[eucariote]

Some albums that are seminal, but also very easy to listen to are
 
John Coltane - Ole
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debbie
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
 
Once you've gotten accustomed to their sound you can move onto deeper and less structured music, like
 
Charles Mingus - Black Saint and Sinner Lady
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - Agartha
 
You really have to train your brain to appreciate certain artists like John Coltrane imo, especially post 1959 when things get really good.

 

[tjohnusa]

Audiodwebe...I just got the weather report dvd in the mail,,,,thanks a bunch. I have a nice Spyro Gyra SACD I will send to you. It is a hybrid so it will play in any cd player if you don't have SACD capability. It's kind of poppy but has a nice groove to it...hopefully you will like it.

 

[grokit]

Larry Carlton is smooth guitar God who fuses jazz with pop, rock, blues, funk, and even some country. His self-titled first solo album is still a great intro to his vast body of work. He has also co-starred in guitar duo albums with artists like Lee Ritanour and Chet Atkins.

 

[falis]

That first Larry Carlton album gets a thumbs-up from me too.
 
- Ed

 

[ImTodd]

The album that just recently got me into jazz is Keith Jarrett - At the Blue Note

 

[salsadj]

I highly recommend Dexter Gordon.  I have to say he's my favorite sax player right up there with John Coltrane.  You should check out his albums GO and One Flight Up

 

[mrmach7]

This thread is awesome, thanks for recs guys!

 

[ngower]

I'll admit I've been neglecting this thread since it's inception, but I did manage to check out Mingus' "Black Saint and the SInner Lady" and I dig it. Not quite sure to what extent, but it's interesting.

 

[CEE TEE]

There is a Prestige Recording of Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk.  Has red, white and some black art on the cover.
 
This just SOUNDS like what you have in your mind when you want Jazz and you want a Jazz album.  Perfectly upbeat and just right.
 
And, you know Rollins was slated to be the next Coltrane until that pressure sent him under an overpass with his horn until his ex-wife could get him out...

 

[magicalpig]

 
Quote:

Well that's what I'm sort of getting at. I dig the bebop sound and really get into it, whereas some, but not all, of the softer jazz just sort of bores me. I'm hoping we can take my tastes, integrate elements of the other subgenres, and overall get some damned good albums.
 
Oddly enough, I'm watching the Ken Burns series right now haha!

I wouldn't say you dig bebop. The two albums you talked about in your first post are not typically "bebop".
 
Kind Of Blue is very meditative and one of the milestones of "modal jazz". The Yamamoto album has a lot of ballads on it, a very clean sound and mostly bebop inspired swing rather than straight bebop which is rougher and more angular. Both those albums are very easy to listen to - though not "easy listening". - because of their restraint and improvisations that stay rather inside the harmony.
 
I think you should check out a few pianists such Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans which I'm sure were two main influences for Tsuyoshi. I'd recommend "We Get Request" from Oscar Peterson. Trio setting similar to Yamamoto, great melodic and restrained, intimate atmosphere. As for Bill Evans, a good album to discover him would be either "Portrait In Jazz" or "Explorations". There's also Brad Mehldau you should definitely check. His playing is more modern, more abstract, playing over the structure of the songs rather than staying inside but IMO he keeps the "romantic" aspect of jazz improvisation alive despite the modernity of his playing. You can get one of his recent releases (2008) simply called "Live". Great quality recording too.
 
As for something related to "Kind Of Blue", recommending albums is harder as this modal jazz movement went into every possible direction you can imagine, some of them very aggressive and dissonant. Of course, Coltrane would be a big one but considering your taste you might want to wait a little bit before getting into him. He's a tough one to get used to and it would be a shame you discard him just because you're not ready. I'd probably check his "The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane" album and maybe "Crescent" as suggested above - although this one is more "hairy".
 
You could say Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" has some moments bearing a certain similarity with "Kind Of Blue" - modal and meditative, kind of etheric.
 
Hope this helps.
 
 
Edit: would you dig something like this?
 

 

[magicalpig]

Quote:

There is a Prestige Recording of Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk.  Has red, white and some black art on the cover.
 
This just SOUNDS like what you have in your mind when you want Jazz and you want a Jazz album.  Perfectly upbeat and just right.
 
And, you know Rollins was slated to be the next Coltrane until that pressure sent him under an overpass with his horn until his ex-wife could get him out...

 

[CEE TEE]

That's the one!!!
 
Enjoy!!
 
Quote:

 

[CEE TEE]

I also recommend a duet album:
 
 

Lee Konitz: I Concentrate on You — A Tribute to Cole Porter

---

Lee Konitz: alto sax
Red Mitchell: bass, piano
Recorded at Rosenberg Studio, Copenhagen, July 30, 1974

[*] LP, 1974

[*] Compact Disc, 1992 [Steeple Chase SCCD 31018] (* with three bonus tracks)
 

---

 

Selections

1. "Just One of Those Things" (5:08)
2. "Just One of Those Things" * (Take 7) (3:04)
3. "Easy to Love" (3:13)
4. "It's Alright With Me" (2:59)
5. "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" * (Take 1) (2:47)
6. "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" (2:49)
7. "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (3:45)
8. "Love For Sale" (5:15)
9. "In the Still of the Night" (2:10)
10. "Night and Day" * (Take 1) (5:12)
11. "Night and Day" (3:54)
12. "I Love You" (3:34)
13. "I Love Paris" (3:22)
14. "I Concentrate on You" (9:13)

 

 
Stand up bass is great and this is just cool, melodic sax... 

 

[CEE TEE]

I also introduce people to Coltrane with this one:
 

 

[CEE TEE]

^^^^
 
 
The title track is a modal rendition of the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein's seminal song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. The melody is heard numerous times throughout the almost 14-minute version, and instead of having a solo over the written chord changes, both Tyner and Coltrane taking extended solos overvamps of the two tonic chords, E minor and E major. Tyner's solo is famous for being extremely chordal and rhythmic, as opposed to developing melodies. In the documentary The World According to John Coltrane, narrator Ed Wheeler remarks:

"In 1960, Coltrane left Miles [Davis] and formed his own quartet to further explore modal playing, freer directions, and a growing Indian influence. They transformed "My Favorite Things", the cheerful populist song from 'The Sound of Music,' into a hypnotic eastern dervish dance. The recording was a hit and became Coltrane's most requested tune—and a bridge to broad public acceptance."

[edit]