Sarah Vaughan accompanied by, Clifford Brown, Paul Quinichette, Herbie Mann.... Ella Fitzgerald, Let No Man Write my Epitaph, Ella Fitzgerald with Joe pass, Kellye Gray, Standards in Gray, to name a few.
Hope this helps. |
A great many folks would argue that any jazz education should start with Miles Davis Kind of Blue, if you were going to name just one. |
Miles Davis:Sketches Of Spain
Chick Corea Akoustic Band:Alive
Ray Brown:Superbass
Dave Brubeck:Take 5
Sonny Rollins:Way Out West
Harry James:The King James Sessions
Bill Evans:Live at The Village Vanguard
Branford Maralis:Trio Jeepy
Joshua Redmond:Wish
...just to name a few |
Agree with Learsfool.
Top 10 ever... I don't know. Sorry, I don't listen to much vocal jazz, but instrumental greats:
"Paris Blues" Horace Silver
"Lush Life" John Coltrane
"Maiden Voyage" Herbie Hancock
"Standard Coltrane" John Coltrane
"Speak No Evil" Wayne Shorter
Must Have Box Sets:
"Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968(this was the 2nd great quintet) Box Set/ excellent quality recordings, and a huge bargain at current prices! (6 CD set)
"Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 Miles Davis and John Coltrane;" This will get you the "must have" "Kind of Blue" session too. Box Set is a huge bargain at current prices! (6 CD set)
Must Haves:
"Tenor Madness" Sonny Rollins
"Saxophone Collosus" Sonny Rollins
"Way Out West" Sonny Rollins
"The Sound of Sonny" Sonny Rollins
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Here are some of what you asked for(jazz vocals)
"Nancy Wilson with Cannonball Adderly Quintet"
"Never Make Your Move too Soon" Enerstine Anderson
"You Won't Forget Me" Shirley Horn
"Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie" Ella Fitzgerald
"Carmen McCrae Betty Carter Duets" Live at the Great American Music Hall
"The Best Of Sarah Vaughn" (Pablo)
"Dinah Washington Golden Hits Volume One
"Nat King Cole Sings George Shearing Plays"
"John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman"
"King Pleasure"
"Nothin But The Blues" Joe Williams
"Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album"
"Kurt Elling Live in Chicago"
"Nice an Easy" Frank Sinatra
"Ray Charles and Betty Carter" with the Jack Halloran Singers
This is just a few of the many, many great jazz vocals out there. |
Listen to Bob Parlocha at night on KCSM dot org or go to jazzwithbobparlocha dot com to find other stations. You'll get a fantastic jazz education in record time. I recommend the book by James Lincoln Collier "Jazz, The American Anthem". |
I would like to start buying 5 cds any suggestion?
Now i do have too many. |
For vocals I suggest these five diverse CDs:
Ernestine Anderson - Never Make Your Move Too Soon
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Ella Fitzgerald - Sings The George & Ira Gershwin Songbook
Mark Murphy - Love is What Stays
Anita O'Day - Anita Sings the Most |
And when you are ready for instrumentals I suggest starting with these five CDs:
Cannonball Adderly - Somethin' Else
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Art Pepper - + Eleven
All wonderful, very accessible music. Nothing far out. |
More contemporary jazz vocals you might enjoy -
Karrin Allyson - 'Collage' - Concord Jazz
" " - 'Ballads - Remembering John Coltrane' on Concord Jazz
Jeanie Bryson - 'Some Cats Know' (songs of Peggy Lee) TELARC
Laverne Butler - 'Blues in the City' - Max Jazz
" " - 'A Foolish Thing To Do' - Max Jazz
Shirley Horn - 'I Thought about you' - Verve
" " 'Close Enough for love' - Verve
Rene Marie - 'Live at Jazz Standard' - Max Jazz
Mary Stallings - 'Live at the Village Vanguard' - Max Jazz
Etta James -Mystery Lady- (Songs of Billy Holiday)
Etta Jones - 'Always in Our Hearts' - High Note. A memorial compilation of her music and an excellent introduction for those not familiar with her.
Good singers all. Try them
PS, re your request to boiling it down to 5.........My contribution - While I like all of those recommended I wouldn't be with out my collection of Shirley Horn. If you have never heard her, she was a model for Krall's style with the except that she has talent! Laid back, excellent piano playing, and her voice/phrasing is as good as it gets I think. Doesn't hurt that the recording quality is excellent as well. |
Seems Shirley Horn always gets mentioned here when best jazz female vocalist come up. As female vocalist go, I've never liked the tonal quality of her voice. Too deep, heavy and not that feminine. She seems to talk her lyrics too much as well. |
Foster 9, Funny that you say that...Its exactly how I feel about Particia Barber and so many folks really like her too. I guess we all listen to music with different ears don't we. :-) |
I hear ya! Newbee...
