Jazz Piano Trio / Spanish Guitar


Hello All,
I'm looking to broaden my musical pallet and I'd like to take some baby steps into jazz trios (piano, bass, drums). Please recommend some artists (groups?) that are easily accessible to virgin ears. I'd like to still hear a melodic line somewhere in the song, so nothing to avantgard or "free jazz"ish.... and of course sonic beauty is important as well, so I guess I'd be biased to more recent recordings.
I'm also looking for some recommendations of Spanish guitar artists. NO flamenco please, (yikes, too crazy for my tastes)..... just some beautiful Spanish guitar artists with albums that contain tracks that are solo guitar AND tracks with soft accompaniment.

"Momma let that boy play some rock and roll. Jazz is much too crazy, he can play that when he's old"

Guess I'm there, hehe :(
tgyeti
Newbee's list is fairly comprehensive. Can't go wrong with anything there. Since you didn't specify format ... a CD you might want to try is "Young at Heart" by Tony Williams. He's joined by pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Ira Coleman. It features great production quality, with the ensemble putting forth nice interpretations of a few jazz standards. For vinyl, pick up John Di Martino's Romantic Jazz Trio rendering of "Music Of The Night" ... kind of a jazzy take on some show tunes and recognizable melodies. Sorry, no help on the Spanish Guitar. Good luck and happy listening!
Although not specifically "spanish guitar" I would
certainly recommend the following CDs that are very good:
Ottmar Liebert "Little Wing"
Antonio Forcione "Acoustic Revenge"
"Guitarre de Pasion" various
Enrique Coria "Latin Touch"
For jazz guitar its hard to beat Kenny Burrell "Soul Call"
you might want to try some 19/20th centrury guitar works by spanish/latin american composers; Albeniz, Turina, Rodrigo, Leo Brouwer, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza, Astor Piazzola, and Villa-Lobos (Brazilian compser).

there are several recordings of by classical guitarists like Manuel Barrueco, David Russell, Christopher Parkening or older generation folks: the Romeros, Julian Bream, John Williams and even some Narciso Yepes.

for jazz piano (trio) you might want to add Hank Jones (Elvin Jones's brother), Kenny Drew, classic Sony Clark (Blue note or mosaic), Keith Jarrett.

on the slightly "light" side; try George Sharing, Red Garland (miles'pianist from the 50's), Marcus Roberts (wynton marsalis' pianist from the 80/90's).

for more modern (not necessarily "free" jazz) sound, Brad Mehldau's trio cd's are great.
Some really good suggestions here; but I can't resist the urge to include a few more. I really like Newbie's recommendations, and the jazz piano stuff Zachhanh mentions is great.

1. Bill Evan's "Waltz for Debby" is essential.

2. Still thinking about the first response above....Oscar Peterson with Joe Pass kills. No drums on these, but check out Peterson's "The Trio" or "The Giants" (guitar, bass, drums). Can't go wrong with those!

3. You really need to hear some of Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio. Perhaps the best traditional piano trio working today. Take your pick from the titles. These guys can do it all. Plus, excellent sonics.

4. I'll also second any of the classic Blue Note Sonny Clark recordings.

There is always more to mention, but these are excellent choices...I'm going to put on some joe pass!
Just wanted to tell everyone that the Nils Lofgren CD Live Acoustic is avialable on cdbaby.com for $14.99. They have lots of great music and service is first rate.

jrun