New to Miles Davis and Jazz

If you enjoyed the sax, you'll definitely enjoy Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Also, check out Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock, and A Love Supreme, Crescent, and Blue Train by John Coltrane.

That's basically the extent of my Jazz knowledge, and I'll definitely be monitoring this thread for some recommendations as well.

I've got a few albums from him but I don't like them at all. Jazz has some emotions in it but I just can't enjoy them. His trumpet is killing my ears. 

Here are 2 boxed sets I recommend

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_23?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=original+album+classics&sprefix=original+album+classics

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Classics-Miles-Davis/dp/B000UZD4D0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1321492743&sr=8-10

Each have 5 CDs that are great for the price of 2.  The CDs are in sleeves instead of jewel cases, but for me, that's better anyway, takes up less room.

All of feedback's recommendations are good too.  I believe Time Out is the second highest selling jazz album after Kind of Blue.

Another boxed set I recommend is the 5 CD Ken Burns Jazz box.  I know a lot of people denigrate anything to do with that show, but it's a good overview of jazz from the 20s to 60s. 

Also search this forum for jazz and you'll find a lot.  Here's one good thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/233070/jazz-recommendations, and one of my posts

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton 

My favorite source for trying CDs in a genre I'm not familiar with is my local library.

I started by buying compilations. Some of the first that I bought

• Pure Jazz
• Pure Jazz Encore
• Ken Burn's Jazz box set
• Big Band Instrumentals: 16 Most Requested Songs

You can pick a few artists and buy compilations of that artist.

• Ken Burn's series - these tend to be career retrospectives so include pieces from before the artist was a band leader themselves
• Verve Jazz Masters series
• Finest Hour
• 16 Most Requested Songs series - not all of these are jazz

Some of the most popular jazz albums (Edit: or at least 10 of my favorites)

• Miles Davis - Kind of Blue - best selling jazz album ever
• Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
• John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
• Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
• Getz/Gilberto
• Oscar Peterson - Night Train
• Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker with Strings
• The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
• Herbie Hand**** - Head Hunters (can't link to it because it thinks I'm typing dirty words)
• Miles Davis - In a Silent Way

I could go on for ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinque 

Thanks for the recommends guys.  Will try Dave Brubeck - Time Out next, seems like a safe choice.

A Love Supreme is a safe choice too. Try that after Time Out. Enjoy!

Miles went through different stages in his career, certainly, but it was a process of development rather than jumping around.   So the albums he made immediately before and after KoB (1958 Miles and Sketches of Spain) are not wildly different.  However, Sketches is one of the albums on which Miles performs with an orchestra - less improvisation, and less sax.  So you might skip forward a little to Someday My Prince Will Come, which is relatively unknown but still gorgeous.  Personally I love the discs which followed Wayne Shorter joining the group: ESP, for example, or Miles Smiles.

The following is a list of Jazz Albums that seem to show up in most Jazz recommendation threads as well as most top Jazz Album lists. I am pretty new to Jazz so these recommendations are based on research, not personal opinion or knowledge. (I don't even have all of these titles) Just to be clear, by first and second tier I'm only referring to how often the album gets recommended, not the quality of the music itself. I've only included titles from the late '50's and later. I might add BeBop, Big Band and Dixieland to the list in the future.

The first tier is albums that nearly always show up on any recommended\best Jazz album list.  The titles in parentheses are albums that are about a half a notch down from the main album listed and would make a fine substitution if it is cheaper or easier to find. 

The second tier is albums that usually get mentioned, especially if the discussion is a longer one.

This list is by no means to be considered comprehensive, its just a bunch of them that I could remember.

Finally I listed some Fusion albums that seem to get mentioned a lot. Some people think that is a good gateway from Rock to Jazz for beginners.