Orpheus10 and Grimace, where are you? |
My favorite jazz vocalist is still Ella Fitzgerald. I think any jazz collection worthy of the name must include some of her recordings. Two personal favorites of mine are the 40th Birthday Concert, which was recorded live in Rome, and also one called On the Sunny Side of the Street, which she recorded with the Basie band. And of course, there are all of the excellent songbook sets. Pretty much anything she did is well worth listening to. |
Sarah Vaughan 'After Hours', Roulette 52070, 1955
Roberta Gambarini 'Easy To Love', Groovin' High, 2006
Cassandra Wilson 'Blue Light 'Til Dawn, Blue Note, 1993
Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington 'At Cote d'Azur', Mosaic, 2010 -- just got this three disc set. Ella in top form!
Terence Blanchard's 'Let's Get Lost', (Sony, 2001) is a tribute to Jimmy McHugh and features a number of contemporary vocalists |
I just can find the words to express my gratitude for all this knowledge shared,
you guys are great!
thank you for making myself in a more sophisticated audiophile i guess at least on music taste.
happy holidays I am listening also Jazz 88 from Newark NJ, wow, a super choice to learn. |
Someday My Prince Will Come Analogue Productions. |
Charles Mingus Ah Um
Miles Davis Kind Of Blue
Patricia Barber Cafe Blue
Oscar Peterson Night Train
Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool
Bela Fleck and The Flecktones Little Worlds
Thelonius Monk Straight No Chaser
Return To Forever Romantic Warrior
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Miles Davis Bitches Brew |
It shocks me that a long list of audionuts would reply to this question without mentioning Louis Armstrong Plays King Oliver. This is probably the demo LP and song(St. James Infirmary) that I've heard offered as a reference by more audiophiles and jazz fans than most of the others combined.
From all the recommendations I have to agree that the best vocals LPs to start with are:
Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane
Ella Fitzgerald - "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie"
Another that I'd add is Billie Holiday -Songs For Distingue Lovers Cheers,
Spencer |
I think it is also important to mention the medium. Vinyl or cd etc. I have some vinyl that sound better than the cd and vice versa. |
In addition to all of the above, Cassandra Wilson, "Blue light Til Dawn" is a good one. She is the only female vocalist in my collection, that I see before me when she sings. Not because she is the most beautiful, or has the most beautiful voice; but because she is the most unique and "authentic". Every album say's "Hello world, here I am; can you dig it?"
|
Excellent recordings, but not nessessarily my favorites
Jazz at the Pawnshop
Midnight Sugar
Cafe Blue
Jazz Samba
Someday My Prince Will Come
We Get Requests
Porgy and Bess (Ella and Louis)
At the Bluenote Keith Jarrett (6 disc set)
Live at the Villiage Vanguard Bill Evans)
New York Reunion sacd(Tyner)
Charles Lloyd Canto
Great recordings |
I posted on the wrong thread. I would agree with most of the others. |
Sbank - Don't be "shocked". I've listened to jazz for 40 years and never heard "Plays King Oliver". But thanks to you I checked it out - fabulous! Thank you for the recommendation! |
For me, it starts here;
Miles Davis- Kind of Blue. |
Rockadanny, you are more than welcome! I'm gonna have to spring for the 45rpm version of St. James Infirmary one of these days...Cheers,
Spencer |
John Coltrane's Love Supreme. |
I doubt you can find one, but the Audio Fidelity label issued the first stereo LP (using 45 degree grooves) and it was the first of several Dukes of Dixieland recordings. The sonics are superb. |
Kind of Blue,You Must Believe in Spring by Bill Evans,Something Else by Cannonball Adderly,Best of Sarah Vaughn on Pablo records, Crazy and Mixed Up by S. Vaughn,Ready for Freddie by the late great Mr. Frederic Dwane Hubbard,Sunflower,by Milt Jackson w/ Freddie Hubbard,Chet in New York, Chet's Choice by of course Chet Baker, thats of course if you can hear, have a soul, and have very good taste .More anytime if you like this stuff and can tolerate a certain amount of arrogance. Tweaker |
The best jazz recording ever is "Somethin else" by Cannonball Adderly. It features: Cannonball on sax; Miles on trumpet; Art Blakey on drums; Hank Jones on piano; and Sam Jones on bass.
Let us contrast this LP with "Kinda Blue" by Miles. Cannonball and Miles are on both LP's. We have Coltrane as an additional sax, plus Bill Evans on piano; Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.
In regard to the musicians, the albums are equal; the difference is the music. The music on "Something Else" is prettier and more lyrical. That's the judgment I made a long time ago. It's quite possible that if you listen to both LP's, you will make the same judgment. |
I just like Miles and Coltrane and don't think anyone can really compare playing trumpet and sax.
