Top 10 Jazz recordings ever


I am looking for excellent jazz recordings, I am sure you guys know what to suggest, mostly vocals.
128x128junglern
Rok, not all records, or CD's are created equal. This CD will give you everything the "analogers" rave about, and I'm sure you'll like the music. Grover Washington, Jr. Prime Cuts The Columbia Years 1987 -1999.
Orpheus10:

I have Grover on 'Then & Now' and 'Mister Magic'. I amazoned 'Prime Cuts' and liked the playlist. I put it in my cart. I'll listen to the ones I have and write a 'review'. :)
I remember back in the day, when heart transplants were new and in the news, a doctor performed the operation while listening to Grover's 'Inside Moves' thru the PA system. I love little musical tid-bits like that. I guess the patient can be thankful he was not an Sun Ra fan. :)

Soulful Strut is a Three Sounds tune isn't it? That takes me back to the very beginning of my interest in Jazz.

Cheers
Rok, "Soulful Strut" came from Young Holt/ Unlimited, which was a break off group from Ramsey Lewis. Drummer Isaac "Red" Holt and bassist Eldee Young, formerly members of Ramsey Lewis' jazz trio, formed a new outfit called the Young-Holt Trio with pianist Don Walker in 1966. In 1968, the group renamed itself Young-Holt Unlimited, and replaced Walker with Ken Chaney. Under their new name, the group scored a number three Hot 100 hit with "Soulful Strut".

"Those were the days my friend, I thought they would never end".

Enjoy the music.
The latest playlist.
We have the good, the great and then there is Ella.

The Good: 3-4 Stars
Jay McShann & John Hicks -- The Missouri Connection
Danilo Perez -- PanaMonk
Freddie Redd Quartet -- Shades of Redd
Lou Rawls & les McCann -- Stormy Monday
Stanley Turrentine with the Three Sounds (2 cd set)
Ben Webster & Oscar Peterson -- Ben Meets Oscar
Sonny Clark -- Cool Struttin'
all of the above had their moments, but a lot of, run of the mill stuff also.

The Great: 5 stars
Thelonious Monk -- Monk in Paris (live at the olympia)
includes DVD.

Charlie Rouse -- Epistrophy (his last recording)

Clark terry -- The Second Set (live at the village gate)

Harry 'sweets' Edison & Eddie 'lockjaw' Davis -- Sweets & Lockjaw live in Copenhagen

I just love all those old timers. They play Jazz. if you don't like the above, you don't like jazz.

Now,Words are not enough, you must hear this!: not enough stars in the milky way!

Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie -- A Perfect Match (live in montreux, switzerland)
There will never be another. She is so effortless. You will smile all the way thru the CD. Unique among all jazz singers I have heard, she has FUN! And you can feel, hear and sense it throughout the set. Enjoys her work. Esp on the tune 'Basella' The playful interplay between her and band is just wonderful!!
Ain't got it? Git it!

Cheers
Rok, I was just listening to one of my CD's that would fit in your collection. "Dizzy Gillespie duets with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt". It's from an LP that was on verve. If you don't got it, get it.

Enjoy the music.
Sonny Side Up? -- Have It! I need to listen Dizzy a little bit more.
Cheers
"We have the good, the great and then there is Ella."

Would tend to agree.

Rok, close but no cigar. This is the 5 star edition with the same cast.

1."Wheatleigh Hall" - 8:48
2."Sumphin'" - 10:26
3."Con Alma" [alternate take] - 9:08 Bonus track on CD reissue
4."Con Alma" - 9:26
5."Anythin'" - 10:29 Bonus track on CD reissue
6."Haute Mon'" - 10:38 Personnel Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet
Sonny Stitt - alto saxophone (tracks 3, 4 & 6)
Sonny Rollins - tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 2 & 5)
Ray Bryant - piano
Tommy Bryant - bass
Charlie Persip - drums
You are correct. My guru reviewer thinks the Duets CD is even better thsn Sonny Side Up, though I think it was all recorded during the same session. It's on my amazon list. Thanks. I get my O'Day CDs by the end of the week. Like a kid at Christmas!

Cheers
I'm primarily a Clasical listener, of the 4k CD's and albums I own about 200 hundred are jazz, the rest classical.
That said, If I had to cut down to 20 titles, one would be by Horace Silver(songs of my father) and one(any one) by Karrin Allyson
Schbert:
Song for My Father would be on just about everyone's short list. I am not familiar with Karrin Allyson, but if she sings anywhere as good as she looks, she's a winner. I will have to youtube her. But Schbert, you have a very serious imbalance in your music collection. :) The guys on this thread recommend some good stuff. Check it out. I know they are about to bankrupt me! In any event, this site needs all the music guys it can get.

Cheers

BTW, if you like Horace Silver, check out Dee Dee Bridgewater's 'Love and Peace, A Tribute to Horace Silver'. She puts words to almost all his biggest hits. Very, Very good.
I'll second Dee Dee Bridgewater. She did a fantastic job of putting Horace Silver's music to words and song.

