambo, some chachacha, some son, etc. Of course there was no disrespect intended in the first list to Monk (or Bird, or Jaco, or Sun Ra or Wes Montgomery, or, or, or ... ) ... but ya gotta start somewhere! Speaking of starting somewhere in music ... As my younger siblings discovered music, I had the pleasure of buying each one of them a crappy stereo and the 25 Basic Albums of Rock History, to get them started off right. This was like a reality version of those fun-but-endless arguments, though it was always challenging. I'm sure none of the four sets I ultimately bought were exactly the same, because every time, I'd have no trouble with the first fifteen or so (Stones, check; Who, check; Doors, check, Talking Heads, check, ... etc.) but then it would get tough. Kinks, or Jr. Walker? Blondie, or ELP? Jackie Wilson, or Jefferson Airplane? It was always fun though, and each one of them still remembers when their own 'music day' came. (The hardest part for me was remaining silent as they each began to 'sully' my meticulously selected set with new acquisitions reflecting their own so-called 'taste.' Each set started life as an integrated, perfect little jewel, all killer and no filler, but the next thing I'd know, each one was tainted -- So I'd have to choke it back, but I would be seething inside - Duran Duran? Backstreet Boys? Oh, Mein Gott Im Himmel, not Britney!? No, say it isn't soooooo!) * - Incidentally, and to actually segue all of this back to toys (!) ... Arturo Sandoval still plays jazz trumpet at a local club he runs on Miami Beach. Arturo's son Tury is one-half of the brilliant Miami-based toy/art group Friends With You.
Josh, For some modern jazz be sure to check out Martin, Medeski and Wood and my favorite live band of all time, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones...check link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWNiFw_W3mA&feature=related
Another current artist that's easy to get into is Charlie Hunter. His most recent album "Copperopolis" is great although the best is still probably "Friends Seen and Unseen." Used to be a SF dude. Definite "jam band" vibe to his work.