Orpheus10, do you like Miles's "Lift to the Scaffold" soundtrack? I certainly do. |
If you didn't name something by Oscar Peterson, you got it wrong. |
Although I like Miles and Coltrane as much as you, "Somethin Else" is still my favorite LP. Do you have it? "Lift to the Scaffold" sounds exactly like someone would expect it to sound, it's about as "dark" as Miles could get. I like it when I'm in that mood.
Glad to hear from you, "Have a Happy New Year"! |
"I just like Miles and Coltrane and don't think anyone can really compare playing trumpet and sax."
SShhhhhhhhhhhh not so loud. Some of these misguided souls actually think Louis Armstrong could play trumpet. And some even less hip, think that young upstart Wynton Marsalis can play.
On a serious note, I suspect people 'like' coltrane because it's the cool thing to do. Towards the end, he was just making noise. I liked him up to and including A Love Supreme, then he went off the deep end. And they are a multitude of sax players, just as good if not better. Same with the trumpet and miles. I don't really know how to say it, Miles was a great Jazz player. but, is it possible to make great music, and not be a great master of the instrument. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. i may be just rambling. Happy New Year All!! |
Every great musician makes noise and plays junk from time to time, but that's not the point. Point is what else they can do. |
You are correct. It's almost impossible to stay great and popular until the very last note you play. I didn't think about it the right way. |
Here is somethin' different.
http://youtu.be/ArW9SxvV-bk |
And this.
http://youtu.be/71XXQXY0yvA |
Katia Labeque:
Does she still play with her sister? I have them playing Gershwin. Their version of Summertime is great. Good disc to test your systems ability to reproduce piano. |
I don't know. I heard then play too. She used to be John's wife back in eighties. |
I cant't believe I'm agreeing with Rok2id, that's twice this year.
I saw "Trane" live, and not only did he lose me; but he lost the rest of the musicians he was playing with.
Towards the end, Miles thought his farts sounded melodic.
Wynton Marsalis might be the worlds best trumpet player, but he's one of the worst "music makers"; only aficionados understand that contradiction. |
"Wynton Marsalis might be the worlds best trumpet player, but he's one of the worst "music makers"; only aficionados understand that contradiction."
It's not a contradiction, it's just incorrect. I implied the opposite about miles. I felt his playing had a sameness to it, lacking in dynamic range to my ear. But some great stuff. I like the 'blare' every now and then from a trumpet player. Clark terry etc.... Wynton does it all. Complete master of the instrument and is currently carrying Jazz on his back. Listen to the trumpets and brass on 'a closer walk with thee' on Marsalis and Clapton play the blues. Also the solo on 'layla' wow!. The fact that you agree with me, shows there is hope for you yet. |
Wynton is the master of the his instrument, but I don't like his music. Post a "youtube" of your favorite music by Wynton so that I can hear it. |
Wynton's technique is OK and he is such a lousy "music maker", right.
Clark Terry is quite good. |
Can't believe nobody's mentioned Bill Berry's Duke Ellington Allstars record 'For Duke.' Sonics to die for, and an incredible performance to boot. Recorded direct-to-wax. |
It could be that I am so impressed with Wynton because of his knowledge of and his ability to 'Explain,' the music to others. Esp the young. he talks then demonstrates on the trumpet. I think he is at his best in an ensemble, such as the Orch at Lincoln center. I do know that he is JAZZ at this point in the history of the music, and it could not be in better hands. In many ways his talent and current role is similar to that of Louis Armstrong back in the day. He is also just as at home with classical music as he is with Nawlins Jazz. Without him we would all be drowning in a sea of smooth, free, contemporary, world, mind numbing noise, errr I mean Jazz. |
I have to chime in here and again stick up for Wynton Marsalis. He is very well respected in the music world not just for his impeccable technique but also for his musicianship. He takes the same bad rap in the jazz world that someone like Alfred Brendel does in the classical piano world. Both of these artists have incredible depth to them, and both are among the most versatile musicians in the world. Some folks seem to feel that because they are cerebral players, that this means that they couldn't possibly have heart. I think such arguments are absurd, and usually are based in anti-intellectualism. Wynton is a very soulful player. |
"I think such arguments are absurd, and usually are based in anti-intellectualism. Wynton is a very soulful player."
That's telling them! Well Said. |
Wynton is a sideman, he was fantastic with Blakey; but his creative juices are lacking. I agree with most of the other BS you Wynton fans laid down. |
"I suspect people 'like' coltrane because it's the cool thing to do."
"I do know that he is JAZZ at this point in the history of the music"
I've gotta hand it to you, at least you're consistent! It's so obvious that you have NO CLUE as to what you're talking about that it's laughable. Once again, I'd suggest you do the legwork/homework before opening up your mouth. Here's a newsflash for you; YOU'RE WRONG! |
