Jazz for someone who doesn't like jazz.
I suggest that you begin your jazz journey with some Dixieland. In particular, try Evan Christopher, a clarinetist who plays updated (i.e., not the Preservation Hall style) New Orleans-style Dixieland. His Clarinet Road Vol I: The Road to New Orleans is a superb place to start, and Delta Bound and This Side of Evan are also good. Have fun! |
george, as you will learn, jazz is a very broad and deep subject. There are many periods, styles, and sub-sets. So many that it can be difficult to make recommendations to anyone starting out. Just look at the variety suggested here so far. Two of the largest selling jazz albums of all times have been mentioned, Miles' "Kind of Blue" and Brubeck's "Time Out". I think Brubeck is enjoyed by a broader selection of listeners and as such is more accessible. Miles is deeper and may required more from the listener to appreciate. Something like the Smithsonian album can be helpful since it presents a broad perspective time wise and with many styles. Someone really basic would be Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, AKA "pops". He recorded from the late '20s to early '70s. Here's one link to a classic performance with Jack Teagarden and All Stars -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJFgKfuy1oM Otherwise, I think a pop-oriented selection of jazz may provide one of the easier entries. One subset is called light jazz. It is quite popular but to me sounds like what I'd hear waiting in the dentist's office. I think you can find some real jazz that is not heavy, jarring, or discordant that you can enjoy while offering more substance than the typical light jazz. Here's the Ramsey Lewis Trio with a song very popular at the time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFST-7Hx-Y&list=RDjsFST-7Hx-Y&start_radio=1&t=3 Another of that type would be the Crusaders. They started out as the Jazz Crusaders but changed their name in an attempt to appeal to a broader market (few jazz musicians sell albums or concerts in big numbers). None the less, they were comprised by very good musicians - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OahE2GGaGq4 Lastly to suggest one less pop-oriented example which is still melodic, try this by Bill Evans (the earlier pianist, not to be confused with the later sax player) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv2GgV34qIg There is a wide, wonderful world out there in jazz, diverse enough that I believe most anyone can find something they like. These are only a few suggestions. Enjoy the hunt! |
It is really hard to guess what might click with any given listener. I know someone who, when he was first interested in jazz, borrowed some CDs from me. He liked Coltrane, so I put together a bunch of Coltrane CD's, and just for laughs, I threw in "Interstellar Space." Guess which Coltrane CD he liked the most. If you are looking for a survey, "The Best of Blue Note" is a decent double album to start off. Blue Note put together better compilations in the past, but the current "Best of" is decent. I would also get Sonny Rollins "Saxophone Colossus." If the song "St.Thomas" doesn't hook you, I would be amazed. |
n80 You’re going to get zillions of suggestions, any of which might or might not do much for you. Unfortunately I find that Jazz is a gourmet dish (much like Classical). It demands certain conditions before it can be fully savoured, (for me a fast deep bass response and good timbral definition is a must). Otherwise,without those 2 key ingredients, it can like most gourmet food, often leave a disappointingly weak taste. Pop music on the other hand is much like fast food - a dish that can be more or less enjoyed by anyone, anywhere. Having said all that, my suggestion would be almost anything by Bill Evans. |
So, blues, after just a short intro, you can tell: that’s Buddy Guy’s guitar, or BB King’s, or Jonny Lang, you can tell that’s Little Walter’s harmonica, .... Delta Blues, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House, ... you quickly recognize both their instrument’s sound and voice. And you know which one’s you came to like/love/don’t after a while. You also know which instruments you like more than others. It’s the same for Jazz. You find what primary instruments and whose voice you respond to, you will eventually find which jazz support players you like, and seek out their musical projects (hearing them supporting others has a lot to do with proper recording/engineering). Then, within your preferred artists, good/bad/great recordings. Don’t let ’sounds great on my system’ be a large factor too early. I presume you are going to start via Pandora, ... IOW something FREE, to hone in on what you might eventually spend money on. Then, you risk some hard earned cash, mostly successful, some disappointing. Start a station, i.e. piano: a master, not a singular star, meaning: don’t try Miles Davis too early, don’t try Thelonius Monk too early, try Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, .... Red Garland, Earl Fatha’ Hines, let it run for a few days, don’t try to isolate anyone too early, just let it flow. There are ’eras’, progressive, especially Saxophone, you have the modern ability to do a quick search, learn something, pick an artist, start a Pandora station, all within 1 minute, for free. https://www.google.com/search?q=jazz+era+timeline&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS881US881&oq=jazz+era&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l7.6057j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 . |
