25 Greatest Jazz Albums

[Copper Scroll]

...according to me... today (and restricted to studio albums--compilations and live albums excluded):

1. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Transcendent. A pure expression of love and devotion.
2. Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Just perfect. The level of musicianship, synergy, and power here is just untouchable.
3. Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Fine and mellow from beginning to end. Some of the most beautifully melodic jazz solos ever all on one album.
4. Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch
Odd, but compelling. Obviously not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think this is one of the boldest and strongest statements ever made in jazz.
5. Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure
A stellar line-up playing some of the best tunes by (imho) jazz’s greatest composer, Andrew Hill.
6. Miles Davis - ESP
Not quite on the same level as Miles Smiles, but this has much of its spirit and power.
7. David Holland - Conference Of The Birds
One of the freshest and most original approaches to the avant garde. Strong tunes and even stronger performances.
8. Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
The most dynamic and exciting piano trio album I’ve heard.
9. Miles Davis - Bit ches Brew
Like a jungle of sound filled with exotic creatures and wild colors. Many question whether this is jazz at all, but that question misses the point. This sh it throbs with life.
10. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Like a lighter and airier B itches Brew. Ambient.
11. Andrew Hill - Judgment!
Intimate. Percussive. Sweet. Brilliant. The perfect blend of soulful melodies and odd rhythms.
12. John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Ferocious. Bop taken to its natural conclusion.
13. Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Funky funky funky.
14. Herbie Hancock - Thrust
Just as funky.
15. Charles Mingus - Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
16. Booker Little - Out Front
17. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Indestructible
Hot! Just listened to this today.
18. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
19. Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
20. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
21. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
22. Max Roach - We Insist!
Powerful.
23. Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue
24. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
25. Miles Davis - Nefertiti

Flop time! :thumbsup:

[Paul Mooney]

No Mingus = not valid

[Copper Scroll]

No Mingus = not valid
#15... and #20.
:sad:

[Clem]

I hope this spurs some good discussion because I'm not that familiar with jazz.

[Paul Mooney]

#15... and #20.
:sad:


my bad......lol. I didnt see Mingus in the top 12 so I stopped reading. I guess Im biased, LMAO

[nineteen80sbaby]

doesn't see

Al DiMeola - Elegant Gypsy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegant_Gypsy)

no Billy Cobham

disregards list.

[Copper Scroll]

doesn't see
Al DiMeola - Elegant Gypsy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegant_Gypsy)
no Billy Cobham
disregards list.
Yeah man. Now, that you mention it Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra are missing from the list altogether. The list is also missing Dave Brubeck and Wynton Marsalis. Where's Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman, and Dizzy Gillespie? What about Charles Lloyd, David Murray, Greg Osby, Weather Report, Terrence Blanchard, and Keith Jarrett? No Chet Baker. No Stan Getz. No Sonny Rollins. There's no Duke Ellington either!

I guess I should disregard the list too. :laugh:

But seriously: The list was 100% subjective. I listened to Elegant Gypsy once, but only once because I didn't really care for it too much. "Race with the Devil on Spanish Highway" is alright and DiMeola is an incredible guitarist, but personally I'm not big on that highly synthesized late 70's fusion sound. I won't knock anyone who likes that stuff, but I prefer early fusion. It just sounds more rugged and more exotic than the later stuff. Tony Williams Lifetime's Emergency was very influential on fusion, but it would be hard to find a later fusion record that sounds so raw. I like early Cobham and his stuff with Mahavishnu too. Spectrum is dope.

[heavy_mental]

kind of blue is my s hit

[Forté]

very subjective...

[Cro-Mag]

lately i have been listening to Chick Corea - My Spanish Heart, and Baden Powell - Tempo Feliz. Both are more spanish with jazz heavily influenced. Both win at internets.

Charles Mingus - Black Saint and The Sinner Lady is my favorite jazz album.

[THE 101]

Good lookage...I really need to get into jazz....I only have Kind Of Blue and Biitches Brew which I both love but for whatever reason I just haven't started the collection. I've had my eyes on Headhunters for a while though.

[Copper Scroll]

lately i have been listening to Chick Corea - My Spanish Heart, and Baden Powell - Tempo Feliz. Both are more spanish with jazz heavily influenced. Both win at internets.

