Essential Miles Davis: In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew! These two recordings had Miles going electric and breaking out of that tired old (by then) conservative trope of the previous 10 years (1958 -68). He was tired of his declining record sales and envious of the popularity of rock music among the youth! So he added electric guitar, bass and pianos and played his trumpet using effects boxes. And the jazz "purists" hated Miles' new sound! But importantly he attracted many new young listeners (myself included!). My third choice here is: Live Evil/ Selim Sivad - the Bitches Brew material done in concert.
Recommend some Jazz to me
A friend and I have been checking out some Jazz records recently. Mostly Miles Davis 1st and 2nd great quintet stuff. He turned me on to Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard, which I have been enjoying.
Someone in another recent thread recommended Elvin Jones - Poly-currents. I listened to the 1st track and it knocked me off my feet. Of course we're familair with Brubeck - Time Out. We're both drummers and I took a couple of lessons with Morello back in the day. I've also checked out some Milt Jackson.
What other artists or records would you recommend? They don't have to be great "drum" records per se. Hi fidelity recordings are a bonus.
Thanks!
Joe
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A jazz novice myself, O10’s recommended thread, "Jazz for Aficionados" (which he started, by the way) has been like a Jazz 101 course for me. My tastes, however, tend to run to fusion as opposed to the more traditional 50s & 60s jazz that is the bread and butter of the Jazz Aficionado thread. Some recordings I’ve been enjoying: Ahmad Jamal - "The Awakening" Alan Pasqua - "The Antisocial Club" Allen Toussaint - "The Bright Mississippi" Andy Summers - "Earth & Sky" Bill Connors - "Return" Bob Berg et al - "The JazzTimes Superband" Bunny Brunel - "Momentum" Chick Corea - "Quartet"; "Time Warp"; "Paint the World" Gary Willis - "Bent" Jazz Pistols - "Live" Michael Brecker - "Tales From The Hudson" Steve Smith - "Come On In" Tony MacAlpine et al - "CAB2" Tony Williams Lifetime - "The Collection" Hopefully, something from that list will click for you. |
There are many people who love Duke Ellington (big band/swing) I am one of them as well, many of the artists that played with Duke also did solo work. Johnny Hodges (saxaphone) is one of the these artists. Also, Jimmy Smith is one of my all time favorite jazz musicians (Hammond B3 organ). I have to mention Count Basie (88 Basie Street). If you like fusion period check out Billy Cobham (awesome drummer) album (Spectrum), Herbie Hancock (Head Hunters) Lonnie Liston Smith (Expansions). Matt M |
I'm not qualified to make judgments about Jazz, but, as they say, I know what I like! I dig the late big bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, who wrote great compositions and arrangements, and had superior musicians. One such was the incredible guitarist Charlie Christian. These bands also swung like crazy! I also like the small bands, songs, and singing of guys like Mose Allison. One genre related to Jazz that is consistently overlooked is that of Jump Blues, which I love. Louis Jordan is the best known practitioner of the music, which was basically a Blues "shouter" fronting a small jazz combo consisting of a pianist, upright bassist, drummer, a couple of sax players, and a rhythm guitarist. It was with Jump Blues mixed with Hillbilly that Elvis and the other Southern whites created Rockabilly, the original, pure form of Rock 'n' Roll. Rockabilly bands didn't have a drummer---it was the job of the singer/acoustic rhythm guitarist to emphasize the 2/4 backbeat with his strumming. That's how Bluegrass bands work, too. I'm of an age to have been in the target audience, in my perception, of the direction Miles Davis took in the late 60's. I didn't like that music then, and I don't like it now. The Fusion movement, grafting Jazz onto Rock, created, imo, a grotesque, hideous monster. Others disagree ;-). Speaking as a drummer to a drummer, I didn't like the style of playing of Billy Cobham then any more than I like that of Neil Peart now. Gratuitous displays of empty virtuosity leave me cold. |
