Wanna give me some classic jazz recommendations?

[RyanR]

Some great recommendations so far. I'd just add Miles Davis' second great quintet recordings as that was arguably one of his most powerful and one of my favorite groups (Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, & Ron Carter.) Must haves from this period are (all of 'em):
Miles Smiles
E.S.P.
Sorcerer
Nefertiti
Miles in the Sky
Filles de Kilimanjaro

[shadowplay]

Not keen on the term "classic", it boxes in music in a way I am uncomfortable with.

Is Kenny Graham and his Satellites "classic"? Well it's 50's, it pre-dates most of of the post bebop groups African fascination but it's more like Kosmische than Jazz and I love it.

Check Moondog and Suncat suites. more info here

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

This is an amazing record.

D

[bdm]

if you like jazz guitar that isn't overly snooty i highly recommend grant green's "idle moments" and "feelin the spirit".

[scriffraff]

Ornette Coleman, "The Shape of Jazz to Come"- My all time favorite Jazz record.

[blacktiger]

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

This is an amazing record.

D

Absolutely. I know it's jazzbo heresy, but I actually prefer Alice to John.

[Phillip_H]

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.

Dissonance has always been a part of music. Tension and release, man. Of course, some music is all tension and no release - like Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, etc. Schoenberg premiered Pierrot Lunaire way back in 1912. That predates jazz by quite some time.

[PJFClifford]

The whole concept of jazz is a huge thing - do you mean fusion or bop or avant-garde or whatever? --- It's like asking someone to give you recommendations for "good music" - That being written - and knowing where I'm posting ---

What really worked for me was swimming around in the 1960-1966 Blue Note catalog. It was a period between bop (hard bop - maybe) and the avant. I started with some cool combos put together by people like Grant Green, Wayne Henderson, Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, etc. and then really listening to the individual players. You'd get into a Grant Green record and really like the vibes and stuff and then go check out Bobby Hutcherson. You'd find the Blue Note records he did with Andrew Hill, and start listening to his stuff. At the time everyone on Blue Note was playing with everyone else (for a bunch of reasons). For me it started out just looking for good jazz (experimental and free, but still kind of accessible). Miles' bands were like that, too - Hearing Kind of Blue gets you to Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans. You just gotta follow what you like.

I love that 1960-1966 Blue Note vibe. But Kind of Blue really took me to some amazing places - Coltrane (goes without saying) and Bill Evans (His trios - with Scott LaFaro are just fantastic and perfect).

The secret is that the coolest playing happened between bop and the late '60s avant stuff. The switch was slow and really beautiful to hear.
The best of both worlds, I guess.

Check out the Blue Note stuff. Kind of Blue is a great place to start, too. Kind of a cliche that it's the best Jazz record ever, but starting with it and then not being afraid to explore where it takes you kind of makes up for the hype.

[PJFClifford]

if you like jazz guitar that isn't overly snooty i highly recommend grant green's "idle moments" and "feelin the spirit".

Nice - You left out Matador, though...

[flatfiver]

Since you pretty much have to listen to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue after the recommendations in this thread, I highly recommend buying or borrowing an actual physical copy of it, as opposed to downloading via your preferred channels, legal or otherwise. The original liner notes (written by Bill Evans) are almost as classic as the album itself.

[bigsur78]

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.

Dissonance has always been a part of music. Tension and release, man. Of course, some music is all tension and no release - like Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, etc. Schoenberg premiered Pierrot Lunaire way back in 1912. That predates jazz by quite some time.

You're totally right, I kind of realized that was a sweeping overstatement after I posted it. I've been waiting for someone to call me out on it. I maintain though, that in terms of popular music in the 20th century, it was jazz starting in the 40s and mainly in the 50s (bebop I guess it's called) that introduced dissonance to the masses. Before that, jazz and other popular forms of music didn't feature a lot of strange chord combinations, or tension and release. After the bebop 50s, it was much more recognizable to the general public. As far as stuff like Shoenberg, while it no doubt influenced the jazz guys in the 50s, it pretty much stayed underground throughout the century.
I'm kind of talking out my ass here, but my point is, if you like stuff that sounds "outside" the normal, you should have an appreciation for jazz, because with the good stuff, it's the "outside the normal" parts that make it sound like jazz.
b

[Genuflect]

Some stuff that's been in heavy rotation recently has been:

Woody Shaw - Blackstone Legacy
Don Cherry - Eternal Rhythm/Brown Rice/Orient
Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures
Andrew Hill - Black Fire

[mcbrandt]

I think my favorites would be

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (love that riff and the drum solo)
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters (although this might be considered fusion)
Coltrane's Giant Steps or Davis' Kind of Blue

There is a local SoCal twin brother duo called the Mattson Two that I really, really dig. Really young jazz shredders, but kind of with "indie" leanings, like Tortoise or Cocteau Twins. I'd recommend checking out their album with Ray Barbee called Ray Barbee Meets the Mattson Two. Some of their newer stuff has more of a Ventures-esque feel to it. They kind of have the surf-jazz sound that I've been aspiring to, but they're years/decades ahead of me in talent and completely beat me to the idea. I suppose they weren't the first, either.

[Mr. Peabody]

For Coltrane, my favorites are Crescent and Live at Birdland.

I love Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants and you get the bonus of Monk on there (with a famous false start/bickering moment caught on tape). I also like Someday My Prince Will Come, and although Coltrane is not on the whole album, his solo on "Teo" is one of my favorites. The Cookin', Walkin', Relaxin', Steamin'' sessions are classic.

For Monk, I grew up hearing his solo records, so those are my favorites, but I like it all. I don't really love his recordings with Coltrane though. At the Blackhawk, Genius of Modern Music, Brilliant Corners etc etc etc etc etc. He's my favorite.

Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet

Roland Kirk Rip, Rig and Panic is good. Domino is really accessible.

Mingus Ah Um and Oh Yeah

And to pile on....there's a reason that everyone is recommending Kind of Blue.

[aRoseisaRoseis]

My favs are:
Charles Mingus- Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Coltrane's Giant Steps
Dave Brubeck's bossa nova USA and time out.
I tried to get into Davis, but it just didn't hit me.

[analogsystem]

Ornette Coleman, "The Shape of Jazz to Come"- My all time favorite Jazz record.

Mine as well. So amazing and influential....and it came out in 1959!!!