Charles Mingus - Black Saint and The Sinner Lady is my favorite jazz album.
I like Black Saint and the Sinner Lady a lot. It shoulda made my list. I just find it a little too extreme sometimes--Mingus' Jazz Workshop at its free-est. But it definitely puts Mingus' composition and arrangement genuis on display.

If you haven't already, check Presents Charles Mingus. It is really free too (inspired by Ornette Coleman's classic quartet), but the quartet format makes it an easier pill to swallow. Dolphy and Curson are on fire--weaving their lines together with ease. Mingus and Richmond go way out, like they're trying to outshine the front line. The sound quality's not so great, but it's a hot record.

I have a lot of Chick's late 60s-early 70s output, but My Spanish Heart has been on my wishlist for a while now. I also want Light as a Feather.

[Alishia]

Top five Jazz albums for me,
Song For My Father - Horace Silver
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley
Conference Of The Birds - Dave Holland
The Shape Of Jazz To Come - Ornette Coleman

[Copper Scroll]

^ Sadly, I haven't heard Song for my Father or The Shape of Jazz to Come in their entirety, but I've read great things about both. The song "Song for my Father" is definite classic. I've been especially meaning to get my hands on the Ornette joint, just never got around to it. The only Ornette albums (besides compilations) that I have are Free Jazz, Song X (with Pat Metheny), and his 2006 release Sound Grammar (which is definitely one of the year's best).

edit: Somethin' Else is a great album too.

[Tetris v2.0]

Good list. I wouldve thrown in some Ahmad Jamal though. "Jamalca" is a favorite of mine

[Copper Scroll]

(I read Ahmad Jamal was a big influence on Miles, but I've never heard his music before. Any albums to recommend?)

[Tetris v2.0]

(I read Ahmad Jamal was a big influence on Miles, but I've never heard his music before. Any albums to recommend?)
Jamalca, which is more upbeat
The Awakening, which is pretty much straight piano magic

[woodywood]

Jaco Pastorius
The Crusaders - Southern Knights
Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite
Coltrane - Abstract Blue
Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess with Mr. T
Jean Luc Ponty - Open Mind and Civilized Evil
Grover Washington Jr. - Reed Seed
Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society

[Paul Mooney]

how can any list be complete without Money Jungle (Duke, Mingus and Roach) or Volunteered Slavery (Rasaan Roland Kirk)....lol


just joking, but seriously jazz is soooooo expansive that trying to narrow it down to a list is almost impossible. Jazz, swing jazz, be bop, hard bop, "cool" modal jazz, free jazz, jazz fusion, etc........

[Copper Scroll]

^ c/s

Whether it’s coming from a nobody like me or a major publication, no list should even try to present itself as "definitive"--especially with regards to such a diverse body of music that falls under the "jazz" category. Everybody has their own tastes, and these tastes often change because everybody goes about exploring this music their own way.

So the list in the OP should be taken is nothing more than information about some records that are worth checking out. And, as I hoped, some posters are naming records that would’ve topped their list. This gives me ideas on what I should cop next. I’ve never even heard of some of these records.

(Do you really dig Volunteered Slavery like that? I need to give it another listen. I liked it alright, but it didn't hit me too hard.

And I'm ashamed to say that I still do not own Money Jungle. smh)

[Copper Scroll]

Jaco Pastorius
The Crusaders - Southern Knights
Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite
Coltrane - Abstract Blue
Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess with Mr. T
Jean Luc Ponty - Open Mind and Civilized Evil
Grover Washington Jr. - Reed Seed
Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society
What's that Jean Luc Ponty sound like? Is it really fusion-y? I know he worked with Frank Zappa and Mahavishnu. His playing was dope.

(I've never heard of Abstract Blue. Need to look that up.)

[Cro-Mag]

I like Black Saint and the Sinner Lady a lot. It shoulda made my list. I just find it a little too extreme sometimes--Mingus' Jazz Workshop at its free-est. But it definitely puts Mingus' composition and arrangement genuis on display.
If you haven't already, check Presents Charles Mingus. It is really free too (inspired by Ornette Coleman's classic quartet), but the quartet format makes it an easier pill to swallow. Dolphy and Curson are on fire--weaving their lines together with ease. Mingus and Richmond go way out, like they're trying to outshine the front line. The sound quality's not so great, but it's a hot record.
I have a lot of Chick's late 60s-early 70s output, but My Spanish Heart has been on my wishlist for a while now. I also want Light as a Feather.

awesome, i will definitely check that out.

