Recommended Jazz Albums

[RxFunk]

Hey guys(and gals), I'm looking for some good Jazz music as I've recently been getting into it a lot, and want to know where else I should look. Also, any Soul, Funk, R&B, Blues, just whatever you make think is appropriate/similar. Artists I like as a reference point: Al Green, Amy Winehouse, Billie Holliday, Caro Emerald, Dean Martin, Fitz and the Tantrums, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Porter, Jamie Cullum, Jimmy Ruffin, Madeline Peyroux, Mayer Hawthorne, Melody Gardot, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, and Tony Bennett. Sorry if the list is excessive, just wanted to have my bases covered! Thanks!

[basscooker]

well not exactly jazz, but hovering musically around some of the ideas in jazz, check out tom waits "Nighthawks at the diner". still just folky-lounge-lizard-rock, but has a jazzy delivery. and, how can you go wrong at least checking out a tom waits album? actually lots of his stuff falls into its own "venn diagram" of musical styles, and if you don't know tom's music, at least take a listen.

Dr. john has good stuff along some of the funk, r&b lines, too. these two i've mentioned are seemingly not as popular as they should be, IMHO.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by basscooker

well not exactly jazz, but hovering musically around some of the ideas in jazz, check out tom waits "Nighthawks at the diner". still just folky-lounge-lizard-rock, but has a jazzy delivery. and, how can you go wrong at least checking out a tom waits album? actually lots of his stuff falls into its own "venn diagram" of musical styles, and if you don't know tom's music, at least take a listen.

Dr. john has good stuff along some of the funk, r&b lines, too. these two i've mentioned are seemingly not as popular as they should be, IMHO.

I'm not familiar with either of them actually, I'll check them out, thanks for the quick response!

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by basscooker

well not exactly jazz, but hovering musically around some of the ideas in jazz, check out tom waits "Nighthawks at the diner". still just folky-lounge-lizard-rock, but has a jazzy delivery. and, how can you go wrong at least checking out a tom waits album? actually lots of his stuff falls into its own "venn diagram" of musical styles, and if you don't know tom's music, at least take a listen.

Dr. john has good stuff along some of the funk, r&b lines, too. these two i've mentioned are seemingly not as popular as they should be, IMHO.

I'll go along with those two choices - I'm a big fan of them both.

[RedMoses]

None of that list if Jazz... If you want to get to know Jazz, here is a great place to start:

- Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers "Implulse"
- Clifford Brown/Max Roach "More study in Brown

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by RedMoses

None of that list if Jazz... If you want to get to know Jazz, here is a great place to start:

- Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"
- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers "Implulse"
- Clifford Brown/Max Roach "More study in Brown

Yeah, they were just artists that sort of use elements of jazz in their music which is why they were reference points is what I'm trying to say.

[fmoore200]

Just picked up an album from 1939 (i think) by Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson trio (even though it's a quartet).. Amazing stuff. Others that I enjoy are:

Live at Antibes - Charles Mingus
East Coasting- Charles Mingus
Milestones - Miles Davis
Critical Mass - Dave Holland
A Study in Brown - Clifford Brown
Something for Lester - Ray Brown

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by fmoore200

Just picked up an album from 1939 (i think) by Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson trio (even though it's a quartet).. Amazing stuff. Others that I enjoy are:

Live at Antibes - Charles Mingus
East Coasting- Charles Mingus
Milestones - Miles Davis
Critical Mass - Dave Holland
A Study in Brown - Clifford Brown
Something for Lester - Ray Brown

Ray Brown is awesome! I'll check out the other stuff too.

[Lonesomedave]

Charles Mingus- Ah Um

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by Lonesomedave

Charles Mingus- Ah Um

I think I've listened to part of that before, I'll listen to the rest though.

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by RxFunk

Yeah, they were just artists that sort of use elements of jazz in their music which is why they were reference points is what I'm trying to say.

Any jazz in their music is buried deep.

Listen to anything by Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis or Joe Pass. They were great guitar players and always had great bass players. Check out The Poll Winners.

This reminds me of an interview with Barney Kessel before he died. The interviewer asked him what he thought of smooth jazz and he said, I don't know what it is, but it ain't jazz.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by lfmn16

Any jazz in their music is buried deep.

Listen to anything by Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis or Joe Pass. They were great guitar players and always had great bass players. Check out The Poll Winners.

