Recommend some Jazz to me


A friend and I have been checking out some Jazz records recently. Mostly Miles Davis 1st and 2nd great quintet stuff. He turned me on to Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard, which I have been enjoying.

Someone in another recent thread recommended Elvin Jones - Poly-currents. I listened to the 1st track and it knocked me off my feet. Of course we're familair with Brubeck - Time Out. We're both drummers and I took a couple of lessons with Morello back in the day. I've also checked out some Milt Jackson.

What other artists or records would you recommend? They don't have to be great "drum" records per se. Hi fidelity recordings are a bonus.


Thanks!

Joe

128x128audionoobie
audionoobie

there has never been a better time to delve into the wonderful world of Jazz. Excellent suggestions as above. For me, I started with the year 1959 (the greatest calendar year for Jazz).

Happy Listening!
Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderly is a must have esp. if you like Miles Davis who is featured on this recording. Think Kind of Blue part duex.
check out any of the albums in Bernard Purdie's discography here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Purdie

He is one of the smoothest drummers there is. Also one of the most in demand studio drummers, he has recorded with all the best jazz musicians. Featured on Steely Dan Gaucho, his understated tight rhythms will remind you of Morello. His own albums also reflect that style. Emphasis on musicians working in concert, not just trying to outdo each other. 
Well, you asked.  This is a list I received when I first became interested in Jazz.

Here are some classics that a) you need to hear and b) are also great....

1)Horace Silver - start with his earlier ones. I recommend The Jody Grind and Song For My Father
2) Charles Mingus - try Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, and Mingus Dynasty
3) Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus. Plus anything he did with his quartet that included Jim Hall. His recent Road Shows discs are good too, but SC is the place to start
4) Dave Brubeck - Time Out of course, but Time In, Time Further Out, Live at Carnegie, Plays Disney, Jazz Impressions of Japan, Jazz Impressions of Eurasia are all good
5) Ellington, Mingus, Max Roach - Money Jungle
6) if you like Sonny Clark, make sure you have Cool Struttin'
7) modern day - Etienne Charles' Creole Soul is great, as is Warren Wolf's self titled disc. Joshua Redman and Christian McBride are both always reliable and swinging. Joe Lovano.
8) like trombone? Try Frank Rosolino, J.J. Johnson (The Eminent... discs v.1-2 are good), Curtis Fuller and Steve Turre (modern)
9) organ? Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff's band that included George Benson on guitar, Joey DeFrancesco burns, as do Tony Monaco and Barbara Dennerlein
10) early jazz: Louis Armstrong Hot 5s and Hot 7s; Sidney Bechet
11) Django Reinhardt was one of a kind on guitar
12) Thelonius Monk - so many. Riverside and Blue Notrs are classic. Later Columbias are good but less revelatory. Live At The It Club from 1964 is a nice career survey thought
13) Art Blakey - Moanin' and "Roots and Herbs"
14) Modern Jazz Quartet - Django is a good place to start
15) Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, the album that kicked electric jazz in the pants
16 Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet - EmArcy recordings. Super swinging post-bop
17) Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder is the classic. Live At the Lighthouse is the real eye-opener
18) Wayne Shorter - 60s Blue Note recordings are classic
19) Bobby Hutcherson - ditto
20) Andrew Hill - double ditto, esp. Point of Departure
21) Jackie McLean - Let Freedom Ring
22) Red Garland, Horace Parlan - two great, gospel-infused piano trios, each recorded quite prolifically
23) Cannonball Adderley - Something Else

Here are two good lists:
1) heavy on classic jazz, but can't go wrong with anything here:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/19/100-essential-jazz-albums

2) Interesting, eclectic choices with a lot of more current (70s to today) stuff
http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/pages/jazz-album-reviews/11585-the-100-jazz-albums-that-shook-the-world

Have Fun!!!
S.O.B.

I entered the Jazz "pool" with Stan Getz.  Great stuff.  I like his Bossa Nova stuff also
If you have access to Pandora, listen to the bebop station. That is my favorite jazz genre.  I mean, what is jazz? 🙃 Too much to be specific but Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Coltrane, Davis, Rollins, etc, etc etc,  


Thanks all for the suggestions. Right this second I’m listening to Elvin Jones/Coalition and Poly-Currents via Tidal. Really enjoying them.

I think bluesy41 hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was looking for i.e the cornerstone records of swing from the 50’s and 60’s. I’m going to check out your Mingus and Keith Jarret recommendations next. 

Im very familiar with Kind of Blue btw. I really dig Neftiti by Miles too. 

Im pretty burned out on the whole fusion thing which is why I started out on this quest. I agree with BDP (black diamond pearl) regarding Cobham, although I was floored by Spectrum when I first heard it in high school. 