[Copper Scroll]

My list was pretty 60s-centric, 'cause that's when my favorite shiit was recorded. But there's still some new fire coming out of the jazz world. I'm not as deep into the contemporary stuff as I'd like to be, but here are some of my favorites from the last year, year and a half:

1. Charles Lloyd – Sangam
As usual in recent years, Lloyd’s playing here is top notch, but the interaction between Zakir Hussein on tabla and Eric Harland on drums is just as big a draw. Great energy with this trio. Imo, Lloyd is the closest thing we get to Trane these days, but he maintains his own identity on tenor.

2. Andrew Hill – Time Lines
This should be called Advanced Studies in Small Ensemble Jazz. The compositions and the work of the rhythm section here is on such a high level, I can’t help but think that history will repeat itself. People are just now grasping how great Andrew’s 60s output was. I don’t think people will really start appreciating Time Lines and its jagged compositions until 2050.

3. Ornette Coleman – Sound Grammar
Turbulent but insistent, like jet shooting through a storm. Ornette’s often quirky sounding alto is, as usual, drenched in the blues. Here it rocks hard with the support of two hyperactive basses.

4. Dave Douglas – Meaning and Mystery
Great band here. Dynamic stuff that doesn’t forget to groove.

5. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake – From the River to the Ocean
Really soulful in a classic kinda way, but it exercises enough freedom to keep things interesting. Jeff Parker should get third billing here for his incredible guitar work.

6. Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - Out Louder
I’m not a huge MMW fan, but the addition of Scofield on guitar really brings the funk out of them, while they keep their own quirks on display. This is without a doubt the funkiest album on this list--part fusion, part soul jazz. Very nice. Includes covers of the Beatles' "Julia" and Peter Tosh's "Legalize It".

7. Trio Beyond – Saudades
Jack Dejohnette, John Scofield, and Larry Goldings come together to form a trio modeled after Tony Williams’ seminal fusion band Lifetime and playing a bunch of old tunes, but they manage to sound like something new and different altogether.

8. Nels Cline - New Monastery
An Andrew Hill tribute album from an amazing guitarist. Andrew rarely worked with guitarists, so it's great to hear his tunes through a loud and often thrashing electric guitar and surrounded by some wild instrumentation.

9. Chris Potter - Underground
Some mainstream post-bop, some funky grooves, and some sublime slower tunes (including a cover of Radiohead's "Morning Bell"). Well-rounded and rich. Potter is a top notch saxophonist, and he's got the support of a talented band.

10. Dave Holland - Critical Mass
Pretty mainstream and calm. Doesn't attain the level of passion and synergy found on previous Holland Quintet releases (most notably, the unfukcwitable live double disc Extended Play), but still the quality is fairly high--some great tunes, some great performances. An incredible band on a bad day is still better than most bands on a good day....

It's wild that some of the most progressive and avant garde music around is being made by elderly black men... and some of the funkiest and most soulful music around is being made by middle-aged white guys.

[Dead End]

Jazz is a genre that many people mean to get into, but never do...why is that?

[Copper Scroll]

^

In order to appreciate jazz, you have to pay attention to certain aspects of the music that most people in our culture are not used to paying attention to. I think, overall, jazz requires more attention. You have to follow the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of each instrument and check how it all fits together as a whole. From my experience, most people (including myself at first) are not prepared to do that so their intial "listening" is pretty superficial and they walk away finding the music either boring or bizarre. When a middle ground between boring and bizarre doesn't make itself obvious, most people sorta just give up on it.

It took me a little while to find that middle ground, but when I found it (Miles' late 60s work), I became more of an engaged listener. After that, some of the stuff I thought was boring at first (like Miles' mid-50s stuff), I started to appreciate. And some of the stuff that I thought was bizarre (like Eric Dolphy), I started to understand better. There's still lots of stuff that I think is boring (a lot of soul jazz and cool jazz) and bizarre (some of the more extreme avant garde free jazz, including some of Coltrane's later work), but I may come around and change my mind further down the road... or I might not. Either way it's okay, 'cause the music is so diverse.

