The Black Album of Jazz....

Kind of Blue or Take Five probably best fit your black album analogy.

But you'd probably prefer Bitches Brew

 

Miles Davis "Bitches Brew"....maybe?

 

There will be a lot of recommendations for Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue", the best selling jazz album of all time.

I'm sure a lot of others will recommend a lot of jazz standards... If you're going this route I'd recommend Oscar Peterson, especially recordings with Ray Brown on bass (my favourite upright player). I'd also recommend some fusion as it contains a bit more energy and I'd think would relate to metal a bit easier, so also check out albums by Return to Forever, and the Weather Report recordings, especially with Jaco Pastorius, like "Heavy Weather".

 

Miles David "Kind of Blue"
I read somewhere that this one album (recorded in the 1950s by a dead guy) outsells the entire combined sales of all living jazz artists under the age of 40! (or something like that, I forget the exact statistic)

 

Why are people suggesting "Kind of blue"? it is one of the calmest, mellow, introspective jazz album ever made. I can't imagine a metal fan liking it at all.

Perhaps a better suggestion would be "Milestones", also from Miles Davis.

None blacker.

 

Birth of the Cool

 

That's exactly why a metal fan should listen to it; to understand music that is calm, mellow & introspective. Bitches Brew for example is a great album, but if it's the only jazz album you own, you'll have a very skewed idea of what jazz is.

I agree Milestones is a good one too.

Another artist I can highly recommend is Billie Holiday, she was an incredible vocalist.

 

Coltrane's "Giant Steps"

 

I thought you were referring to Prince's "Black Album".

 

By the way, since your username is cliffburtonfan, have you researched Cliff's bio/interviews to find out what his musical influences were? I would not be surprised to learn he was a jazz fan, given his creativity and what he was capable of.

 

I'll say "A Love Supreme".

 

Romantic Warrior by Return to Forever.

Not really jazz per se -- more fusion -- but a great bridge to jazz for someone with a rock-centered ear.

 

If you're looking for really straight-ahead standards, then the Oscar Peterson Trio album, We Get Requests is a great start. Kind of Blue is awesome; also check out Christian McBride's album Kind of Brown.

 

I would recommend Pat Metheny "Bright Size Life" to a metal guitarist as an intro to jazz. Or perhaps "the Philadelphia Experiment" with ?Love and Christian McBride. Great records!

I studied jazz for years in college, and it's great! Best jazz advice I could give to an aspiring bassist? Don't play solos hahahahaha!

 

Duotones

 

Kind of blue is anything but dark. It's actually great music to meditate to. Very relaxing. If you want something that is 180 degrees different then metal, that would be it.

Milestones is a lot "darker", more like what they call "crime jazz" these days. Any of the mid 60's Miles albums with Hancock, Carter, williams and shorter would also be "darker".

I suggested Milestones because it is a very intense album. I could see a metal head probably at least acknowledging it, if not outright loving it. The sax solos on "Dr. Jackyl" alone would make any metal head happy. Plus, the drumming is very heavy and powerful.

Kind of blue was a revolutionary album, and probably one of jazz' finest moments, but as a first introduction to jazz for someone coming from rock, I would look elsewhere.

Really, if I had to suggest ANY jazz to a metal head, it would be those modern jazz guitarists who used a lot of distortion. Mahvishnu orchestra (inner mounting flame), mike stern, john scofield, and most definitely Al Dimeola. All that 70's era fusion was heavily influenced by rock.

 

Lenny White - Astrial Pirates, Venetian Summer
Billy Cobham - Spectrum, Funky Thide of Sings
Tony Williams - Believe it
Frank Zappa - Roxy & Elsewhere

 

The first two jazz albums I bought were in this order,

1. Take Five - Dave Brubeck Quartet
2. Mingus Ah Um - Charles Mingus

Fifteen years of listening later, I think these two albums are a perfectly appropriate starting point. I suggest going on to some Miles, Monk and Coltrane from there and then just strike out into uncharted territory. You might try some Vince Guaraldi. His stuff is very possibly a bit too bland for starters, but it's good stuff too.

Here's an excellent reference to help get you started.

Amazon.com: The Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums (9780141048314): Brian Morton, Richard Cook: Books