Few (or more) different tunes, different styles, different players, different intstruments, all classics. Jazz might be confusing if you start with bebob or free, but these links are all easy on ears, some with catchy melodies, in random order If you like any of them, will post few more or tell you which albums to look for...there is a vast sea of jazz music, hope you will like it and start to listen...its never to late https://youtu.be/gwaFDFP7m_E https://youtu.be/mP0flneNfaQ https://youtu.be/p51MT5OMw-I https://youtu.be/GXhXkYw3FmI https://youtu.be/kUVNIJl6h38 https://youtu.be/BrA7FBpJnjQ https://youtu.be/oP-vD4ScAGA https://youtu.be/8B1oIXGX0Io https://youtu.be/cNjRQo-zpKA https://youtu.be/Tp572lvYrl8 https://youtu.be/JTNed4lhryw https://youtu.be/jsFST-7Hx-Y https://youtu.be/1HDciWO-fVs https://youtu.be/dG-RLgDabRs https://youtu.be/0B_wGRk3W28 https://youtu.be/VhgUUe5czxc https://youtu.be/0Qnb01EqzFs https://youtu.be/RK4WlatYV38 https://youtu.be/4rmXbiD3Jog https://youtu.be/PoPL7BExSQU https://youtu.be/uLAycSRHN98 https://youtu.be/Mcr1AtIhEgA https://youtu.be/jBo870lVUyc https://youtu.be/gYMYIo6RNT0 https://youtu.be/HgQEwbM9AUE https://youtu.be/EDLifqaldeA https://youtu.be/tro3r_DKDdY https://youtu.be/KCEl4FGVR7I |
Yeah, I am kind of in the same boat, really like some jazz-influenced work but not all that into jazz per se. Agree with easy, the more what I would call approachable jazz that truly is jazz would be Miles Davis. He's definitely jazz yet more melodic and relatable than most. Brubeck Time Out is really an exercise in time signatures. (Time Out is a play on time, each cut using a different unusual time signatures like 9 8, 6 4, 5 4, etc.) I wonder if it would be so popular if it hadn't been used in so many movies.... Charles Mingus, (Mingus)4 is a monster. And not sure if the jazz officials will call it jazz for sure but if they will then the kings of listenable jazz are Satchmo and Duke. Ellington Jazz Party in Stereo and Satchmo Plays King Oliver are awesome music and bona fide audiophile classics. |
@erik_squires , so Erik, the good news is that it looks like I’m not completely dead inside. Trombone Shorty is good. Looking forward to digging deeper of course, just sampling things right now. Marcus Miller is good. Maybe a little more funky than I’m looking for but a lot to like. Will dig some more there too. Liking Bill Frisell’s Nashville album. Not sure I’d have called it jazz though. Almost all of what I’ve listened to sounds well engineered and really exercise the system. I like what I’m hearing all the way around in terms of production quality. uberwaltz, I might PM him and see if he’ll check in on this thread. @reubent I’ve been fine. Just sort of settled in with my system; happy with it and no plans for upgrades etc so I haven’t had much to talk about in that regard. Have missed the music discussions here and need to get back into those. Feeling like I’ve gotten into a rut with my current music and like I might need to expand my horizons a little and thought jazz might help that. So I’m going to explore it. Will look into your recommendations as well. Thanks. A lot of what I’m hearing so far seems very contemporary. Not that that’s a bad thing at all, but I might like to hear some classic jazz (is that a thing?) recommendations as well. George |
Jazz makes more sense when you know something about how it’s evolved over maybe a century. Get out of that Steely Dan and Van Morrison mindset for a while, and try listening to what they listened to, jazz wise. Dig up a copy of the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, and give it a listen some evening. It’s about 5 LPs set up chronologically. All of these selections are well chosen. See if there’s anything that hits home for you. You might get a surprise or three. |
@n80 - Good to see you posting. Seems like I haven’t seen you on A-goN for a while. I hope all is well with you. I’m not really much of a jazz fan, but I do like Steely Dan and I’ve heard plenty of jazz that I do enjoy (and much that I don’t enjoy!). I’ll try to post a few tunes to this thread every once in a while as something comes to mind. @mortsnets - Mentioned Bill Frisell. I just listened to David Sanborn - "Another Hand" album a couple of nights ago. Bill Frisell plays guitar on that album and it is fantastic, but very melancholy. Probably not the right album if you are depressed. But, it sets a mood that reminds me of the times we’re living in today. Good stuff. Check out the album, starting at the beginning. Here’s another good album to start with: Ramsey Lewis - "Wade in the Water" Fun, upbeat stuff. One more - Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery - "The Dynamic Duo" Another fun one. Have fun and enjoy. |
