It was probably near the end of 2001, but I asked the board here about how to get started with a jazz music collection. I can happily say that I have now over 50 jazz CDs and it is the only genre of music that I am buying right now. Coltrane is my favorite jazz artist as I have like 15 of his CDs, then I have like 7 Miles CDs. Favorite overall jazz CDs are probably in no order, the following: "Moanin'" - Art Blakey "Ultimate Blue Train" - Coltrane "My Favorite Things" - Coltrane "Sidewinder" - Lee Morgan "Maiden Voyage" - Herbie Hancock "In a Silent Way" - Miles "Kind of Blue" - Miles "The Real McCoy" - McCoy Tyner "Charlie Brown Christmas" - Vince Guaraldi I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of two Horace Silver CDs, "Song for my Father" and "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers" (CD with Blakey)! What are your favorite jazz stuff?
"A Love Supreme"- John Coltrane "Kirk's Work"- Roland Kirk and Brother Jack McDuff "Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane" "b****es Brew", "Blue Moods"- Miles Davis
Stellar Regions is out there, man. I have listened to it like 4 times and I still find myself bewildered by it. I guess my ears are not used to hearing an absence of bass like that. Still, it is a very important Coltrane CD in his vast discography. Finn, "Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane" is a great pick! I love the pieces where Coltrane is playing alongside Coleman Hawkins. "A Love Supreme" is a CD I have, but I have never gotten into it like the other Coltrane stuff. Still, it is #4 on my favorite Coltrane CDs after Blue Train, My Favorite Things, and Giant Steps.
Manny -- I just got a book through one of my book clubs that I can highly recommend to you and I think you'd really enjoy: it's "The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz". It has performer bios, essential cds, musical history and a glossary of common jazz terminology. (FYI, they also have an NPR guide to classical music). As far as my favorite jazz records right now, I've been really into vocals for the past couple of years. Peggy Lee w/the George Shearing Quintet's, "Beauty and the Beat," recorded live in 1959, is one of my perennial favorites. Nobody was cooler than Peggy. Who else could kick off a show by asking the band, "Well boys, shall we swing a little?" And the audience laps it up. More recently, Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" really blew me away. Definitely one of the best live vocal jazz recordings to come along in a while. For instrumental jazz, I've been on a Bossa Nova kick for a while. Two of my favorites are "Double Rainbow: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim" by Joe Henderson and "The Legendary Joao Gilberto" by Joao Gilberto. Brazilian music just seems so much more appropriate in the summer -- I have to wait until October to start listening to bop again.
Damn, I just realized that I got "Stellar Regions" mixed up with "Interstellar Space". "Interstellar Space" is what I have, not "Stellar Regions" although both are from Coltrane's last period of his career. Mrs. JB, That book sounds sorta like the Penguin guide to Jazz, which is a very good book I got like a month ago; however, your book might be a better read as it talks more about the performer's lives, etc. Bossa nova is something I need to get into!
Yeah, I bet they are similar. I got that record when I was collecting "space music". Then I got into Steve Roach... BTW, I have been meaning to find some jazz "beat music" (thats the best name I can come up with). What I have heard before is like never ending bongos with over-laid jazz??? It is kind of monotonous but cool, like a jazz version of Ravi Shankar. Any ideas?
"last chance to dance trance" by mediski martin wood is a really great album. anything they do is great, but this album has a really cool overall vibe to it.
Actually, "Interstellar Space" is just Coltrane and drummer Rashied Ali. Imagine duets between saxophone and drums! That is what I was alluding to about it being far out because there is no bass involved. I don't know what to tell you about the beat music as I am a bop man, myself, but it sounds like you might be interested in Tito Puente and some of the bossanova stuff that Mrs. JB was talking about. However, be advised that I have none of that stuff, so that might not be on the mark. Jeff, Mrs. JB, and dylan could probably steer you in a better direction.
Sarah Vaughan - Live at Mister Kelly's Trane - Love Supreme Art Blakey & Messengers - Live at Cafe Bohemia Paris Combo - Living Room & their new live album Ornette Coleman Trio - At the Golden Circle Harper Brothers - Live at Village Vanguard I almost always prefer live recordings, even if sound suffers a bit.
Get some Branford Marsalis. Wynton gets all the notoriety(well deserved, mind you), but I've always thought Branford plays better jazz. Just my opinion..
Man, I'm really mad that John Stockton retired. He was such a great player. He made so many all-star games, and ended up leading the NBA in career assists and career steals. John could still play the PG position effectively in the NBA, even being above 40 and all. There are so few PGs with the natural ability to always find the open man in the history of the NBA, and he was one of them. eh
A couple of offbeat jazz favs: 1. Herbie Hancock - The entire Headhunters album. Funkafied Jazz to the extreme. Think porno film music. Pizza delivery man -- did somebody order a large sausage? 2. Djengo Rheinherdt - Nuages and Minor Swing. Awh Yah. If I ever buy another accoustic guitar it's going to be a Djengoesque Selmer Maccaferri reproduction. 3. Wes Montogmery - anything, but especially the later "sell-out" stuff with the big orchestras. Smooth as buttah. 4. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five. The essence of cool. 5. Anton Karas - The Theme From The Third Man (which also happens to be the greatest move ever filmed.) 6. Danny Gatton - Redneck Jazz or Relentless (w/ Joey DeFrancesco). Both of these albums sort of epitomise different aspects of modern jazz. Redneck Jazz includes compositions from both Rimsky-Korskov and Leonard Cohen. You can't get more diverse than that on a single album.
Also check out: 1. Charley Parker - The Conformation Years and Coleman Hawkins - 1943/44. These two albums are both high quality, and they mesh pretty well with the cool Coltraine thing. 2. Esquevel - Spanish Quadraphonic Bachlor Pad legend. Me Muchacho you Muchacha. You know, like me Tarzan, you Jane. 3. The film A Great Day In Harlem. This film is about a historic photograph that depicted the greatest conflaguration of jazz legends ever seen in one place. Here is a guide to the original photo.
Manny- You really need to check out: Dizzy Gilespie and Charlie Parker - "The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall" simply amazing. Also I would recommend picking up a Ben Webster album or two. If you are into piano from the 60's, look no further than Thelonious Monk. Check out his album "Monk." on Columbia. Good CD for the ladies In all honesty, if its not on Columbia, Verve, or Blue Note, I probably wont buy it. Those were the premier labels for Jazz in that era. The All Music Guide to Jazz is the quinessential Jazz bible of nearly all the Jazz recordings from way way back. Do you have it? If not, its really helpful in purchasing CD's.
for the modern swing types, the Best of the Squirell Nut Zippers is a great listen, as are all there albums
I do have the Quintet album as well as the Penguin Guide to Jazz CDs, but I only have "Brilliant Corners" and "Thelonious with Coltrane" and "Thelonious with Sonny Rollins", so I can stand to have some more Monk.
Damn, I forgot about Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt. Both of their Verve Jazz Masters, Django 38 and Wes 14, are excellent and should be in any Jazz collection. Charlie Parker is another must for any serious Jazz listener. If you can, rent the movie "Bird". Forrest Whitaker plays Charlie Parker and does a fantastic job. Charles Mingus is also worth a listen.