This reminds me of an interview with Barney Kessel before he died. The interviewer asked him what he thought of smooth jazz and he said, I don't know what it is, but it ain't jazz.

I know Joe Pass, don't know the others though. I'll give em a listen.

[Ed Fuqua]

This is going to be a highly subjective list, but these are all recordings I've spent a lot of time with:
MOTION - Lee Konitz, Sonny Dallas and Elvin Jones
JIM HALL TRIO LIVE - Jim Hall, Don Thompson and Terry Clarke. They just released 3 additional CDs of recordings form this one week engagement at the club Bourbon Street
GROOVY - Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor
THE BRIDGE - Sonny Rollins, Jim Hall, Bob Cranshaw, Ben Riley
THE ARRIVAL - Victor Feldman, Scott LaFaro, Stan Levey
WALTZ FOR DEBBIE - Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian
MOTOR CITY SCENE (or SESSIONS?) - Thad Jones, Billy Mitchell, Al Grey, Hank Jones, Paul Chambers, Elvin Jones
MODE FOR JOE - Joe Henderson, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller. Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers
LIVE AT SWEET BASIL - Jim Hall, Red Mitchell
LIVE AT SWEET BASIL - Warne Marsh, Red Mitchell
LIVE IN TOKYO - Jimmy Raney, Sam Jones, Leroy Williams
LIVE IN PARIS - Jimmy Raney, Sonny Clark, Red Mitchell, Bobby White
LIVE AT STORYVILLE - Stan Getz, Jimmy Raney, Al Haig, Teddy Kotick, Tiny Kahn
Man, it's hard to stop. The other thing I would say - make your list personal; if you hear a recording that REALLY speaks to you, do the following:
Find records that have the leader (of the recording you like) as a sideman
Find records that have the same rhythm section but different horn players
Find records that have the same horn players but a different rhythm section
And ALWAYS, when you hear someone who is really affecting you at a deep level, try to find as much stuff that they play on as possible. It will become apparent pretty quickly who is playing at a deeply creative level and who is basically recycling the same stuff from record to record. And also be sure to go back and listen to stuff that you didn't dig so much when you first heard it (ESPECIALLY if it's a recording you keep hearing jazz musicians talking about a LOT). Sometimes you can't hear at a deep enough level for it to make sense the first few times through, as your ear gets deeper you can catch stuff you couldn't before. And conversely, stuff that you thought was the absolute killing ****, just doesn't hold up...

[backup]

there are tons of jazz styles. so every reply is boudn to be subjective.

definitely check out miles davis' kind of blue, bill evans' portrait in jazz and john coltrane's a love supreme.

for big band jazz, and since you listed frank sinatra, check out his two "Duets" albums. his voice isnt in best shape anymore but they feature nice swing renditions of popular jazz tunes such as mack the knife, new york, a foggy day.

also i got something in my collection called "miles davis and horns" released 1955 i think its recorded in between 51 and 53. its easy to listen to and but still very interesting.

for classic vocal jazz dont neglect ella fitzgerald. i recommend you her duets with louis armstrong.

for bluesy piano jazz check out oscar peterson- "night train"
also he has an album with louis armstrong which is nice too.

esperanza spalding is a contemporary jazz artist and bassist that gets much love on TB.

also if youre into the more crazy stuff, sun ra, pharoah sanders and rahsaan roland kirk are essential.

sun ra's early recordings such as "sounds of joy" and "jazz in silhouette" are more traditional. "atlantis" is minimalistic with percussion. my personal favorite right now is "lanquidity"

rahsaan roland kirk's volunteered slavery is classic and pharoah sanders "africa" or "journey to the one" i also recommended

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by backup

there are tons of jazz styles. so every reply is boudn to be subjective.

definitely check out miles davis' kind of blue, bill evans' portrait in jazz and john coltrane's a love supreme.

for big band jazz, and since you listed frank sinatra, check out his two "Duets" albums. his voice isnt in best shape anymore but they feature nice swing renditions of popular jazz tunes such as mack the knife, new york, a foggy day.

also i got something in my collection called "miles davis and horns" released 1955 i think its recorded in between 51 and 53. its easy to listen to and but still very interesting.

for classic vocal jazz dont neglect ella fitzgerald. i recommend you her duets with louis armstrong.

for bluesy piano jazz check out oscar peterson- "night train"
also he has an album with louis armstrong which is nice too.

esperanza spalding is a contemporary jazz artist and bassist that gets much love on TB.

also if youre into the more crazy stuff, sun ra, pharoah sanders and rahsaan roland kirk are essential.

sun ra's early recordings such as "sounds of joy" and "jazz in silhouette" are more traditional. "atlantis" is minimalistic with percussion. my personal favorite right now is "lanquidity"

rahsaan roland kirk's volunteered slavery is classic and pharoah sanders "africa" or "journey to the one" i also recommended

thanks for the great list!

