[HPiper]

What a great jazz guitar player.

 

[caml]

I am no jazz connoisseur at all and, much like the OP, am trying to develop a taste for it with easy to listen to yet proper jazz records. I have come across a few albums recently that I really enjoy listening as such.
This one particularly hasn’t been mentioned in the thread : Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi
 
Two others have been mentioned I reckon but please me a lot as a beginner : Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers - Moanin
And Jazz At The Pawnshop by Domnerus, Hallberg, Erstrand, Riedel and Johansen
Such a quality recording that makes the latter a memorable headphone listening experience… but still very easy going.
 
Also, I find Miles Davis albums very difficult to enjoy, but for a few exceptions :
«Ascenceur pour l’échafaud» Original Movie Soundtrack
Kind of Blue
Ballads & Blues
Miles Davis Acoustic
(the last two are compilations I reckon)

 

[doctorjazz]

Miles is a really interesting character (musically, and otherwise as well, I understand). Most musicians go through an early development stage, where they "find" their sound, then play variations of that the rest of their career. A few, like Miles, continue to change and grow their entire careers (Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins are others who have "periods"). In Miles' case, he went from bebop to give "birth" to cool jazz, then explores modal music, starts to get more "free" and abstract with the 60's band, then goes electric in the late 60's/70's, starting "fusion" (though Miles' version was knotty, not easy listening). I first tried to learn about jazz my first year on college, tried "Miles Smiles", put it away, and didn't actually learn to like jazz until my last year, when I took a course on jazz history (Chuck Israels, a great bassist, gave the course, though I didn't realize it was a big deal at the time. He had to be out for a short time, had Lee Konitz substitute for him). The course started my life long passion for jazz. I thing there is a real benefit to hearing jazz in a linear, time line sort of way, getting a sense of how the music got from blues and ragtime to where it is now (though one doesn't HAVE to do that way, of course, may be too much like homework for some). Similarly, Miles makes sense when you listen to him that way. And, you may just NOT like the later, more abstract/thorny places Miles went, but, hearing how he got there, you may (as I did).
Sorry for going on so long.
(I once posted a basic jazz library, think it was on the Discovery Thread. I'll look for it, or redo it, one of these days. A good "class" for jazz history, which seemed as the "textbook" in my college class, is " The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz", with checking out, and I think still available from the Smithsonian).
Gotta catch my breath...

 

[Buddhahacker]

Miles is a really interesting character (musically, and otherwise as well, I understand). Most musicians go through an early development stage, where they "find" their sound, then play variations of that the rest of their career. A few, like Miles, continue to change and grow their entire careers (Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins are others who have "periods"). In Miles' case, he went from bebop to give "birth" to cool jazz, then explores modal music, starts to get more "free" and abstract with the 60's band, then goes electric in the late 60's/70's, starting "fusion" (though Miles' version was knotty, not easy listening). I first tried to learn about jazz my first year on college, tried "Miles Smiles", put it away, and didn't actually learn to like jazz until my last year, when I took a course on jazz history (Chuck Israels, a great bassist, gave the course, though I didn't realize it was a big deal at the time. He had to be out for a short time, had Lee Konitz substitute for him). The course started my life long passion for jazz. I thing there is a real benefit to hearing jazz in a linear, time line sort of way, getting a sense of how the music got from blues and ragtime to where it is now (though one doesn't HAVE to do that way, of course, may be too much like homework for some). Similarly, Miles makes sense when you listen to him that way. And, you may just NOT like the later, more abstract/thorny places Miles went, but, hearing how he got there, you may (as I did).
Sorry for going on so long.
(I once posted a basic jazz library, think it was on the Discovery Thread. I'll look for it, or redo it, one of these days. A good "class" for jazz history, which seemed as the "textbook" in my college class, is " The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz", with checking out, and I think still available from the Smithsonian).
Gotta catch my breath...

This would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your effort. 

 

[Blueshound24]

I am a very recent new Jazz fan, and just discovered and really appreciate this thread! Some artists who have stoked my interest are: Ray Brown, Ahmad Jamal, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson and Gene Harris. Love these guys and just about any album by them is a winner!

 

[GearMe]

I am a very recent new Jazz fan, and just discovered and really appreciate this thread! Some artists who have stoked my interest are: Ray Brown, Ahmad Jamal, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson and Gene Harris. Love these guys and just about any album by them is a winner!

