Discovering Jazz
Aug 4, 2001 at 10:19 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 37

pearle

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Hey,

I picked up my first Jazz record a couple of weeks ago (Kind of Blue) and I REALLY like it. Can anyone suggest/recommend other album/artists that I might find interesting? I think I would prefer non-vocal but I'm certainly not limited to that.

I'm currently looking into picking up some Coltrane and some more Davis.

- pearle
 
Aug 4, 2001 at 10:35 PM Post #2 of 37
Miles Davis is IMHO the greatest jazz artist ever, you can't really go wrong.. Beware he has done a lot of experimenting with jazz-rock and fusion stuff in the late 60's and 70's, this is actually what I like best but most jazz-purists hate him for it.
Some more jazz I can recommend:

- John Coltrane: Blue Train, My Favorite Things
- Thelonious Monk: Live at the It Club - Complete
- Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage, Headhunters (really funky!)
- Dave Brubeck
- Stan Getz

That's all that comes to mind right now..
 
Aug 4, 2001 at 11:11 PM Post #3 of 37
Some classic albums:

John Coltrane: "Blue Train" and "Giant Steps" are his most acclaimed

Miles Davis: "Sketches of Spain"

Mile Davis Quintet (which includes Coltrane, Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock): there is an amazing box set out, but you can get the sampler "The Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68"

Thelonius Monk: "Straight, No Chaser"

Herbie Hancock: "HeadHunter" (as wab said, very funky)

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out


If you just want a phenomenal sampler that will let you hear some of *everything* you should run out and get "Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music." It's the soundtrack to the PBS special, and it includes 5 CDs with almost 100 tracks from every genre of jazz. Highly recommended.
 
Aug 5, 2001 at 4:23 AM Post #4 of 37
Hey Pearle

Welcome to the World of Jazz

Fully support all the above suggestions but would say THE first jazz album to get would be Miles Davis Kind of Blue. Just make sure you get the new 20-bit remastered edition, it's absolutely superb.

Have fun
Hamsta
 
Aug 5, 2001 at 4:43 AM Post #5 of 37
Hamsta,

Kind of Blue (remastered) is the only jazz album I own
wink.gif
Picked it up last week. It's the reason I posted this thread
biggrin.gif


- pearle
 
Aug 5, 2001 at 5:42 AM Post #7 of 37
Here are some of the records that I reccomend, keep in mind that all of these may not fit into the "old jazz standard" category as Kind of Blue.

John Scofield: Agogo
Medeski Martin Wood: Combustication, Shack Man, The Dropper
Tower of Power: Tower of Power (self titled album), Back to Oakland.
Weather Report: 8:30, Heavy Weather
Parliament
Joshua Redman: Changing (somethings) for changing times
Pat Metheny: Trio '99, Bright Size Life, Trio '99 Live
Stanely Jordan: Cornucopia
Charlie Hunter: Duo, Natty Dread
Dave Holland Quintet: Prime Directive
Herbie Hancock: Cantaloupe Island
Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters
The Guitar Trio: Friday Night Live in SanFrancisco
Miles Davis: Milestones, Miles Smiles, Kind of Blue,

THE 1964 My Funny Valentine Concert.
this is my favorite recording, it has Ron Carter on Bass, the 19 year old Tony Williams on drums, Herbie Hancock on bass, George Coleman on saxophone, and of course Miles.
This is a must get. Get it. get it. that's all I can say, anyway...

Chick Corea and Return to Forever: Light as a Feather
Michael Brecker: Two Blocks from the Edge, Tales from the Hudson
Astral Project: Voodoo Bop
Gary Burton: Like Minds (this album may not be under Burton's name)

John Coltrane: A Love Supreme.
this is another that you should go and buy tomorrow, another of my absolute favorites.

This should get you started with a good collection of fine music (in my opinion).
 
Aug 5, 2001 at 6:27 AM Post #8 of 37
Quote:

Originally posted by source direct
THE 1964 My Funny Valentine Concert.
this is my favorite recording, it has Ron Carter on Bass, the 19 year old Tony Williams on drums, Herbie Hancock on bass, George Coleman on saxophone, and of course Miles.
This is a must get. Get it. get it. that's all I can say, anyway...



source direct,

That's one of my favorite albums of all time. Remarkable performances on those CD's.
 