[backup]

Originally Posted by RxFunk

thanks for the great list!

also i recall having official trancriptions for the sinatra albums. now they are copyrighted so i cant share them but you may find them on your own somewhere. very nice easy reading and playing practise for walking bass through different keys

[zfunkman]

Originally Posted by RxFunk

Hey guys(and gals), I'm looking for some good Jazz music as I've recently been getting into it a lot, and want to know where else I should look. Also, any Soul, Funk, R&B, Blues, just whatever you make think is appropriate/similar. Artists I like as a reference point: Al Green, Amy Winehouse, Billie Holliday, Caro Emerald, Dean Martin, Fitz and the Tantrums, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Porter, Jamie Cullum, Jimmy Ruffin, Madeline Peyroux, Mayer Hawthorne, Melody Gardot, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, and Tony Bennett. Sorry if the list is excessive, just wanted to have my bases covered! Thanks!

For something different try listening to some Brand X (progressive jazz) - start with Timeline, then go on from there. All their stuff is good. Percy Jones is an amazing bass player. Also, you may want to give Medeski, Martin & Wood a listen . . . End of the World Party is my fav.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

This is going to be a highly subjective list, but these are all recordings I've spent a lot of time with:
MOTION - Lee Konitz, Sonny Dallas and Elvin Jones
JIM HALL TRIO LIVE - Jim Hall, Don Thompson and Terry Clarke. They just released 3 additional CDs of recordings form this one week engagement at the club Bourbon Street
GROOVY - Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor
THE BRIDGE - Sonny Rollins, Jim Hall, Bob Cranshaw, Ben Riley
THE ARRIVAL - Victor Feldman, Scott LaFaro, Stan Levey
WALTZ FOR DEBBIE - Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian
MOTOR CITY SCENE (or SESSIONS?) - Thad Jones, Billy Mitchell, Al Grey, Hank Jones, Paul Chambers, Elvin Jones
MODE FOR JOE - Joe Henderson, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller. Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers
LIVE AT SWEET BASIL - Jim Hall, Red Mitchell
LIVE AT SWEET BASIL - Warne Marsh, Red Mitchell
LIVE IN TOKYO - Jimmy Raney, Sam Jones, Leroy Williams
LIVE IN PARIS - Jimmy Raney, Sonny Clark, Red Mitchell, Bobby White
LIVE AT STORYVILLE - Stan Getz, Jimmy Raney, Al Haig, Teddy Kotick, Tiny Kahn
Man, it's hard to stop. The other thing I would say - make your list personal; if you hear a recording that REALLY speaks to you, do the following:
Find records that have the leader (of the recording you like) as a sideman
Find records that have the same rhythm section but different horn players
Find records that have the same horn players but a different rhythm section
And ALWAYS, when you hear someone who is really affecting you at a deep level, try to find as much stuff that they play on as possible. It will become apparent pretty quickly who is playing at a deeply creative level and who is basically recycling the same stuff from record to record. And also be sure to go back and listen to stuff that you didn't dig so much when you first heard it (ESPECIALLY if it's a recording you keep hearing jazz musicians talking about a LOT). Sometimes you can't hear at a deep enough level for it to make sense the first few times through, as your ear gets deeper you can catch stuff you couldn't before. And conversely, stuff that you thought was the absolute killing ****, just doesn't hold up...

Wow! Big list, I'll go through this when I get a chance. Thanks, Ed!

[pocketgroove]

Good stuff here!

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by zfunkman

For something different try listening to some Brand X (progressive jazz) - start with Timeline, then go on from there. All their stuff is good. Percy Jones is an amazing bass player. Also, you may want to give Medeski, Martin & Wood a listen . . . End of the World Party is my fav.

I'll give it a try too, thanks.