What jazz albums have you been enjoying?

Ulukai on 6/9/2011 at 20:41

Found an iTunes gift card knocking around in my drawer left over from Christmas (£15, approx $25)

Fancy discovering some more Jazz. I'm not fussy, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsQYzpOHpik) Desolate Shore aside I'm open to quite a broad spectrum of the genre.

What have you been enjoying? Recommendations on what to investigate?

Mr.Duck on 6/9/2011 at 20:50

I've mostly been digging the jazz channels at AccuRadio, but if I had to be specific I've been listening up my fave, Mr. John Coltrane himself.

His seminal album A Love Supreme, IMHO, deserves all the praise it gets.

:)

Scots Taffer on 6/9/2011 at 21:38

GODDAMMIT I HAD DESOLATE SHORE AT THE READY

ercles on 6/9/2011 at 21:46

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXIPm49CCC8) Mulatu Astatke is getting a pretty steady rotation right now, and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQmc6_w2bTE&feature=related) Sun Ra is never really out of circulation on my Itunes.

demagogue on 6/9/2011 at 22:28

Since I play piano, piano jazz is my mainstay. Can never go wrong with Herbie Hancock of course. There are other classic greats: Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Ahmed Jamal, Hank Jones, Red Garland, Michael Pertucciani, Bud Powell. More currently there's Hiromi Uehara, Brad Mehldau, Eldar Djangirov, a lot more I can't remember the names just now.

If I had to recommend an album for someone getting into jazz, I'd say some Hiromi Uehara, since she has a kind of pop sensibility & she's such an up and coming star these days... like 'Another Mind' or 'Spiral' (my favorite), or if you like jazz electric guitar thrown in then 'Time Control'.

Kuuso on 6/9/2011 at 22:48

There's so much jazz around that it's always an endearing task to recommend some without any guidelines, so excuse me for assuming you have not heard any jazz.

One up for the Hiromi and Sun Ra (Sound of Joy is an amazing album) rec, but if you're a casual listener you can't never go wrong with just checking out any of the artists that people deem "legendary". Django Reindhart is my favourite from the older side of things and the recordings are always coupled with that lovely sound of old. Big band stuff you should always go for Count Basie of course. Adding to Demagogue's piano list, I'd put Thelonious Monk, which is one of the greatest. Try Art Blakey and Tony Williams (Emergency for example) for amazing drumming.

Hancock, Davis and the like are wonderful of course, just stay away from the late 80's, early 90's stuff, it maybe pushing the boundaries, but it sounds shit. If you like fusion, there's always Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return to Forever, but I've always felt they had so much filler alongside the gems.

A recent favourite of mine is Daniel Turrentine's Hustlin'. It has that lovely sensation of being completely effortless like the greatest jazz do. Definitely some of the best sax I've heard. Check out Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus for the best sax. :p

If you like something modern that transcends genre borders, do go for oriental and try Toe ((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhSbiWhQ3xs)) or Mouse on the Keys ((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtCNKQmmDQo), dare I say this is one the best songs I've ever heard). Both are truly marvellous and put us westerners in shame.

dexterward on 6/9/2011 at 23:31

Best explained by great late Guru in seminal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eh16a7n_44) Jazz Thing
(http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/g/gangstarr1613/jazzthingvideoversion365995.html)
...it was music...great to dance to
Great to romance to with a lot to say to you
Relaying a message, revealing the essence
of a jazz thing..."

*goosebumps*

What the folks above say...and you can`t really fail with anything from older Blue Note (and if you`re in the mood "to dance to" Blue Break Beats series is a blueprint)

june gloom on 6/9/2011 at 23:46

Eight posts in and none of you faggots have mentioned Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" yet?

I am so ashamed of all of you. It's the greatest jazz album ever made.

I have other selections but I'm at work so I can't get you samples. I'll call back.

demagogue on 7/9/2011 at 00:03

No one's mentioned Charlie Parker, or Joe Pass, or Charles Mingus, or Benny Goodman, or Dizzy Gillespie... But it's such a huge field, might help if Ulukai was more specific about what he wants... Do you want to know the absolute classics and be jazz literate? Like there are certain albums a person should know about just because they were so influential or good. Or are there particular genres you want to get into like swing or bebop, or do you want to get into recent bands that are up and coming so you feel like you're tapped into the current scene? There's lots of directions you can take building a library. But he said he's open to a broad spectrum, so I think it's okay we're just kind of tossing out random ones we like.

But on that first goal... This is a decent list of (http://matadornetwork.com/nights/25-essential-jazz-albums/) 25 "essential" albums.

Edit: Or (http://jazz.about.com/od/introductiontojazz/tp/Ten-Classic-Jazz-Recordings.htm) these 10, or (http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/05/19/080519on_onlineonly_remnick) these 100.

DaBeast on 7/9/2011 at 01:16

Jeff Goldblum 'nuff said