If you like Ray Brown, listen to The There (w/Joe Sample & Shelly Manne) originally on Eastwind records. Wore a hole through that album. I recently found a digital extended version that had two cuts of each song...nice!

Yearnin' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx8pLFmNwn8

On Green Dolphin Street - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO4jE9LmEqo

Funky Blues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A-lzn7Y3Rw

 

[Blueshound24]

 

  I am a very recent new Jazz fan, and just discovered and really appreciate this thread! Some artists who have stoked my interest are: Ray Brown, Ahmad Jamal, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson and Gene Harris. Love these guys and just about any album by them is a winner!

If you like Ray Brown, listen to The Three (w/Joe Sample & Shelly Manne) originally on Eastwind records. Wore a hole through that album. I recently found a digital extended version that had two cuts of each song...nice!

Yearnin' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx8pLFmNwn8

On Green Dolphin Street - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO4jE9LmEqo

Funky Blues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A-lzn7Y3Rw

 
Fixed it for ya. Thanks! I found a copy on goHastings and ordered it! Along with a bunch of other CD's
 
40% off when you buy 4 or more of anything today.

 

[doctorjazz]

OK, found a post I did on The Discovery Thread about 2 years ago, in response to a query about jazz albums for beginners, "The mission to like jazz", so to speak. They are not necessarily my picks for "best" by a particular artist, just a way to approach what can seem like an impenetrable art form (many of these albums were ones I first heard exploring jazz). For instance, the MJQ are a great group, but I wouldn't necessarily place them asbove, say, Art Pepper or Cecil Taylor, from an influence or importance viewpoint. But, when I started listening, I found them much easier to grasp than, say, Bud Powell or even Charile Parker. In fact, I "got" Dizzy Gillespie before I "got" Charlie Parker-he's an easier way into bebop than Bird is, though Bird and Bud are arguably somewhat more the innovators. Anyway, this was 2 years ago, some picks would be different now (and, I'll annotate in italics to update a bit). In that funny way that "the easy way" can turn out to be harder than the task you are avoiding, it took about 2 hours to find this old post, which probably took 15 minutes to write...oh well).

Sure-how many do you want?
Kind of Blue-Miles Davis (almost any Columbia Miles up to around 1969 is great listening, though the later the year, the more abstract the music starts to become. In the late 60's he went to jazz-rock fusion, which I love, but is a controversial period, and definitely more challenging listening than Kind Of Blue).
(What I said about the Columbia Miles albums it true, but the Prestige "Relaxin' with the Miles davis Quintet" is up there with his Columbia classics. It was recorded in 2 sessions, and 4 albums were released from the sessions, "Steamin' with...", "Workin' with...", and "Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet", which feature the quintet with John Coltrane, and are all fabulous).

Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (Impulse)-great way to break into the music of these great jazz giants (each has who knows how many worthy albums of their own). If you'd like an album with smooth vocals, but somewhat more aggressive instrumental background, John Coltrane Meets Johnny Hartman (Impulse) is great
(to hear more Trane, "A Love Supreme" is the classic, intense, spiritual, exploratory, reverent at the same time. Crescent is another classic. There is a ton of Ellington, he recorded for decades...The Blanton Webster Band, from the late 30's/early 40's, has been reissued in a number of collections-Smithsonian had a series year by year, not sure if they're still available. For later Duke, New Orleans Suite I find to be fun to listen to, Such Sweet Thunder and Money Jungle, with Max Roach and Charles Mingus, are good starting points. There is a ton of great material out there...)

Bill Evans-Waltz For Debby (Riverside), again, Evans has many great albums, but this is a good starting place.
(As are "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" and other dates with the great bassist, Scott LaFaro)

Charles Mingus- Oh yeah (Atlantic)
(Blues and Roots is another great album to start with, as are Mingus Ah Um and Oh Yeah, all on Atlantic. Some later album that are fun are Cumbia and Jazz Fusion and Tijuana Moods

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong-Ella and Louis/Ella and Louis Again...HEAVEN!!! I believe I posted "Cheek to Cheek" by these two somewhere in this thread. Vocal nirvana! (saved my marriage at the beginning-the only thing early on my wife and I could listen to in the car...)