Cheers,
Joe
Agree with all the above - here are a few not mentioned that I love:

Chet Baker - Chet
Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours
Count Basie - Kansas City Shout
Ry Cooder - Jazz


Anything Christian McBride, Marcus Miller, Joshua Redmen, Al Di Meloa, Stanley Clarke, Charlie Hunter, George Duke, Bob James

legends must have
Charles Mingus - Ah Um
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue/ Miles Ahead
Miles Davis and Gil Evans
John Coltrane - Love Supreme or Giant Steps/ Live at Village Vanguard
Dizzy Gillespie - An Electricfying Evening
Wes Montgomery - Bumpin 
Dave Brubeck - Time Out/ Take Five
Cannonball Adderley - Something Else
Nina Simone - Verve Jazz Master
Keith Jarret - Hamburg 
Stan Getz- Joao Gilberto 
Ahmad  Jamal - Live at Montreal Jazz Festival
George Benson - White Rabbits 
Sonny Rollins. - Horn Culture
just to name to name a few


Jim Hall (trio) Live
Crystal Silence--Gary Burton/Chick Corea (*no drums or bass)
The Modern Jazz Quartet--any collection/anthology
Trio of Doom (Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius)
Dizzy's Big 4 (Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Ray Brown, Mickey Roker)
Giant Steps--John Coltrane (quartet)

*****Gratuitous displays of empty virtuosity leave me cold.*****


I wish I had said this on Aficionados.   Well said.


Cheers

I'm not qualified to make judgments about Jazz, but, as they say, I know what I like! I dig the late big bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, who wrote great compositions and arrangements, and had superior musicians. One such was the incredible guitarist Charlie Christian. These bands also swung like crazy! I also like the small bands, songs, and singing of guys like Mose Allison.

One genre related to Jazz that is consistently overlooked is that of Jump Blues, which I love. Louis Jordan is the best known practitioner of the music, which was basically a Blues "shouter" fronting a small jazz combo consisting of a pianist, upright bassist, drummer, a couple of sax players, and a rhythm guitarist. It was with Jump Blues mixed with Hillbilly that Elvis and the other Southern whites created Rockabilly, the original, pure form of Rock 'n' Roll. Rockabilly bands didn't have a drummer---it was the job of the singer/acoustic rhythm guitarist to emphasize the 2/4 backbeat with his strumming. That's how Bluegrass bands work, too.

I'm of an age to have been in the target audience, in my perception, of the direction Miles Davis took in the late 60's. I didn't like that music then, and I don't like it now. The Fusion movement, grafting Jazz onto Rock, created, imo, a grotesque, hideous monster. Others disagree ;-). Speaking as a drummer to a drummer, I didn't like the style of playing of Billy Cobham then any more than I like that of Neil Peart now. Gratuitous displays of empty virtuosity leave me cold.

There are many people who love Duke Ellington (big band/swing) I am one of them as well, many of the artists that played with Duke also did solo work. Johnny Hodges (saxaphone) is one of the these artists. Also, Jimmy Smith is one of my all time favorite jazz musicians (Hammond B3 organ). I have to mention Count Basie (88 Basie Street).

 If you like fusion period check out Billy Cobham (awesome drummer) album (Spectrum), Herbie Hancock (Head Hunters) Lonnie Liston Smith (Expansions). 

Matt M
A jazz novice myself, O10’s recommended thread, "Jazz for Aficionados" (which he started, by the way) has been like a Jazz 101 course for me. My tastes, however, tend to run to fusion as opposed to the more traditional 50s & 60s jazz that is the bread and butter of the Jazz Aficionado thread. Some recordings I’ve been enjoying:

Ahmad Jamal - "The Awakening"
Alan Pasqua - "The Antisocial Club"
Allen Toussaint - "The Bright Mississippi"
Andy Summers - "Earth & Sky"
Bill Connors - "Return"
Bob Berg et al - "The JazzTimes Superband"
Bunny Brunel - "Momentum"
Chick Corea - "Quartet"; "Time Warp"; "Paint the World"
Gary Willis - "Bent"
Jazz Pistols - "Live"
Michael Brecker - "Tales From The Hudson"
Steve Smith - "Come On In"
Tony MacAlpine et al - "CAB2"
Tony Williams Lifetime - "The Collection"

Hopefully, something from that list will click for you.


My suggestion is to go through the posts on "Jazz For Aficionados", find what you like, post it over here, and ask others to add to it; that way you will almost instantly discover records just for you.

My favorite drummers are: Chico Hamilton, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, and Shelly Manne.
Weather Report: S/T, I Sing The Body Electric, Sweet Nighter, Mr.Gone ...             Joe Zawinul and Co. at their creative best post-Miles!

Yep, I have Emergency by TW. That stuff is pretty out there and I can only take it in small doses. I guess I'm looking to know what the seminole recordings of the swing era are. I know I can Google it, but I'm looking to find out which ones folks really gravitate towards.

Checkout any of the recordings of Eric Dolphy - bass clarinet - Outward Bound!
Essential Miles Davis: In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew! These two recordings had Miles going electric and breaking out of that tired old (by then) conservative trope of the previous 10 years (1958 -68). He was tired of his declining record sales and envious of the popularity of rock music among the youth! So he added electric guitar, bass and pianos and played his trumpet using effects boxes. And the jazz "purists" hated Miles' new sound! But importantly he attracted many new young listeners (myself included!). My third choice here is: Live Evil/ Selim Sivad - the Bitches Brew material done in concert.