First Tier Jazz Albums for Beginners (Hard Bop & Beyond)

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Dave Brubeck - Time Out

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme or Giant Steps (Blue Train)

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else

Charles Mingus - Ah, Um

Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage (Head Hunters)

Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby or Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Everybody Digs Bill Evans)

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil

Art Blakey - Moanin'

Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (Straight, No Chaser, Monk's Dream)

Horace Silver - Song For My Father

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Getz \ Gilberto - Getz \ Gilberto

Second Tier Jazz Albums

Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain, Birth of the Cool,  Miles Ahead, Milestones, ‘Round about Midnight, Steamin', Workin', Relaxin', Cookin'

John Coltrane - My Favorite Things, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman

Oliver Nelson – The Blues and the Abstract Truth

Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch!

Hank Mobley – Soul Station

Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come

Thelonius Monk – Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1, Monk's Music

Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Blues & Roots

Wes Montgomery – The Incredible Jazz Guitar of …

Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder

Keith Jarrett – The Koln Concert

Clifford Brown and Max Roach - Study In Brown, Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Grant Green - Idle Moments

Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue

Sonny Rollins - Way Out West

Dexter Gordon - Go

Jazz Fusion

Weather Report – Heavy Weather, Black Market

The Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire

Chick Corea – Return to Forever

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Tribute To Jack Johnson

Return to Forever -  Romantic Warrior

Herbie Hancock - Headhunters, Thrust

Pat Metheny - First Circle

Lately I've been listening to WBGO over the internet at night.  It's a jazz station based in Newark, NJ that plays the style of music being recommended along with current releases of stuff that is in the same vein. 

Dave Brubeck's Time Out is a classic that also features an excellent saxophonist (Paul Desmond), but to me, the tempos and overall feel of the disc are different than Kind Of Blue. Very few albums actually sound like Kind Of Blue, but I'd agree with Henry Flower: Of Davis's small-group recordings, Someday My Prince Will Come kinda has that same vibe. And since the OP mentions the saxes specifically, I think the logical next step would be something by either of Kind Of Blue's saxists, John Coltrane or Cannonball Adderley. For Coltrane, I'd go to Crescent for the sort of meditative tempos. For Cannonball, I'd suggest Somethin' Else!, which was recorded around the same time as Kind Of Blue and also features Miles Davis. Hope this helps…

How come on jazz threads the recomendations are always releases from 40-50 years ago?  Most of the recordings are dreadful.

Some of my favorites from recent times.  All outstanding.

Michael Brecker: "Pilgrimage"

Chris Potter: "Gratitude"

Joshua Redman: "Mood Swing"

Brad Mehldau: "Day is Done"

Brian Blade Fellowship: "Perceptual"

Christian Scott: "Rewind That"

David Sanchez: "Cultural Survival"

Kurt Rosenwinkle: "The Enemies of Energy"

Mike Moreno: "Between The Lines"

Yellowjackets: "Timeline"

Pat Metheny Group: "Speaking of Now"

Christian McBride: "Kind of Brown"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyro 

How come on jazz threads the recomendations are always releases from 40-50 years ago?  Most of the recordings are dreadful.

 

Jazz was a more vital and dynamic artform before the 1960s. Today it's just another musical niche out of the mainstream. There is still good music being made, but not on the scale that it used to be.

Recording technology was perfected in the early 1950s. Most studio Jazz recordings in the 50s were impeccably recorded. You don't know what you're talking about here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 

 

Jazz was a more vital and dynamic artform before the 1960s. Today it's just another musical niche out of the mainstream. There is still good music being made, but not on the scale that it used to be.

 

Recording technology was perfected in the early 1950s. Most studio Jazz recordings in the 50s were impeccably recorded. You don't know what you're talking about here.

 

The only reason jazz was more vital and dynamic artform in the 50's (which it was) was because rock & roll hadn't emerged yet.  Jazz received all the attention.

You're sadly mis-guided.  Recording technology from the early 50's is 60 year old technology.  It may be good in studio but if it can't be effectively captured on a consumer format it is good for sh**.  Yes, overly compressed or "loud" digitally recorded music doesn't sound very good.  But when done right, digital is better.  Whether it's an original or remastered Kind of Blue or Love Supreme, they both pale in comparison SQ-wise to a well-recorded digital recording (Michael Brecker's "Pilgrimage" for example).  I listened to all 3 of these over the past few days and the SQ of Pilgrimage destroys the other two.  No comparison.