I love this post!!
@fthompson251 i must be your music doppelgänger! I’m still trying to “get” traditional jazz after 50+ years.
Thank you @stuartk , your post was very enlightening and educational!
In addition to the many great recommendations you have received already, here are some jazz artist I enjoy. They tend to stick with a tune but some do improvisation along the way:
Guitar led:
- Chris Standring
- Chuck Loeb
- Les Sabler
- Larry Carlton
- Jeff Lorber
- Paul Brown
- Thom Rotella
- Chieli Minucci
- George Benson
- Earl Klugh
- Acoustic Alchemy
Trumpet led:
- Rick Braun
- Cindy Bradley
- Chet Baker
- Chris Botti
Piano/keyboardled:
- Brian Simpson
- Oli Silk
- Bob James
- Paul Hardcastle
Bass Led:
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I can’t recall ever reading a full set of responses and agreeing so thoroughly with them. There is a lot of great advice above. A reason to treasure this site. I’d add to the many excellent recommendations: Herbie Hancock, Headhunters and Cantaloupe Island and one of my favorite songs, Peaches en Regalia by Frank Zappa (he recorded a bunch of versions). Zappa has a lot of cross-over. This particular song has no lyrics and is more accessible than a lot of his other music. With my and the other recommendations above, I’d try stuff out and then dive in to what you find enjoyable. Have fun!
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Try "Jazz at the Pawn Shop". A wonderful live recording at a jazz club in Stockholm.
They cover some classics and the sound is amazing.
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@stuartk
Wow. This was a wonderful explanation of what Jazz is. I listen to Jazz almost as much as Rock and Roll but I dislike heavy improvisational Jazz. Your descriptions of the different types of Jazz and the various interpretations really gives me more avenues to search. Thank you for your contribution.
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I took it upon myself to learn to like jazz about ten years ago, and it has now become my primary genre. Lots of great recommendations here. In between sampling those, I would recommend finding some higher quality jazz stations and let them play. As you hear things you like, explore those artists further on your subscription platform of choice.
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Here are a dozen titles I consider a "Jazz Starter Kit:"
1) Dave Brubeck - "Time Out"
2) Miles Davis - "Kind Of Blue"
3 Duke Ellington - "Live At Newport"
4) Duke Ellington - "Blues In Orbit"
5) Lester Young and Teddy Wilson - "Prez And Teddy"
6) Oscar Peterson - "We Get Requests"
7) Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis - "Trio"
8) Bill Evans - "Live At The Village Vanguard"
9) Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - "Ella And Louis"
10) Stanley Turrentine - "That's Where It's At"
11) Vince Guaraldi - "Greatest Hits"
12) Ahmad Jamal - "At The Pershing/But Not For Me"
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The suggestion to get a guidebook on jazz recordings is the way to go. A book like the All Music Guide to Jazz not only lists most of the major artists and their recordings, it has a decent rating of each recording so you can sample the best.
The recommendation of the Ken Burns documentary series is also very good because it places the music in a social and historical context and employs narrators who know and love the subject and convey what the music means to them. The series is long but it is rewarding. The biggest problem for me was that the series stopped well short of covering what would have been at that time current jazz artists and their music; it was mostly ancient history then, and more so ancient history now.
If you want to hear a decent cross section of jazz development at a particular time, and appreciate how advanced jazz performance was quite a whiles back, sample the top recordings from just one year--1959. Three giant recording came out that year: Miles Davis "Kind of Blue," Dave Brubeck "Time Out" and Ornette Coleman "Shape of Jazz to Come." Of these three, my favorite is "Shape of Jazz to Come."
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If you have an internet radio tuner there are hundreds of jazz stations to sample various types of music. A lot of us like different forms [not hard to tell that]. Lee Ritenour is an excellent guitarist a is Peter Frampton [yes indeed] "Fingerprints" or "Frampton forgets. the words".
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I'm surprised that no one has complimented stuartk for his thoughtful and detailed response! The first albums that really drew me into jazz were Kind Of Blue (Miles Davis, already mentioned) and Giant Steps (John Coltrane). Louis Armstrong (Satch Plays Fats) is another easy recommendation!
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Vocal jazz is for you - Holly Cole , Chantal Chamberland and many others.
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I only started listening to Jazz this year. Spotify is your friend. Currently, I'm listening to "70's Japanese Jazz/Funk" playlist. Don't like a song, click next. Like a song, I save to a playlist. Never heard of any of these artists, just the way I prefer vs the same handful of Jazz artists always listed.
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- Bill Evans trio ’Live at Shelley’s Manne Hole’
- Oscar Peterson ’We Get Requests’
- Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson
- Jim Hall & Red Mitchell 'Valse Hot'
Or for something more modern and funky look into Jiro Inagaki
And I’ll throw in ’A Oscar Peterson Christmas’ since we are at Christmas Time...