[Dead End]

^
In order to appreciate jazz, you have to pay attention to certain aspects of the music that most people in our culture are not used to paying attention to. I think, overall, jazz requires more attention. You have to follow the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of each instrument and check how it all fits together as a whole. From my experience, most people (including myself at first) are not prepared to do that so their intial "listening" is pretty superficial and they walk away finding the music either boring or bizarre. When a middle ground between boring and bizarre doesn't make itself obvious, most people sorta just give up on it.
It took me a little while to find that middle ground, but when I found it (Miles' late 60s work), I became more of an engaged listener. After that, some of the stuff I thought was boring at first (like Miles' mid-50s stuff), I started to appreciate. And some of the stuff that I thought was bizarre (like Eric Dolphy), I started to understand better. There's still lots of stuff that I think is boring (a lot of soul jazz and cool jazz) and bizarre (some of the more extreme avant garde free jazz, including some of Coltrane's later work), but I may come around and change my mind further down the road... or I might not. Either way it's okay, 'cause the music is so diverse.

The main obstacle with me is finding that one artist to latch onto and then branch out from there. Whenever you get into a unfamiliar music genre, you usually have that one artist that does it for you, ya know?

[Copper Scroll]

The main obstacle with me is finding that one artist to latch onto and then branch out from there. Whenever you get into a unfamiliar music genre, you usually have that one artist that does it for you, ya know?
Yeah. That's how it worked for me.

If you're already into rock, you might like these zshares (or you might not):

Inamorata (http://www.zshare.net/audio/1509524ee7c2a0/)
Long, but funky as hell. The intro is kinda noisy, but the groove kicks in by 1:30.

Vashkar (http://www.zshare.net/audio/291528645c4f4c/)
Listen to the drums there in particular. Raw.

[Dead End]

Yeah. That's how it worked for me.
If you're already into rock, you might like these zshares (or you might not):
Inamorata (http://www.zshare.net/audio/1509524ee7c2a0/)
Long, but funky as hell. The intro is kinda noisy, but the groove kicks in by 1:30.
Vashkar (http://www.zshare.net/audio/291528645c4f4c/)
Listen to the drums there in particular. Raw.

props, I'ma check em out

[woodywood]

What's that Jean Luc Ponty sound like? Is it really fusion-y? I know he worked with Frank Zappa and Mahavishnu. His playing was dope.
(I've never heard of Abstract Blue. Need to look that up.)


Not as fusiony as you'd think. Parts of Open Mind really takes it there on the fusion side, but there's some straight ahead playing. He is a sick violinist.

[roddie digital]

Nice to see Love Supreme at the top, always get a bit worried before clicking on a thread like this. I remember some times in my life where that album might as well have been glued to my turntable because I sure wasn't listening to anything else; even went on holiday to visit a friend and ending up buying another copy to listen to while I was there because I missed it so much.

Personally I would have some Freddie Hubbard up in there, I know he appears as a session player on your list, but his own CTi albums are some of my personal classics, especially Red Clay. However, I know it's all subjective and this thread is not gonna degenerate into a mess of 'your list is wrong' comments. Props on your selection.

[Copper Scroll]

^

Yessir. Freddie Hubbard one of the baddest men to ever touch the trumpet. Red Clay is great, but that's the only complete album I have from him as a leader. (I also have a Blue Note compilation.) Any other albums you'd recommend?

[roddie digital]

Yeah, definitely check out 'Straight Life' and 'First Light' as well.

[thenewyorkgiant]

This thread is a godsend...

[Dead End]

Yeah. That's how it worked for me.
If you're already into rock, you might like these zshares (or you might not):
Inamorata (http://www.zshare.net/audio/1509524ee7c2a0/)
Long, but funky as hell. The intro is kinda noisy, but the groove kicks in by 1:30.
Vashkar (http://www.zshare.net/audio/291528645c4f4c/)
Listen to the drums there in particular. Raw.


yeah them drums are bananas

[Copper Scroll]

22. Max Roach - We Insist!
Powerful.

**bumps "There Will Never Be Another You" from Max Roach's Deeds, Not Words album**

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/16/obit.roach.ap/index.html

Jazz master Max Roach dies at 83

NEW YORK—Max Roach, the master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations defined bebop jazz during a wide-ranging career where he collaborated with artists from Duke Ellington to rapper Fab Five Freddy, has died after a long illness. He was 83.

