Recommended Jazz Albums

[atomicdog]

Lots of good stuff there. Start with Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. Then move on to any of the others: Jim Hall, Wynton Kelley, Dave Brubeck, et al. Bassists: Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro. Use iTunes to sample the kind stuff you like (ballads? swing? hard bop? etc)

[pedro]

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!

I'll leave the jazz recommendations to the more qualified but I'd strongly suggest that you check out the Godfather's of the genre and IMO that includes, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Mingus.

As for soul/r&b you've got some great names already included. I'd say you would be wise to dig into the rest of Motown and Stax and dive head first into James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Below and off the top of my head some other that you might find enjoyable:

* Sly and the Family Stone
* The Meters
* War
* Earth Wind Fire
* Tower of Power
* Aretha Franklin
* Chaka Khan with and without Rufus

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by pedro

I'll leave the jazz recommendations to the more qualified but I'd strongly suggest that you check out the Godfather's of the genre and IMO that includes, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Mingus.

As for soul/r&b you've got some great names already included. I'd say you would be wise to dig into the rest of Motown and Stax and dive head first into James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Below and off the top of my head some other that you might find enjoyable:

* Sly and the Family Stone
* The Meters
* War
* Earth Wind Fire
* Tower of Power
* Aretha Franklin
* Chaka Khan with and without Rufus

Thanks for the list, Sly and the Family Stone is awesome.

[micgtr71]

Coltrane-Blue Train
Miles Davis-Cookin at the Plugged Nickel...Also if you want fusion, Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson
Wes Montgomery Full House

Pretty much anything containing Paul Chambers. He was the man. Kenny Burrell/Coltrane...great album.

Coltrane Giant Steps...great album. Again, Paul Chambers. Killer Bassist IMO.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by micgtr71

Coltrane-Blue Train
Miles Davis-Cookin at the Plugged Nickel...Also if you want fusion, Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson
Wes Montgomery Full House

Pretty much anything containing Paul Chambers. He was the man. Kenny Burrell/Coltrane...great album.

Coltrane Giant Steps...great album. Again, Paul Chambers. Killer Bassist IMO.

Coltrane's cool, I'll look up Chambers.

[FretlessMainly]

I'll present a different approach. I've got 1,000+ jazz recordings, but when I think jazz, I think of the Prestige/Riverside/Contemporary, Impulse, Atlantic, and Blue Note catalogs from 1955-1964.

Sure, it's a somewhat arbitrary cut-off, and yes, in the last 20 years or so there have been some great new artists, the young lions, as they are sometimes called, who are doing great stuff. But to me, Hard Bop is where it's at. So, get creative on google, and find some of the discography websites for any of these artists who recorded 1955-1964:

Bassists:
Charles Mingus
Paul Chambers
Sam Jones
Curtis Counce
Oscar Pettiford
Ron Carter

Piano:
Red Garland
Bill Evans
Wynton Kelly
Thelonius Monk
Mal Waldron
Walter Bishop
Elmo Hope
Roland Hanna
Andrew Hill
Jaki Byard
Horace Silver
Kenny Drew
Tommy Flanagan
Hank Jones
Bobby Timmons

Sax:
Coltrane
Eric Dolphy
Hank Mobley
Art Pepper
Harold Land
Johnny Griffin
Benny Golson
Gigi Gryce
Cannonball Adderly
Jackie McLean
Ernie Henry
Jimmy Heath
Wayne Shorter
Pat Patrick

Trumpet/Cornet:
Blue Mitchell
Donald Byrd
Clark Terry
Miles

Trombone:
Curtis Fuller
J.J. Johnson

Drums:
Frank Butler
Charli Persip
Philly Joe Jones
Elvin Jones
Jo Jones
Larance Marable
Roy Haynes
Tony Williams
Art Blakey
Art Taylor
Max Roach

OK, I've left out a few dozen, but these should get you started.

[GrooveWarrior]

Straight Jazz:
Bill Evans - Sunday at Village Vanguard
Harvey Mason - With All My Heart
Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Mitchell Letters
John Patitucci - Line by Line
Brad Mehldau & Pat Metheny - Metheny Mehldau


Avant/Slightly Odd/Different Jazz:
Avishai Cohen - Continuo
Ben Allison - Little Things Run The World & Think Free (I highly recommend this guy. Bass player, but great composer. Really interesting stuff.)
Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Jaco - Jaco, The Birthday Concert
Medeski, Martin, & Wood - End of the World Party (Just In Case)
Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search


Jazz/Funk:
Christian McBride - Vertical Vision, Sci-Fi, & Live At Tonic
George Duke - Face The Music (One of the greatest, most underrated albums ever.)
Joshua Redman Elastic Band - Momentum
Lee Ritenour - Overtime
Maceo Parker - Roots & Grooves:Back To Funk
Marcus Miller - Just about any album.
Nils Landgren Funk Unit - 5000 Miles


New Funk (This is my favorite sub-genre right now.)
The Greyboy Allstars - What Happened To Television
Lettuce - Literally any album by these guys. If you don't have any, get them now!!
Liquid Soul - Here's the Deal
Mother Funk Conspiracy - Mother Funk Conspiracy (Any album with a song called "Hambone Steaksauce" on it is worth having.)
Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Giving Up The Ghost
Soulive - Live at the Blue Note Tokyo
Stanton Moore - Groove Alchemy, Stanton Moore III
Stanton Moore Trio - Emphasis! (On Parenthesis)

[lowendrv]

Just listen to their live stream broadcast.
One of the better Jazz stations in the US.
You will get all different kinds of jazz here. Then just go out buy what you like.
http://www.jazzandblues.org/index.aspx

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by FretlessMainly

I'll present a different approach. I've got 1,000+ jazz recordings, but when I think jazz, I think of the Prestige/Riverside/Contemporary, Impulse, Atlantic, and Blue Note catalogs from 1955-1964.