If you can listen to any of those albums and still think jazz sucks than you’re hopeless and should quit being a audiophile and take up some other hobby
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Larry Carlton - "Alone But Never Alone"
About as smooth and listenable as it gets. Ebay probably has a copy, cheap.
Bob James
Earl Klugh
grp masters collections from the early 90s have a great mix of various artists. You can screen the tracks you like and go from there. Again, Ebay has them cheap.
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Return to Forever should make you a believer
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Two titles mentioned previously are worth underscoring and adding to my original list:
1) Herbie Hancock - "Cantaloupe Island"
2) Louis Armstrong - "Satch Plays Fats"
If you can stream it check out KCSM Jazz 91 in San Francisco
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Diana Krall, Lyn Stanley, Anne Bisson.
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If you like guitar give “Guitar Forms” by Kenny Burrell a shot.
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@yoyoyaya +1, Anything, not only on CTI Records (Creed Taylor Inc.) but also Creed Taylor’s KUDU Records whom the recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder made some of the best sounding recordings in those days on those two labels, facts. Creed Taylor's CTI Records and KUDU Records has an astoundingly large catalog of records/musicians in his roster.
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Dave Weckl and Jay Oliver - Convergence cd.
Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue and other albums.
Lee Ritenour - Six String Theory - A blend of styles ( Jazz, Blues and Classical ). Also, the Stolen Moments album.
Sara K - Hell or High Water, and her other albums too.
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God asked The Apostle Paul " why do you keep kicking against the pricks?"(funny way of putting it) I admire your tenacity. But why after 30 yrs is of trying are you making another attempt to force something that you just don't like? I ask these things because I mirror your thoughts about jazz .I've tried. But neither it nor female vocals are my cup of tea. It doesn't make me wrong. Nor are those who do like jazz wrong. Nor does it make me inferior. I listen to many different types of music, just not the 2 I spoke of earlier.
Big shout out to @stuartk . Great info. Being a musician I think I understood that already, instinctively. But IMO it still sounds disjointed. I'm not sure I'll try again but I'm not sure I won't either. Never say "never"
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@fpomposo
I hope you were just kidding . .
Since when does being an audiophile depend upon being a Jazz lover, or for that matter, a lover of any specific genre?
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Herbie Hancock, headhunter
Lee Morgan, sidewinder
come to mind as two that would be hard to ignore regardless of your musical leanings.
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I often peruse posts like this and liten to many of the recommendations. So thanks all.
Here are two easy ones
“Swiss Time” by Les McCann & Eddie Harris
“The Girl From Ipanema” by Getz/Gilberto
And a Jazz piano sampler http://open.qobuz.com/playlist/16555554
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I'm in the same boat. Most jazz is just too busy and complex for me to enjoy. I like jazz ballads best. Simple and soulful music is my thing.
Like you, I found Bill Frissell and Pat Matheny to be the most listenable. While both do their share of "complex" stuff, much of their work is more accessible to me. Stanley Turrentine has an album of ballads I like a lot.
Bottom line for me is "do I feel it". Most jazz feels emotionless to me. It's music for musicians.
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Crusaders - Chain Reaction" LP is hard not to like.
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I think that a big reason for the popularity of "jazz fusion" was because it felt somewhat familiar to rock music fans, yet it also represented a new avenue to explore. So, if "familiarity" is what you're looking for than your mention of Holly Cole might be important, since she tends to cover some well known songs that you are probably already familiar with.
If jazz vocalists are a priority, I'd add Michael Franks to your list.
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@ fthompson251
Welcome to the Club!
I have tried to like Jazz for decades, as well, including a dozen deliberate weeks of "maybe this time", "maybe this group". During the journey, I have found a few very good performers, but mostly duds. Listening to 'giants' (Monk, Coltrane, Davis, etc.) was, mostly, painful. I wish I could have these hours back...
With that perspective - I have some recommendations of Jazz performances that I truly enjoy and may be unique.
Getz/Jocbin
Boots Randolf
Henry James
Lenny Marcus - great Jazz transcriptions of Beethoven, plus some new pieces
Benny Goodman
Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey
Most of the Windham Hill artists - Montreux, Barbra Higbe, Daryl Anger, Michael Manring, Alex de Grassi, some Shadowfax, etc.
LA4
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As someone suggested I listened to "Jazz at the Pawnshop" on Qubuz by Aren Domnerus. I made it through!
There is an overwhelming about of infor mation on the thread, I can refer back ot it but this is a lot. Thanks to everyone. I've added about 15-20 songs to my Jazz playlist so far. What I do is use the qubuz web player keeping the window open and go through the suggestions on here from another window, then add those I like to the playlist after I listen. I use headphone fo that. All this takes time.
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@wsrrsw
I think you mean "Swiss Movement" , no?
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