Sonny Rollins-Way Out West or Saxaphone Collussus (Prestige), hard to pick, Way Out West is fun, with the version of "I'm An Old Cowhand"
(again, there are many to chose from-You can't go wrong with Saxaphone Collosus, The Bridge, featuring Jim Hall, or Don't Stop the Carnival from later in his career, or a dozen others...)

Modern Jazz Quartet-Blues on Bach; In Memoriam (Atlantic)...Don't listen to them much these days, but when I started listening to jazz, the combination of classical composition and jazz chops/improv (vibes player Milt Jackson is a monster) made them an easy way to break into jazz.

Ben Allison-Peace Pipe (Palmetto), something different, a bit more "modern" or "contemporary", he has a large discography and tours with different units, which all have something to offer
(Lots of great Ben Allison out there...Think Free, Peace Pipe and Medicine Wheel are also fine choices. Other artists that are contemporary are The Bad Plus, Dave Douglas, and Georg Breinschmid, whos Double Brein album I love)/I]

Ornette Coleman-The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic, I believe)...the beginnings of Avant Garde/free jazz, but very listenable (hadn't broken all the shackles of harmony/rhythm yet).
this is a good start, early Ornette, also Something Else, and, from his later, electric period, the fabulous Dancing in your Head)


Charlie Parker-The Savoy Master Takes. These are repackaged in many forms, but are the Rosetta Stone of Bebop/modern jazz
(you can't go wrong with the Dial Masters, or the later Verve's, in other words, EVERYTHING! These are available as box sets, single albums, double albums, they are great in any form)

That's 10 for starters, more if you'd like later. (it is all somewhat arbitrary, could have substituted many albums by the same artists, and there are many more artists that could make the list, but it's a start)

OK, so I've expanded it past that 10 break-in albums, but they are still here. Another recent album I love and refer back to frequently, not because it is necessary "important", but because it's just so much darn fun, is the Steven Bernstein-Henry Butler Hot 9 album, Vipers Drag...I'll end with the tune that always puts a smile on my face and a shimmy in my backside )




(great band in concert, seen them a few times at The Jazz Standard, catch them if they come around...)



(this is still a tiny smattering of what's out there, but it should get anyone started and keep them busy for a while...)

 

[HPiper]

Miles is a really interesting character (musically, and otherwise as well, I understand). Most musicians go through an early development stage, where they "find" their sound, then play variations of that the rest of their career. A few, like Miles, continue to change and grow their entire careers (Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins are others who have "periods"). In Miles' case, he went from bebop to give "birth" to cool jazz, then explores modal music, starts to get more "free" and abstract with the 60's band, then goes electric in the late 60's/70's, starting "fusion" (though Miles' version was knotty, not easy listening). I first tried to learn about jazz my first year on college, tried "Miles Smiles", put it away, and didn't actually learn to like jazz until my last year, when I took a course on jazz history (Chuck Israels, a great bassist, gave the course, though I didn't realize it was a big deal at the time. He had to be out for a short time, had Lee Konitz substitute for him). The course started my life long passion for jazz. I thing there is a real benefit to hearing jazz in a linear, time line sort of way, getting a sense of how the music got from blues and ragtime to where it is now (though one doesn't HAVE to do that way, of course, may be too much like homework for some). Similarly, Miles makes sense when you listen to him that way. And, you may just NOT like the later, more abstract/thorny places Miles went, but, hearing how he got there, you may (as I did).
Sorry for going on so long.
(I once posted a basic jazz library, think it was on the Discovery Thread. I'll look for it, or redo it, one of these days. A good "class" for jazz history, which seemed as the "textbook" in my college class, is " The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz", with checking out, and I think still available from the Smithsonian).
Gotta catch my breath...

Exactly, I love the older Miles stuff but when he started getting WAY out there he lost me.

 

[itayze]

  I frequent these boards (but haven't posted since I joined..a lot has changed!), and was just coming here to create my own Jazz help thread when I saw this..
 
I'm in a similar position I think. I've recently been getting into some Jazz/Rock fusion (?) stuff like Nucleus' Elastic Rock, which has been a sweet listen. Between that end of the scale and full blown jazzual experiences like Bitches Brew I don't really have much experience, I'm afraid. 
 