Aug 5, 2001 at 9:29 AM Post #9 of 37
Man I can give you a whole list of cool stuff, here we go...

John Coltrane - Blue Train - you must get this one. It has become one of my favorites, and if you like the trombone player (I play trombone, so I really like him), then you should get...

Curtis Fuller - New Trombone - this one has Sonny Red on sax, and if you like his style of playing, then you should check out

Sonny Rollins - Volume 2 - and here you will find one of the most respected jazz trombonists ever, J.J. Johnson (and he has a whole load of great cd's). But this album just has awesome players on it... like

Art Blakey (drums) - A Night in Tunisia - Moanin' - Roots and Herbs
Horace Silver (piano) - Horace-Scope - Blowin' the Blues Away
Thelonius Monk (piano) - I really don't have any of his stuff
Paul Chambers (bass)

And you should also check out some of this...

Lee Morgan - Cornbread - The Sidewinder
Freddie Hubbard - Hub-Tones
Clifford Brown - Brown and Roach, Inc.
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (showing his truly technical ability), and definately, A Love Supreme (you even get to hear him sing... kinda, heh)
Art Farmer - Modern Art
Miles Davis - Workin'
Dave Brubeck - Time Out - Time Further Out (I guess as a basis if you like this style of jazz)
Joshua Redman - Timeless Tales
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters - Cantaloupe Island

I'm gonna have to pick up that My Funny Valentine concert album... man, Ron Carter on bass? and all of the rest of the players... that's sweet stuff.

if you like big band music, check out some Buddy Rich, or Stan Kenton...

oh and maaan, you gotta check out some Jimmy Smith! what an awesome organ player... get Back at the Chicken Shack or something.. maybe House Party? it's got Donald Bailey and Art Blakey on drums, Lee Morgan on trumpet, some Curtis Fuller on trombone, George Coleman, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks on sax, Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden on guitar (although I'm not really familiar with them or some of the sax players)

drum and bass jazz? heh, check out Russell Gunn - Ethnomusicology Volume 1

oohh, maybe some Bela Fleck - Outbound... it's got Victor Wooten, one of the best bass players in the world...

and if you like bass... definately check out some Jaco Pastorius (he played with Weather Report)

maybe, The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire - hey, it's got John McLaughlin... great guitar player.

and source direct, yeah...
John Scofield - Agogo - it has Medeski, Martin and Wood too, so if you like that stuff, get some of them...

oh and I haven't heard any Stanley Jordan, Charlier Hunter, Dave Holland, or The Guitar Trio... I might just have to check them out myself

okay, it's time to end this... hope that helped, and sorry if i overloaded you... but hey, you have tons of time to check out all of this stuff, so get to it!
 
Aug 7, 2001 at 2:52 AM Post #11 of 37
What's the name of the album with "my funny valentine"? It's not the namesake, or at least I couldn't find it in store. I did get an "essential Miles Davis" compilation (2 disks, 2001 edition) that has "my funny valentine" track on it (14 minutes). The sound is unbelievable, even though the recording is from 1964! How did they do that? I wish they recorded classical music from those times this good.
 
Aug 7, 2001 at 11:18 AM Post #15 of 37
Mustn't forget the Bill Laswell remixes of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" etc.. Called "Panthalassa" and absolutely grand..
If you're looking for serious bass playing don't forget Jonas Hellborg - in particular "Bold", "Bass" and "Axis" - modern but groovy..
And if you want very serious bass then go for anything with Jamaaladeen Tacuma - he used to be Ornette Colemans bassist and now is often found with the likes of James Blood Ulmer (who's also to be highly recommended - no-one plays guitar like him!).
And finally, don't forget, if you like the groovy P-Funk and Herbie Hancock thang, the Nils Landgren Funk Unit.. Swedish or Norwegian, but bangin'!
 

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