The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach's labels. No additional details were available, he said Thursday.
Roach received his first musical break at age 16, filling in for three nights in 1940 when Ellington's drummer fell ill.

Roach's performance led him to the legendary Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where he joined luminaries Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the burgeoning bebop movement. In 1944, Roach joined Gillespie and Coleman Hawkins in one of the first bebop recording sessions.

What distinguished Roach from other drummers were his fast hands and ability to simultaneously maintain several rhythms. By layering different beats and varying the meter, Roach pushed jazz beyond the boundaries of standard 4/4 time. His dislocated beats helped define bebop.

Roach's innovative use of cymbals for melodic lines, and tom-toms and bass drums for accents, helped elevate the percussionist from mere timekeeper to featured performer—on a par with the trumpeter and saxophonist.

"One of the grand masters of our music," Gillespie once observed.

In a 1988 essay in The New York Times, Wynton Marsalis wrote of Roach: "All great instrumentalists have a superior quality of sound, and his is one of the marvels of contemporary music. ... The roundness and nobility of sound on the drums and the clarity and precision of the cymbals distinguishes Max Roach as a peerless master."

Throughout the jazz upheaval of the 1940s and '50s, Roach played bebop with the Charlie Parker Quintet and cool bop with the Miles Davis Capitol Orchestra. He joined trumpeter Clifford Brown in playing hard bop, a jazz form that maintained bebop's rhythmic drive while incorporating the blues and gospel.

In 1952, Roach and bassist-composer Charles Mingus founded Debut Records. Among the short-lived label's releases was a famed 1953 Toronto performance in Massey's Hall, featuring Roach, Mingus, Parker, Gillespie and pianist Bud Powell.

But by the mid-1950s, Roach had watched several of his friends—including Parker—die from heroin addiction. In 1956, Roach was further devastated when Brown died in a car accident.

After his own struggle with drugs and alcohol, Roach rebounded with the help of his first wife, singer Abbey Lincoln. Married in 1962, they divorced eight years later.

Roach re-emerged in the 1960s free jazz era with a new political consciousness. Albums like "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite" :thumbsup: reflected his support of black activism.

Over the next decades, Roach expanded his repertoire and explored new challenges. He taught at the University of Massachusetts, traveled to Ghana in search of new music, and performed with groups from Japan and Cuba.
He also formed an all-percussion ensemble known as M'Boom, a quartet and a double quartet that included Roach's daughter Maxine Roach on viola.
Roach even worked with rapper Fab Five Freddy in the early 1980s. Ignoring critics, Roach insisted rap had a place on music's "boundless palette."

Roach, who in 1988 became the first jazz musician to receive a MacArthur Fellowship "genius award," said his curiosity reflected his sense of obligation to music. He was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995.

Max Roach was born in New Land, N.C., on Jan. 10, 1924. His family moved four years later to a Brooklyn apartment, where a player piano left by the previous tenants gave Roach his musical introduction.

Using player piano rolls of Jelly Roll Morton and Albert Ammons, Roach played along by putting his fingers on the keys and pedals as they rose and fell. But he was looking for another instrument to play when he began singing with the children's choir at the Concord Baptist Church.

Roach found a snare drum, and was hooked. His father gave the eighth-grader his first set of drums, and Roach was drumming professionally while still in high school.

He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayl and Dara.

[Walt Frazier]

links?

[Copper Scroll]

:dry:
There's a couple of links on page 2....

...and there's a gang links in this thread, but some of them might not work anymore:
http://forums.sohh.com/showthread.php?t=829966&page=13

[Walt Frazier]

:dry:
There's a couple of links on page 2....
...and there's a gang links in this thread, but some of them might not work anymore:
http://forums.sohh.com/showthread.php?t=829966&page=13

why the :dry: face?

I'd think someone who reps "dying artforms" would be eager to introduce another music lover to some of these albums. I've listened across just about every genre (including opera) except jazz, which I was slow to take to for some reason. I'm now at a time in my life where I want to revisit it, and try to appreciate it.

Some of those links did work, but none of those posted before 6/18 did.

If you ever feel motivated to share some of those songs/albums again, PM me and let me know. I'll be most appreciative.

[Copper Scroll]

why the :dry: face?