Anything Christian McBride, Marcus Miller, Joshua Redmen, Al Di Meloa, Stanley Clarke, Charlie Hunter, George Duke, Bob James legends must have Charles Mingus - Ah Um Miles Davis - Kind of Blue/ Miles Ahead Miles Davis and Gil Evans John Coltrane - Love Supreme or Giant Steps/ Live at Village Vanguard Dizzy Gillespie - An Electricfying Evening Wes Montgomery - Bumpin Dave Brubeck - Time Out/ Take Five Cannonball Adderley - Something Else Nina Simone - Verve Jazz Master Keith Jarret - Hamburg Stan Getz- Joao Gilberto Ahmad Jamal - Live at Montreal Jazz Festival George Benson - White Rabbits Sonny Rollins. - Horn Culture just to name to name a few |
Thanks all for the suggestions. Right this second I’m listening to Elvin Jones/Coalition and Poly-Currents via Tidal. Really enjoying them. I think bluesy41 hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was looking for i.e the cornerstone records of swing from the 50’s and 60’s. I’m going to check out your Mingus and Keith Jarret recommendations next. Im very familiar with Kind of Blue btw. I really dig Neftiti by Miles too. Im pretty burned out on the whole fusion thing which is why I started out on this quest. I agree with BDP (black diamond pearl) regarding Cobham, although I was floored by Spectrum when I first heard it in high school. Cheers, Joe |
Well, you asked. This is a list I received when I first became interested in Jazz. Here are some classics that a) you need to hear and b) are also great.... 1)Horace Silver - start with his earlier ones. I recommend The Jody Grind and Song For My Father 2) Charles Mingus - try Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, and Mingus Dynasty 3) Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus. Plus anything he did with his quartet that included Jim Hall. His recent Road Shows discs are good too, but SC is the place to start 4) Dave Brubeck - Time Out of course, but Time In, Time Further Out, Live at Carnegie, Plays Disney, Jazz Impressions of Japan, Jazz Impressions of Eurasia are all good 5) Ellington, Mingus, Max Roach - Money Jungle 6) if you like Sonny Clark, make sure you have Cool Struttin' 7) modern day - Etienne Charles' Creole Soul is great, as is Warren Wolf's self titled disc. Joshua Redman and Christian McBride are both always reliable and swinging. Joe Lovano. 8) like trombone? Try Frank Rosolino, J.J. Johnson (The Eminent... discs v.1-2 are good), Curtis Fuller and Steve Turre (modern) 9) organ? Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff's band that included George Benson on guitar, Joey DeFrancesco burns, as do Tony Monaco and Barbara Dennerlein 10) early jazz: Louis Armstrong Hot 5s and Hot 7s; Sidney Bechet 11) Django Reinhardt was one of a kind on guitar 12) Thelonius Monk - so many. Riverside and Blue Notrs are classic. Later Columbias are good but less revelatory. Live At The It Club from 1964 is a nice career survey thought 13) Art Blakey - Moanin' and "Roots and Herbs" 14) Modern Jazz Quartet - Django is a good place to start 15) Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, the album that kicked electric jazz in the pants 16 Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet - EmArcy recordings. Super swinging post-bop 17) Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder is the classic. Live At the Lighthouse is the real eye-opener 18) Wayne Shorter - 60s Blue Note recordings are classic 19) Bobby Hutcherson - ditto 20) Andrew Hill - double ditto, esp. Point of Departure 21) Jackie McLean - Let Freedom Ring 22) Red Garland, Horace Parlan - two great, gospel-infused piano trios, each recorded quite prolifically 23) Cannonball Adderley - Something Else Here are two good lists: 1) heavy on classic jazz, but can't go wrong with anything here: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/19/100-essential-jazz-albums 2) Interesting, eclectic choices with a lot of more current (70s to today) stuff http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/pages/jazz-album-reviews/11585-the-100-jazz-albums-that-shook-the-world Have Fun!!! S.O.B. |
check out any of the albums in Bernard Purdie's discography here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Purdie |