Ah jazz, my 2nd favorite genre.

Try:

In the mood by Glen Miller

Malaguena (Stan Kenton Version)

Sing Sing Sing by the Benny goodman

Ring dem bells-duke ellington

Swinging the blues by count basie

lazy bird-john coltrane

Afterthought -Marc Cary, performed by Blackout

I'm fairly new to jazz, and finding myself drawn to the hard bop style, which to me seems like a balance between the earlier, more compositional oriented styles, and the later styles where there's more and more freedom towards improvisation. Currently, my two favorite albums are Coltrane's Blue Train and Davis' 'Round About Midnight, so I'd recommend those. One thing I love about both is the atmosphere, which is probably easier heard than described... Could anyone here recommend some jazz that has a similar atmosphere as to those album?

You could check out Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus. He released many outstanding records from about 1955 - 1965. The man could do no wrong during that time period.

If you're into piano and electric guitar I would definitely recommend... 

BILL EVANS and JIM HALL: UNDERCURRENT

Cool, relaxing, excellent improvisation and organization. Enjoy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by scjarrett87 

If you're into piano and electric guitar I would definitely recommend... 

BILL EVANS and JIM HALL: UNDERCURRENT

 

 

Cool, relaxing, excellent improvisation and organization. Enjoy!

Great album!

Time for a short list of albums I enjoy:

Art Pepper - Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section

Clifford Brown and Max Roach - At Basin Street

Dexter Gordon - Go

Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (nice laid back jazz)

The Horace Silver Quintet - Song for My Father

Jimmy Giuffre - Western Suite

Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land

Lou Donaldson - The Natural Soul (pretty good soul-jazz album)

Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'

Sonny Rollins - What's New? (the original vinyl mono version is excellent but the reissue from a few years ago is okay)

Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery (his guitar playing on this album is out of this world)

Try looking for some dave brubeck if you like a challenge, but otherise, shelly manne, or maybe some mel torme, it all depends on what kind of dance you're planning.

no ones giving you any modern guys so i will....

trombone shorty

vijay ayer

avishai cohen

ambrose akinmusire

ESPERANZA SPALDING. she is great.

Phineas Newborn Jr. comes highly recommended from me. A great piano player who sadly didn't record much. I find "The Newborn Touch" to be excellent, though..

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkitpt 

no ones giving you any modern guys so i will....

 

trombone shorty

vijay ayer

avishai cohen

ambrose akinmusire

ESPERANZA SPALDING. she is great.

I'll recommend some modern stuff too:

Norah Jones

Ben Williams

Portico Quartet

Bad Plus

Joshua Redman

BADBADNOTGOOD

Colin Stetson

Quote:

Originally Posted by clabbe 

Phineas Newborn Jr. comes highly recommended from me. A great piano player who sadly didn't record much. I find "The Newborn Touch" to be excellent, though..

…he's too, too undervalued…I also dig the records he made with Coltrane-drummer Elvin Jones: Harlem Blues and Please Send Me Someone To Love…

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu 

…he's too, too undervalued…I also dig the records he made with Coltrane-drummer Elvin Jones: Harlem Blues and Please Send Me Someone To Love…

Harlem Blues is a gem..

I'm listening to Cannonball Adderley's (with Miles Davis) Something Else right now, and it seems to fit what the OP is looking for quite well. Amazing stuff. So fluid, relaxed, and virtuosic without being showy or lacking in atmosphere. Everything just fits together so well. It's melodically, rhythmically, and harmonically sweet as anything I've ever heard. I'm digging.

I'll also throw out a rather left-field suggestion: Anna Maria Jopek. She's a Polish jazz singer and has always had superb players as band-members and they are definitely all about coherent structures instead of just focusing on improv. Farat is one of the best live albums I've ever heard. Barefoot is probably her best album overall.

If you want to be a bit daring try listening to the first movement of the Keith Jarrett: Vienna Concert. It's free improvisation, meaning he created the entire piece at the spur of the moment, but upon listening to it several times, maintains an organized structure. Be warned that some of the passages are very out there, but the complex parts only build up tension to give more light to the final passages. It took me a while before I really enjoyed it (it is 45:00 long by the way) but to me it is the most incredible jazz piano piece I've ever heard. It has different themes throughout the performance and what I like about it is how Keith Jarrett transitions into each of them. Keith Jarrett once said that the best way to listen to his music is to envision what you hear, rather than just hearing what you hear. 

Keith Jarrett: Vienna Concert

My favorite Jazz album so far..