Wanna give me some classic jazz recommendations?

[jazzymaster616]

I hardly have any experience or knowledge on most jazz music. I know the classics (Coltrane, Monk, Davis, etc.) but never bothered to take a listen. i figured that since I listen to almost every other genre of music, maybe I should tackle jazz, a genre that I never had an interest in before. I think that maybe I should take a listen and appreciate it more. What are some of the more classic or esssential jazz albums that you enjoy?

[Phillip_H]

Miles Davis' body of work is enormous, but Kind of Blue is probably where you should start - it is required listening. I personally enjoy his classic quintet (w/ Coltrane, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, and Paul Chambers) more than anything. Coltrane has a lot of great stuff, but Giant Steps is a good one to get you started.

As far as guitarists - my favorite is Wes Montgomery for straight ahead stuff. The Incredible Jazz Guitar and Smokin' at the Half Note are both great albums.

[budda12ax7]

Wes Montgomery

Tal Farlow

[Joeleo]

Get yourself some Bill Evans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH3GSrCmzC8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


When you're ready for something a little meatier, check out some Wayne Shorter (my favorite musician of all time):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOdyEWvXpIg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


And some Herbie (this was off the Maiden Voyage record):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB2Z2DY17yQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Keegan]

Don't do it, jazz sucks

The basic assumption of jazz that certain chords/intervals that may not sound good by themselves sound good in the right context doesn't work so much for me, though.

I hate brass instruments with a passion, too. And they play too much smooth jazz in doctor's offices and elevators and such so I've come to equate it with boredom.

Might check out acid jazz though, that seems like something I might be able to get into. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPv4nW9OE6o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[devnulljp]

Smooth jazz is to jazz what testicular cancer is to having your balls licked by the woman of your dreams.

[flatfiver]

Start here: 100 Historically Significant Jazz Recordings.

There is definitely a late-bop/hard bop bias to the list, but pretty much anything on there should be pretty damn good. I would have liked to see some stuff on there like later modal-period or fusion-era Miles, later Coltrane, and maybe something by Ornette Coleman.

Some of my personal favorites, most of which should be pretty accessible:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Milestones, In a Silent Way
John Coltrane - Blue Train, Giant Steps
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Wes Montgomery - Smokin' at the Half Note, Full House
Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane - Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Horace Silver - Song for my Father
Art Blakey - A Night at Birdland Vol. 1
Dexter Gordon - Go

It probably wouldn't hurt to check out some Charlie Parker, too.

[Keegan]

Smooth jazz is to jazz what testicular cancer is to having your balls licked by the woman of your dreams.

More like what testicular cancer is to benign cysts.

[El Pr0n]

Lots of great ones mentioned so far - I'd like to add Miles' Sketches of Spain. There's a big cross over between jazz and classical on that album, which made it a lot easier for me to get into. Big +1 to Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, Blue Train and Giant Steps. Best bit is, these are the kinds of records that are super cheap in a big record shop - I got a two-disc box set of Charlie Parker for a fiver. Keep your eyes peeled for offers like that

[bigsur78]

Get yourself some Bill Evans

+1

Also Thelonious Monk, Wynton Kelly, Red Garland and Bud Powell. But then I'm partial to the piano guys.

Don't do it, jazz sucks

- 1,000

If you like dissonance in your music, and most people here do I suspect, than you owe your entire musical experience to jazz. It all started there.

[Who Ran The Iron Horse?]

Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch! are my favourites at the moment. I want to say 'the piano playing, drums and bass work are exceptional on A Love Supreme, and so is the saxophone playing' but then I realised that's The Whole Ensemble. So yes, it's just an exceptional work.

Out To Lunch! is mad. That 60s sound that gets appropriated and parodied by stuff like Austin Powers, heavy on vibrophone etc, it's the logical conclusion of that, almost a bit cheesy but also really, really exciting sounding.

[Keegan]

If you like dissonance in your music, and most people here do I suspect, than you owe your entire musical experience to jazz. It all started there.

Perhaps, but jazz is also responsible for such terrible genres as R&B, hip hop, and ska.

Dissonance has always been around, and I think blues would have still evolved without jazz, and in turn a lot of the music I listen to today. The electric guitar also had a huge impact, as well as those who made it cheap(Fender, Dano).

I think we'd just have more interesting elevator music if jazz had never come around. Maybe something nice like birds chirping.

I'll remove myself from this thread before my trolling pisses anyone off too badly.

[El Pr0n]

Perhaps, but jazz is also responsible for such terrible genres as R&B, hip hop, and ska.

Well then you're listening to the wrong R&B, hip hop and ska.

I don't know too much about R&B (but the singers you hear in the pop charts are NOT proper R&B), but proper hip hop is great music. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Shadow, Common, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Outkast, to name a few of my favourites, all great artists making great music who have nothing in common with Kanye/Jay Z/Lil' Wayne and their ilk.

And Ska? The Skatellites, The Specials, Madness, The Beat, The Selecter, all great bands. I think ska gets very unfairly represented by the 90s California 3rd-wave ska bands. I'm not so much into that.

[Who Ran The Iron Horse?]

Perhaps, but jazz is also responsible for such terrible genres as R&B, hip hop, and ska.

Well then you're listening to the wrong R&B, hip hop and ska.

I don't know too much about R&B (but the singers you hear in the pop charts are NOT proper R&B), but proper hip hop is great music. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Shadow, Common, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Outkast, to name a few of my favourites, all great artists making great music who have nothing in common with Kanye/Jay Z/Lil' Wayne and their ilk.

And Ska? The Skatellites, The Specials, Madness, The Beat, The Selecter, all great bands. I think ska gets very unfairly represented by the 90s California 3rd-wave ska bands. I'm not so much into that.

Just get 36 Chambers: Enter The Wu Tang and Los Angeles by Flying Lotus.

[blacktiger]

My favorites:

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
Hank Garland - Jazz Winds from a New Direction