I'd love to know more about what's in between artists like Norah Jones and Miles Davis or Sun Ra.
 
Anyway, sorry I couldn't offer you any knowledge..but I guess it's all about hearing new & exciting things, so I'll put down some random tracks I dig and hope you do too
 
 
Awesome album- got me listening to Soft Machine, too. 

 
You'll definitely recognise this if you didn't know it already. I'd love to get into more like this.

 
My favourite track from this album

 
Just three randoms I can remember at the moment! I guess if you're into less rock, more I don't know..hiphoppy vibes I would check out RJD2 (Ghostwriter), and guys like Bonobo, Quantic, Mr Scruff, Karriem Riggins.
 
Really not sure what genre this next one fits into, but it's still an absolute fave of mine.
 

 
 
Sorry for all the links! 
 
 
 
Edit: woah, missed your post about The Cinematic Orchestra. How did you find it? Love that record..Ninja Tune is one of the best labels out there.

 
Man,
That moondog song and album is great!
I've been listening to two jazz albums (A love supreme and kind of blue),
I feel that they are special and slowly starting to like them,
but this moondog dude really got me, Thanks!

 

[Quinto]

Miles is a really interesting character (musically, and otherwise as well, I understand). Most musicians go through an early development stage, where they "find" their sound, then play variations of that the rest of their career. A few, like Miles, continue to change and grow their entire careers (Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins are others who have "periods"). In Miles' case, he went from bebop to give "birth" to cool jazz, then explores modal music, starts to get more "free" and abstract with the 60's band, then goes electric in the late 60's/70's, starting "fusion" (though Miles' version was knotty, not easy listening). I first tried to learn about jazz my first year on college, tried "Miles Smiles", put it away, and didn't actually learn to like jazz until my last year, when I took a course on jazz history (Chuck Israels, a great bassist, gave the course, though I didn't realize it was a big deal at the time. He had to be out for a short time, had Lee Konitz substitute for him). The course started my life long passion for jazz. I thing there is a real benefit to hearing jazz in a linear, time line sort of way, getting a sense of how the music got from blues and ragtime to where it is now (though one doesn't HAVE to do that way, of course, may be too much like homework for some). Similarly, Miles makes sense when you listen to him that way. And, you may just NOT like the later, more abstract/thorny places Miles went, but, hearing how he got there, you may (as I did).
Sorry for going on so long.
(I once posted a basic jazz library, think it was on the Discovery Thread. I'll look for it, or redo it, one of these days. A good "class" for jazz history, which seemed as the "textbook" in my college class, is " The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz", with checking out, and I think still available from the Smithsonian).
Gotta catch my breath...

Interesting write up, wow Israels and Konitz, lucky you!!
 
It's the same with classical music for me, Shostakovich or Mahler are much more enjoyable and interesting knowing Brahms, Beethoven (his personal development is a study in itself!), Haydn, JS Bach etc.. it's like acoustic treatment inside the head, it makes it resonate better ..
 
I love Israels with Larry Bunker and Evans (Live at the Trident)

 

[doctorjazz]

I have actually approached classical music in a similar way as well, but never became as interoperable with it (only so many hours in the day, many other things on life to take care of, etc).
As with many other things in college, I wish I had a clue what I was getting (if I could do college now... ). Israels was actually a good teacher; Konitz was, like many subs, but really prepared to teach the course, but he played records he found interesting, highlighting things with his sax. This was the mid 70's. I don't think anyone in the class had a clue who either of them was during what was jazz's least popular time.

 

[doctorjazz]

Just finished the Nucleus, really like it, reminds me of Miles just when he went electric, put it in my Amazon cart.
Check out the other posts later, thanks @fabb892 for the post.

 

[Stuff Jones]

This Jameel Moondoc track is superb. Too bad I can't find a lossless digital version of the album.
 
https://soundcloud.com/relative-pitch-records-1/jemeel-moondoc-the-zookeepers-house

 

[doctorjazz]

Listening to the Moondoc, nice, free jazz alert for those who don't listen to this kind of stuff, but not too difficult listening imo, check it out if you're curious.
I know of Jameel, haven't heard a bunch of his stuff, enjoying it.
(man, I think I have heard lots of music...amazes me how much there is I haven't heard).