I'd think someone who reps "dying artforms" would be eager to introduce another music lover to some of these albums.
I don't mind postin a taste here and there, but the albums should be copped from a store so that the companies know that there is some semblance of a market for this music and some of the items on my wishlist won't go out of print. :dry: @ the fact that I can't find a copy of Andrew Hill's But Not Farewell for less that 50 bucks and the fact that Charles Lloyd ain't cakin like your favorite rapper.

I'll post something if I get a chance later on....

[Walt Frazier]

I don't mind postin a taste here and there, but the albums should be copped from a store so that the companies know that there is some semblance of a market for this music and some of the items on my wishlist won't go out of print. :dry: @ the fact that I can't find a copy of Andrew Hill's But Not Farewell for less that 50 bucks and the fact that Charles Lloyd ain't cakin like your favorite rapper.
I'll post something if I get a chance later on....

Okay, that's reasonable.

Here's the thing about me: I support artists who need support, whether it be Cormega, Ted Hawkins (r.i.p.), or an obscure tambourine player who I see at a random concert. I'm an artist myself, so I'm well aware of the struggle of sustaining oneself while pursuing a craft with full passion.

With some of these artists (the Coltranes and Monks) I figure a link to an album isn't a big deal. And, if I like the album, I'll buy it -- not only for reasons of integrity, but also because when I really enjoy a piece of music I prefer to own a legitimate copy.

As for those you referenced like But Not Farewell... yeah, I understand. But if you were to provide me with a sample of his music that you felt representative of his best work, I could then make a decision on whether or not to invest in one of his rare albums.

To give you an idea of where I'm at with Jazz, I own very little of it (and I have a monstrous collection of CDs, tapes, and records). I have Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain (typical, I know) and love both; I own and adore A Love Supreme; I have Ray Charles' The Genius After Dark; and I own the Ellington & Coltrane album.

Mine is a spare collection. It took me quite a while to get past the notions I held from childhood, that jazz was old people music. Also, the sort of social currency it carries -- with elitist whites and looking-down-their-noses-at-you blacks lecturing people about the brilliance of this or that jazz musician -- turned me off.

In any case, thanks in advance for whatever inroads your help me make.

[Altar K. Shun]

What no Boney James, no Kenny G. :thumbsdow










J/K Copper you know how I roll, Hard Bop all day son.

*cues up Max Roach's (RIP) Freedom Now Suite* :yes:

[Copper Scroll]

To give you an idea of where I'm at with Jazz, I own very little of it (and I have a monstrous collection of CDs, tapes, and records). I have Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain (typical, I know) and love both; I own and adore A Love Supreme; I have Ray Charles' The Genius After Dark; and I own the Ellington & Coltrane album.

Mine is a spare collection. It took me quite a while to get past the notions I held from childhood, that jazz was old people music. Also, the sort of social currency it carries -- with elitist whites and looking-down-their-noses-at-you blacks lecturing people about the brilliance of this or that jazz musician -- turned me off.

In any case, thanks in advance for whatever inroads your help me make.
I like Sketches of Spain a lot. Miles goes into some strange territory, but he ended up returning to that style of playing on Bit ches Brew--a lot stronger too. I got the Trane and Duke album too. It's tight.

Here's some tracks from my list. Not meant to be representative of all jazz. Just some of my favorite sht. There's still some diversity to it, though. Some hard bop, some bebop, some free bop, some avant garde, some fusion:

Tears for Johannesburg (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319117447ff6e3/)
Max Roach - drums (r.i.p.)
Abbey Lincoln - vocals
Booker Little - trumpet
Julian Priester - trombone
Walter Benton - tenor sax
James Schenck - bass
Michael Olatunji, Tomas DuVall, Raymond Mantilla - percussions

Bemsha Swing (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319121746bb08f/)
Thelonious Monk - piano
Clark Terry - trumpet
Sonny Rollins - tenor sax
Paul Chambers - bass
Max Roach - drums

Countdown (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191344288507c/)
John Coltrane - tenor sax (out of this realm)
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Art Taylor - drums

Better Git Hit In Your Soul (http://www.zshare.net/audio/31916195070b34/)
Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop

Sortie (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191547ef1ff78/)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

Chameleon (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191485bcbb8ac/)
Herbie Hancock & Headhunters

Nefertiti (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319129240d9e27/)
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums (The rhythm section calmly steals the show.)

