[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wali Watch the documentary, Jazz by Ken Burnz. You can get it from the local library, or buy it is worth it. That documentary is the best starting point to Jazz--IMO. Not only it gives you a context on what to listen to, but you also come to know about the musicians and therefore the music becomes more intimate.

i was pretty disappointed with the doc. good for early 20th century jazz, but the rest might as well have been called "jazz according to wynton marsalis."

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Finally, working your way through history as john_jcb suggested can be tiresome but also very rewarding in the end. Here is another good site for information on jazz: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/

I am this way with most of the music I enjoy. It may be me but I seem to get more out of the music if I know a little bit about what was behind it and where it came from. It could be a chore as saint.panda suggests if you don't enjoy it. I guess that is why the History channel on TV is one of my favorites. Happy New Year.

 

[immtbiker]

For Jazz/Rock fusion, I recommend 2 by Al DiMeola. "Kiss My Axe", and "Flesh on Flesh".
For more traditional Jazz...Try Jacintha - Lush Life. This is John Coltrane's album songs, with Jacintha singing...so you get the good Jazz, and hot female vocals. Nothing experimental and blaring for the newbie.

Also, Herbie Hancock's - Cantaloupe Island is a sure winner for awesome piano, and standup bass.

For great Jazz guitar, try Kenny Burrell's - Midnight Blue. BMG has the re-mastered version, so if you are a club member, you can get it for free.

If deep fret vibrating standup bass makes you happy, Anything by Ray Brown, but especially his CD from TelArc - Walk On, is a crowd pleaser.

None of these suggestions are the kind off Jazz that only diehard Jazz fans, would enjoy. Those you can get into, when you can relate to what it says in my sig

And I triple second Jahn's advice for Dave Brubeck's - Time Out, with the great "Take Five", which will always hold a place in time.

Happy listening.

 

[ghart999]

Thank you so much for all the feedback. You have given me a wealth of info to start with.

 

[HVK]

I didn't like jazz until this Christmas when a friend sent me Miles Davis "A Kind of Blue". It changed my mind!!!

 

[immtbiker]

Enjoy your new world!

 

[gaijin]

Duke Ellington is a musician all other (jazz) musicians aspire to.

Here is an interesting link I came across recently, which can help you discover his music :

http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprof...n_pianist.html

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin Duke Ellington is a musician all other (jazz) musicians aspire to. Here is an interesting link I came across recently, which can help you discover his music : http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprof...n_pianist.html

wow... i learned something from this link... i wasn't aware of duke's album, Money Jungle. for anyone curious... it's a 1962 session he played with max roach and charlie mingus (two of my favorite players). i just listened to a few song samples, and i was blown away. duke ellington, playing hard-bop (sometimes bordering on free jazz, even), with two bebop masters in a trio...

damn... i knew ellington was a genius, but this blew me away. i'm picking this album up as soon as possible.

 

[Genetic]

I'm reading this thread listening to Eberhard Weber «Death In The Carwash» (Later That Evening: ECM 1231) and I must say that probably the only way you'll find a good answer to your initial question is by looking more closely to what kind of feeling you're searching in jazz music.

The good news is whatever your looking for you'll find it in jazz. As John_jcb wrote earlier «You have asked about one of the most diverse and ever changing genres of music. » On this Weber CD I'm listening, Bill Frisell is sounding like Terje Rypdal....In time you'll even find this last remark humorous and quite right...

Enjoy yourself.

Amicalement

 

[gaijin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax wow... i learned something from this link... i wasn't aware of duke's album, Money Jungle. for anyone curious... it's a 1962 session he played with max roach and charlie mingus (two of my favorite players). i just listened to a few song samples, and i was blown away. duke ellington, playing hard-bop (sometimes bordering on free jazz, even), with two bebop masters in a trio... damn... i knew ellington was a genius, but this blew me away. i'm picking this album up as soon as possible.

Duke Ellington transcends "genres".

 

[philodox]

Just picked up The Essential Thelonious Monk and I am enjoying it quite a bit... thanks for starting me on this discovery of jazz Tyrion.

 

[immtbiker]

Interesting that people are hitting on Ellington. I recently picked up some new vinyl on Impulse, simply titled Duke Ellington & John Coltrane. Jazz in it's finest form. It also has Elvin Jones, Aaron Bell, Jimmy Garrison, and Sam Woodyard.

The Duke got to mix it up with some great company. Wonder what it was like?

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Just picked up The Essential Thelonious Monk and I am enjoying it quite a bit... thanks for starting me on this discovery of jazz Tyrion.

Glad to do it. After all you did get me into microbunny. I would never have considered listening to jazz until I came to this website. Now I listen to jazz probably 60% of the time.

 

[Jahn]

was it the Duke at Newport album that has the longest solo ever recorded on it? anyhow a tenor sax player in his band just went off forever, i still remember hearing that in high school thinking DAMN.

oh, i found the blurb-

"But the band made a major comeback at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, when they kicked into a version of "Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue" that found saxophonist Paul Gonsalves taking a long, memorable solo. "

 

[patman657]

If you are enjoying Monk, you absolutely must get Brilliant Corners. I have a 20 bit, K2 mastered CD from the Riverside label that is simply fantastic. It's unlike any other jazz album I own and a true masterpiece.