Enjoy the music.
Rok, she sings better than she looks.Voice reminds me of a clear mountain brook.
Rok, upon reflection I do have a serious imbalance in my collection, only about 10% is Bach !
Seriously I never cared for Jazz much, not an active dislike like rock, but until I was in my 60's I didn't realize there is a place for things without a beginning, middle and end. Jazz can be very relaxing and soothing.
Mapman, re Ella, hard to argue,she is the icon allright.

However, great as she is, I can never shake the feeling she would rather be somewhere else , doing something else.
Rok, on a ratings from 1 to 5 stars, this is a 6. "Milt Jackson and Coleman Hawkins, Bean Bags", with Tommy Flanagan piano; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Eddie Jones, bass; Connie Kay, drums.

Sandra's Blues is my favorite on this CD.

Enjoy the music.
Schubert:

A lot of Jazz has a beginning, a middle and an end. Normally the 'theme' is stated then the members take turns soloing (sort of like a variation on a theme), and then they all come together for the end.

I have an imbalance in my classical collection. I need to branch out more. I have too much of the well known composers. I find myself buying the latest recording of stuff I already own. When I read BBC music magazine, I see more and more composers that I am not familiar with. I guess I will have to take the plunge.

Cheers
Orpheus10:

No snippets on amazon, so I went to youtube. Am I glad I did. Started with Sandra's Blues and stayed for the complet CD. As you said it is great. Seems like every time you post, it costs me money.:)

My favorites were Sandra's blues, Stuffy and Indian blues.
I was very impressed with the bass player. He was awesome. And this was on my computer speakers! And Hawkins and Jackson were their usual brilliant selves. Something about vibes. They always make a CD sound better than it normally would. Great sound effect. That's one of the great things about Jazz, not only the headliner or leader, but the guys in the group. Stars in their own right, and they change all the time. This is unique to Jazz.

Now I have seen a few other ones on youtube I must check out. I get Miss O'Day tomorrow along with a Jon Hendrick CD. Will report my thoughts later.

Thanks for the post.
Cheers
Rok, jazz aficionado that I am, I never heard of the bass player either. I discovered that he played with "Basie". I bought that record ages ago, and as long as it's been in my collection, I never knew that I didn't know the bass player. Learn something new every day, even when it's old.
O-10:
A Tale of Two Divas!

I got the Anita O'Day Cds today. I was did not think they lived up to the hype. Her voice is just fine. I would place her in the same voice group as someone like Nancy Wilson, which is not bad at all. Not up there with the heavyweights, but very good.

The problem, was the band backing her, and the arrangements. Some of this music is not Jazz. And even the standards were not sung or played as Jazz.

The best of the ones I received was the 'Anita Sings The Most' disc. On this one, she was backed by Oscar Peterson. This backing made all the difference in the world. They pushed her hard. She stayed with them!

On 'Anita Sings The Winners' There are 19 tracks, but only 12 came off the LP. Some of this filler was just a waste.

Same with the 'Pick Yourself Up' cd. 21 tracks, only 12 off the LP. Just filler. 'Rock and Roll Waltz' was a joke. It killed the entire CD for me.

When she sang 'Body and Soul' on the 'winners' cd, that was enough. I went to my collection and got a disc of Billie Holiday singing Body and Soul. Like, it was not even the same song! Of course Billie had Ben Webster and 'Sweets' edison backing her. I also compared the two on two other songs. 'We'll be together again' & 'They can't take that away from me'. No contest!

I don't think her voice is ideally suited for Jazz. More supper club singer. BUT, I did listen to the two Cds. She is not bad at all. She just needed a real Jazz band (Basie?) to back her, and someone to do proper Jazz arrangements. Or even a smaller Jazz group. The big band she had was not a Jazz band.

I could hear some 'billie' in her phrasing and at times I am sure she was trying to imitate billie to some degree. And that didn't sound bad. She has a good voice.

But, all in all they are keepers. I will just have to hit eject once the real stuff is over and before the filler starts.

Cheers

You need to start a new thread. I just realized this one is not yours.

Rok, you were right about Anita. She went through phases in her long career, and some of it was pop, "A gal had to make a living". My philosophy is "select the best and leave the rest". She's wasn't the same kind of artist like the other jazz vocalists you have in your collection.

I'm going to start a new thread "Jazz for aficionados" in which I'll play a record and review each individual cut. This will begin with the records I consider "must haves". If I find a record that's not on CD, I won't review it. If I find a CD that's clearly inferior to the record, I wont review it. So far I've only found one CD that's clearly inferior to the record. I mention this to let you know, I don't consider not having analog a loss; going halfway is a waste of money, and going all the way is tedious and very expensive.

I'll look for you on "jazz for aficionados"

Enjoy the music.