Gazzelloni (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191446ec101f1/)
Eric Dolphy - flute
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Richard Davis - bass
Tony Williams - drums

Siete Ocho (http://www.zshare.net/audio/31912475ae4fb7/)
Andrew Hill - piano
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Richard Davis - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

See-Saw (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191306e3446c3/)
David Holland Quartet

Man of Words (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191504bc6e140/)
Booker Little

[thekitt]

subs

i been gettin mad catalogues via torrents....

so far i got miles, duke, and charlie....as far as jazz goes

and thats a lot of stuff so i'm sure i wont get thru it all

[Copper Scroll]

What no Boney James, no Kenny G. :thumbsdow
26. Kenny G - Breathless
Fire!

27. Boney James - Seduction
Cop dis piff!

:laugh:

[Walt Frazier]

I like Sketches of Spain a lot. Miles goes into some strange territory, but he ended up returning to that style of playing on Bit ches Brew--a lot stronger too. I got the Trane and Duke album too. It's tight.
Here's some tracks from my list. Not meant to be representative of all jazz. Just some of my favorite sht. There's still some diversity to it, though. Some hard bop, some bebop, some free bop, some avant garde, some fusion:
Tears for Johannesburg (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319117447ff6e3/)
Max Roach - drums (r.i.p.)
Abbey Lincoln - vocals
Booker Little - trumpet
Julian Priester - trombone
Walter Benton - tenor sax
James Schenck - bass
Michael Olatunji, Tomas DuVall, Raymond Mantilla - percussions
Bemsha Swing (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319121746bb08f/)
Thelonious Monk - piano
Clark Terry - trumpet
Sonny Rollins - tenor sax
Paul Chambers - bass
Max Roach - drums
Countdown (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191344288507c/)
John Coltrane - tenor sax (out of this realm)
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Art Taylor - drums
Better Git Hit In Your Soul (http://www.zshare.net/audio/31916195070b34/)
Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop
Sortie (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191547ef1ff78/)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
Chameleon (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191485bcbb8ac/)
Herbie Hancock & Headhunters
Nefertiti (http://www.zshare.net/audio/319129240d9e27/)
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums (The rhythm section calmly steals the show.)
Gazzelloni (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191446ec101f1/)
Eric Dolphy - flute
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Richard Davis - bass
Tony Williams - drums
Siete Ocho (http://www.zshare.net/audio/31912475ae4fb7/)
Andrew Hill - piano
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Richard Davis - bass
Elvin Jones - drums
See-Saw (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191306e3446c3/)
David Holland Quartet
Man of Words (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3191504bc6e140/)
Booker Little

I put all of these tracks on a cd, and I've listened to that cd 4 times at this point: dope. The Max Roach track that leads things off is my favorite so far, though the fact of his recent death may have given him a sentimental edge.

The Herbie Hancock song is a difficult listen because I immediately recognized it from a Dru Down sample jack, and the association just makes me laugh throughout the course of the song. "Player for real, player for some scrill, player for sho when I'm 'bout dat dat dough..."

The Thelonious Monk track starts off so strong for me because I love piano -- second only to drums in what moves me.

The Dave Holland track you posted resonated with me the least.

The Dolphy track was crazy in a good way, sort of made me feel like I was in the middle of a movie about a mentally troubled man who'd just been drugged.

The Booker Little is my sh1t too. Powerful music, especially after I learned how premature his death was. Where/how can I find more of his material, or him stealing the show on someone else's album? Possibly my favorite track of those you posted, right up there with the Max Roach.

I've already ordered B1tches Brew. What are some other albums (by Max Roach, Mingus, and Monk in particular) that would be good to stat off with?

Oh yeah, I totally forgot that I used to listen to Dollar Brand way back when, and Jay Hoggard (a vibraphonist player) a few years ago.

Thank you so much for those links.

[Krasnyi Armyi]

Maybe someone on here can help me....

"Take Five" by the Dave Bruhbeck Trio is one of my favourite songs in any genre. I've been looking for something else that has that same kind of cool, smokey vibe. to me it makes me think of sitting in a really great jazz joint smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey.

Someone recommended Bill Evans to me, and I like what I've heard, but it's not the same vibe at all, and even a lot of Bruhbeck's other stuff isn't the same. Can anyone recommend anything? Thanks in advance...

