Can you recommend Jazz for some one that doesn't like Jazz?


Let me explain, I have tried to like jazz for over 30 years. I rarely find something I like. To me it sounds too disjointed, like everyone is trying to out do the others and they are all playing a different song. I know there has to be some good instrumental smooth jazz artists I am missing. If you have any suggestions of whom to try let me know. Some that are on my Jazz playlist is Pat Metheny-"It's for you"   Bill Frisell _"Heard it through the grapevine"  Holly Cole, George Benson... for an example of things I do like.

 

I'd love to have a 100 song Jazz playlist. So what'ch got for me?

Thanks

128x128fthompson251
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In my collection, many of the best sounding recordings happen to be of jazz.  The following is a list of some of these outstanding recordings:

Armstrong: "Satchmo Plays King Oliver" (early stereo, but not surpassed in sound quality).

Ellington: "Blues in Orbit" (again late 1950's stereo recording that is amazingly good.  I use an original issue, six-eye Columbia recording to demonstrate how little recording arts have advanced)

Brubeck: "Time Out" (original six-eye Columbia that sounds better than reissues)

Clark Terry "Alternate Blues" (a reissue from Classic Records, I believe, that is extemely dynamic)

Yamamoto Trio: "Midnight Sugar" (Japanese Three Blind Mice record.  ANY TBM record will sound fantastic; CD is decent, but not as good)

Great Jazz Trio: "Direct from L.A." (original East Wind (Japanese) label album.  The CD reissues are decent, but, not as dynamic as the original).

Bill Berry Allstars: "For Duke" (a direct to disc album from M&K records.  Any other M&K direct to disc record will also sound good, such as "Fatha")

Oliver Nelson: "Blues and the Abstract Truth" (many different reissues and they all sound quite good)

Rollins: "Saxophone Colossus" (one of the great recordings for music and sound quality; I use it to demonstrate how good MONO can sound)

 

Modern digital recordings also do a great job with jazz.  I offer two samples:

Anour Brahem: "Thimar" 

Stefano Battaglia; "Re Pasolini"

 

I don't usually think of vocal works as jazz.  To me it is its own genre and there are MANY great sounding recordings.  I will only offer one example of a top singer playing with a first rate jazz orchestra: 

Ella Fitzgerald and Marty Paich: "Whisper Not"