Sure, it's a somewhat arbitrary cut-off, and yes, in the last 20 years or so there have been some great new artists, the young lions, as they are sometimes called, who are doing great stuff. But to me, Hard Bop is where it's at. So, get creative on google, and find some of the discography websites for any of these artists who recorded 1955-1964:

Bassists:
Charles Mingus
Paul Chambers
Sam Jones
Curtis Counce
Oscar Pettiford
Ron Carter

Piano:
Red Garland
Bill Evans
Wynton Kelly
Thelonius Monk
Mal Waldron
Walter Bishop
Elmo Hope
Roland Hanna
Andrew Hill
Jaki Byard
Horace Silver
Kenny Drew
Tommy Flanagan
Hank Jones
Bobby Timmons

Sax:
Coltrane
Eric Dolphy
Hank Mobley
Art Pepper
Harold Land
Johnny Griffin
Benny Golson
Gigi Gryce
Cannonball Adderly
Jackie McLean
Ernie Henry
Jimmy Heath
Wayne Shorter
Pat Patrick

Trumpet/Cornet:
Blue Mitchell
Donald Byrd
Clark Terry
Miles

Trombone:
Curtis Fuller
J.J. Johnson

Drums:
Frank Butler
Charli Persip
Philly Joe Jones
Elvin Jones
Jo Jones
Larance Marable
Roy Haynes
Tony Williams
Art Blakey
Art Taylor
Max Roach

OK, I've left out a few dozen, but these should get you started.

Wow, that's quite the list, thanks.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by GrooveWarrior

Straight Jazz:
Bill Evans - Sunday at Village Vanguard
Harvey Mason - With All My Heart
Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Mitchell Letters
John Patitucci - Line by Line
Brad Mehldau & Pat Metheny - Metheny Mehldau

Avant/Slightly Odd/Different Jazz:
Avishai Cohen - Continuo
Ben Allison - Little Things Run The World & Think Free (I highly recommend this guy. Bass player, but great composer. Really interesting stuff.)
Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Jaco - Jaco, The Birthday Concert
Medeski, Martin, & Wood - End of the World Party (Just In Case)
Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search

Jazz/Funk:
Christian McBride - Vertical Vision, Sci-Fi, & Live At Tonic
George Duke - Face The Music (One of the greatest, most underrated albums ever.)
Joshua Redman Elastic Band - Momentum
Lee Ritenour - Overtime
Maceo Parker - Roots & Grooves:Back To Funk
Marcus Miller - Just about any album.
Nils Landgren Funk Unit - 5000 Miles

New Funk (This is my favorite sub-genre right now.)
The Greyboy Allstars - What Happened To Television
Lettuce - Literally any album by these guys. If you don't have any, get them now!!
Liquid Soul - Here's the Deal
Mother Funk Conspiracy - Mother Funk Conspiracy (Any album with a song called "Hambone Steaksauce" on it is worth having.)
Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Giving Up The Ghost
Soulive - Live at the Blue Note Tokyo
Stanton Moore - Groove Alchemy, Stanton Moore III
Stanton Moore Trio - Emphasis! (On Parenthesis)

Cool, lots of goos looking stuff here, thanks man.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by atomicdog

Lots of good stuff there. Start with Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. Then move on to any of the others: Jim Hall, Wynton Kelley, Dave Brubeck, et al. Bassists: Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro. Use iTunes to sample the kind stuff you like (ballads? swing? hard bop? etc)

Thanks, I've been trying iTunes as well.

[bearhart74]

anything that Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen has played on

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by bearhart74

anything that Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen has played on

I'll listen to him too, thanks.

[ebozzz]

Originally Posted by micgtr71

Pretty much anything containing Paul Chambers.

He ain't lying!

[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.

Thanks for the reccomendation, Herb Ellis is really cool too.

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by ebozzz

He ain't lying!

No he ain't! This one I especially liked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLG1vhU8co8

[FretlessMainly]

It goes without saying that you should listen to every note Coltrane ever played, but here's one of the first jazz performances that got me really into the genre. A nice example of the use of minor (Cmin) for the verse and the relative Major (EbMaj) for the chorus. What starts out as a fairly light trio piece takes on a whole new dimension when Trane comes blowing in like a tornado at 3:09. A commentor indicates that Elvin really pushes it when he switches to sticks (it's a pretty clean switch right when Trane enters). I dunno man, that's Trane pushing Elvin in my book. The trio transforms into a beast because they just knew that Trane was on a serious mission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSUiqjjetUg

[ksandvik]

It is my humble opinion (!) that the first (and worst case possibly only) jazz album someone should get it is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

...lately I've been rediscovering Herbie Hancock's awesome jazz talents, darn he's talented in whatever music he approaches...

[RxFunk]

Originally Posted by ksandvik

It is my humble opinion (!) that the first (and worst case possibly only) jazz album someone should get it is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

...lately I've been rediscovering Herbie Hancock's awesome jazz talents, darn he's talented in whatever music he approaches...

Herbie Hancock is amazing as well.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by ksandvik

It is my humble opinion (!) that the first (and worst case possibly only) jazz album someone should get it is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

It's certainly a fine recording, but in some respects it's the ultimate expression of what Miles started with Birth of the Cool, and as such, it lacks the grit and edge that makes many Coltrane and Mingus recordings so appealing to me.