[KinG oF tHE sOutH]

Good stuff

**subs**

[Copper Scroll]

Maybe someone on here can help me....
"Take Five" by the Dave Bruhbeck Trio is one of my favourite songs in any genre. I've been looking for something else that has that same kind of cool, smokey vibe. to me it makes me think of sitting in a really great jazz joint smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey.
Someone recommended Bill Evans to me, and I like what I've heard, but it's not the same vibe at all, and even a lot of Bruhbeck's other stuff isn't the same. Can anyone recommend anything? Thanks in advance...
"Take Five" comes from the album Time Out, and I'm pretty sure that it's a quartet recording (with Paul Desmond on sax)--not a trio (unless you have a trio version). I don't listen to Time Out very often but it is a very good and consistent album. If you don't have it, get it.

I don't have a whole lot in my collection that sounds like it. Miles Davis' Someday My Prince Will Come and Herbie Hancock's Takin' Off immediately come to mind. Maybe Hancock's Maiden Voyage too. You might also like some other "cool" West Coast jazz legends like Chet Baker, but I don't have enough of his stuff to make any recommendations.

If a cool and "smoky" vibe is what you're after, I'd also recommend Miles' Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud, a soundtrack to a French noir film recorded with a French band. Definitely the "coolest" Miles Davis album I've heard. Here's a taste: Generique (http://www.zshare.net/audio/32535332db1432/). And if you don't have it already, definitely get Kind of Blue--especially if you like Bill Evans.

[Copper Scroll]

I put all of these tracks on a cd, and I've listened to that cd 4 times at this point: dope. The Max Roach track that leads things off is my favorite so far, though the fact of his recent death may have given him a sentimental edge.

The Herbie Hancock song is a difficult listen because I immediately recognized it from a Dru Down sample jack, and the association just makes me laugh throughout the course of the song. "Player for real, player for some scrill, player for sho when I'm 'bout dat dat dough..."

The Thelonious Monk track starts off so strong for me because I love piano -- second only to drums in what moves me.

The Dave Holland track you posted resonated with me the least.

The Dolphy track was crazy in a good way, sort of made me feel like I was in the middle of a movie about a mentally troubled man who'd just been drugged.

The Booker Little is my sh1t too. Powerful music, especially after I learned how premature his death was. Where/how can I find more of his material, or him stealing the show on someone else's album? Possibly my favorite track of those you posted, right up there with the Max Roach.

I've already ordered B1tches Brew. What are some other albums (by Max Roach, Mingus, and Monk in particular) that would be good to stat off with?

Oh yeah, I totally forgot that I used to listen to Dollar Brand way back when, and Jay Hoggard (a vibraphonist player) a few years ago.

Thank you so much for those links.
I'm glad you liked it overall. (Organized Konfusion sampled "Chameleon" too lol--definitely the most hip-hop-like joint on the list there.)

About the Eric Dolphy: I honestly didn't get Out to Lunch at first. It wasn't until after I heard Dolphy play on other "tamer" records (like Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus and Coltrane's Live at Village Vanguard 1961) and came to appreciate his unique aesthetic that I could even understand Out to Lunch at all.

And, yeah, Booker Little was well on his way to becoming the greatest jazz trumpeter ever imo. His Out Front, with Max Roach and Eric Dolphy, is an underrated classic! "Man of Words" comes from that album, though (as you heard) Roach and Dolphy sit out on that track.

After Out Front, I'd probably recommended his three At the Five Spot albums with Eric Dolphy (probably listed under Dolphy's name in record stores, though the band was really co-led between Dolphy and Little). They mostly consist of very long numbers that allow Little and Dolphy to explore the far reaches of every composition in their solos. Amazing stuff. Here's a taste: Aggression (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3253689fc17769/) from Vol. 2.

Little also recorded some stuff under Max Roach's leadership, like Deeds Not Words--but Little had just joined the band at that time so it's probably not the best demonstration of what he's capable of (though he sounds great on it). We Insist! the Freedom Now Suite is probably the best album they recorded together aside from Out Front. ("Tears for Johannesburg" comes from that album.)

Let me know what you think about Bitc hes Brew. Miles recorded a ton of great music in its wake--the most fascinating period in his career, I think.You never know how someone will react to it. It had to grow on me.

[Priest Skool]

:eek: No mention of Grant Green anywhere in this thread.

*has heart attack*