Okay, for all the other Jazz fans out there (and no, I am not talking about the team in Utah ), what are your choices for the following: Favorite artist Favorite album Favorite solo Favorite artist for me is still John Coltrane but close behind is Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, and Herbie Hancock. Favorite album is "Song for my Father" by Horace Silver. I can't stop listening to it. I love the title track as well as "Calcutta Cutie", "Que Pasa?", and "The Kicker". Honorable mention goes to "In a Silent Way" by Miles Davis (badass), "Blue Train" by Coltrane, "Moanin'" by Blakey (title track is awesome), and "Maiden Voyage" by Herbie Hancock. My all-time favorite jazz solo is Joe Henderson's sax solo in "Song for my Father" as he absolutely tears that piece up! Unbelievable virtuoso saxophone playing by an underrated sax man! So, fellow jazzheads, what are your picks?
Wow. There are so many. Artist: Dave Brubeck - "Take 5" is my all time favorite tune. Album: Charlie Hunter Quartet - "Natty Dread" Solo: Anything where Buddy Rich is hitting the skins.
Off topic but relevant: check out the Rebirth Brass Band, old school dixieland/a little funk from New Orleans. Saw 'em at the ACL Fest & they were awesome.
Ditto. Channel One Suite and/or West Side Story come to mind. As far as favorite artist/album, I don't even know where to start. Depends on how I'm feeling at any given point in time. I guess I'd have to say Giant Steps would be my all-time favorite standard.
Most Recently Discovered Jazz Genius - Eric Dolphy Heard on - Mingus at Antibes This guy makes the most bizarre yet also joyful sounds I've ever heard out of any instrument. I keep meaning to buy one of his solo albums, but need some time to figure out which one I want to buy.
sub, You want to hear some far out stuff, check Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" which is regarded by many to be his masterpiece. I have listened to it twice and I feel it is harder to get into than "b****es Brew" and "Instellar Space" by Coltrane and that is saying a LOT. But it will probably be different for you than it was from me.
Oh and sub I just remembered one other Dolphy thing. Coltrane really liked his playing a lot and on the last Atlantic album that Coltrane did, Dolphy played flute and I think alto saxophone. It is called "Ole Coltrane" and reminds me of "Sketches of Spain" as it has a Latin groove to it. Worth checking out if you are a Coltrane fan and Dolphy fan.
Favorite Artist: (I can't pick one) Coltrane, Miles, Herbie Hancock Wes Montgomery, Scott LaFaro, Bill Evans, Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Cannonball Adderly, John Patitucci, Chris Potter, Eric Dolphy, Art Blakey Favorite Artist (now): Joshua Redman Favorite solo: Any Coltrane or Redman solo will do nicely
Artist: Sonny Stitt Album: Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt - Sonny Side Up Solo: Sonny Stitt on "The Eternal Triangle"
Favorite artist: Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Brown, Kenny Garrett Favorites, current: Roy Hargrove, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Favorite Album: Hub-Tones (Hubbard), The Midnight Blues (Wynton) Favorite solo (recent): Chris Potter is absolutely unreal on "What Goes Around" Favorite solo all-time: Way too many to choose from...any of the aftorementioned artists, or Dizzy, either Sonny, Trane, or Michael Brecker
Pretty new to jazz: Favorite artist: Miles Davis (for pure leadership talent; not a fan of him for any "technical" reasons but he had something going there in terms of style, creativity, and overall mood) Favorite album (tie): Kind of Blue / Chet by Chet Baker (my current favorite jazz album; yeah, I know sappy jazz ballads) Favorite solo: too many to pick If any of you have any suggestions for my next jazz purchase, I would really appreciate it. I used to play trumpet, so I am very partial to good trumpet playing. I have basically all of Miles Davis's major records and then a small collection of others (all from the 50-60s era). Any suggestions for albums (especially ones featuring the trumpet) that I have to definitely get? Any good contemporaries out there? Let me know. Thanks.
Look at getting "The Sidewinder" by Lee Morgan, one of Blue Note's all-time great albums and the greatest jazz album (in most people's opinions) by Morgan. There are many great albums in which Morgan played on that you might want to check into such as "Ultimate Blue Train" by John Coltrane and "Moanin'" by Art Blakey. Freddie Hubbard is another great trumpet player and any of these 3 albums are good ones in "Hub-Tones" (great pick, NIKE), "Open Sesame" and "Red Clay". I only have "Open Sesame" but I know from reading reviews and the big book I have on jazz that those other 2 albums are solid ones. But the greatest trumpet player of them all, even greater than Miles might have been Clifford Brown, another who died way too soon. Any album by him is recommended and the one that I have (so far) is "Study in Brown". And this doesn't even go into Dizzy Gillespie or Louis Armstrong. I am not a fan of jazz before hard bop but their contributions to jazz are inescapable.
mishii- Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, are definitely some of the trumpet legends. If you want some newer stuff, Wynton Marsalis would be a good start, and there's a lot of him out there- he may be the biggest jazz promoter out there today. "The Midnight Blues" is a pretty solid pick, and anything he does with his family (Ellis and Branford Marsalis) are also usually pretty good. Some other newer names, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton are impressive talents, and if you want to hear a soloist with range (not Maynard Ferguson, but who is?), check out Jon Faddis.
A self-serving bump here as I know there are more jazz fans out there who have not responded yet for whatever reason.
i have a hard time picking a single favorite among jazz musicians or albums... but i love Coltrane's, "Love Supreme"
Manny Ramirez and NIKEstrad, Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely like Clifford Brown's stuff (the little that I have heard), and I have to get more (too bad his life and works were cut so short). I'll try to pick up some of your suggestions in the next few weeks, and I will let you know what I think. Much appreciated.