j*** recommendations please

Anselm-

There are so many different styles of jazz music to choose from - Bop, Swing, Ragtime, Modern, Afro-Cuban, Big Band, Cool, etc. to name a few. I'm always amazed to discover new and different eras/styles.

Some good albums to get you started, and what I consider to be easy listening, lyrical, essential small group jazz:

Miles Davis Kind of Blue

Ella Fitgerald & Louis Armstrong Ella & Louis

Wes Montgomery Full House

CannonBall Adderley Something Else

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Live at Birdland


Enjoy

Max

Fairly new to jazz as well, and most of the recommendations I was going to make have already been suggested, but can add a few more.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - Moanin'

Relaxin' with The Miles Davis Quintet

Art Pepper meats The Rhythem Section

Soultrane - John Coltrane

In a Silent Way - Miles Davis

Can fully recommend the CannonBall Adderly's that has already been mentioned as well. I'm now in the process of filling out my Miles Davis collection, as well as Coltrane, Monk and Mingus but if these had been my first purchases it would probably have turned me off jazz completly.

It's a huge musical genre to get into, and I'm still pretty much skirting around the edges.

It's a shame that second hand jazz records are so expensive, makes it a much more pricy type of music to experiment with.

Simon

Hi,
I can recommend Jamie Cullum's new album. He is a young twenty-something newcomer. It's jazz/swing with a slightly more contemporary feel. Excellent recording quality also.
Steve D

If you get on with kind of blue ...and who wouldn't....for a more up to date sound try Mark isham...chilled out if slightly dark toned trumpet mother!!

Mad Boy Matt

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If you get on with kind of blue ...and who wouldn't....

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Well I don't!!

As a Jazz beginner I bought this maybe 6 months ago and I've listened to it maybe once a month since, but no... I still think its aimless, self obsessed, tuneless doodling.

You need to buy some Ellington, the man is a total genius! My Recommenddations would be:

'The Far East Suite'
'and his mother called him Bill'
and any of the better quality 'best of's'

Other artists I would recommend would be Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, John Coltrane (start with the 50's albumns!), Miles Davis (KOB obviously but 'Birth of the Cool' and 'Miles Ahead' are others to look at) and Charles Mingus ('Ah Um'). Most Jazz on CD is riduculously cheap and as a rule I would stay away from the 'new' artists like Jamie Cullum as they are vile.

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Originally posted by greeny:

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If you get on with kind of blue ...and who wouldn't....

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Well I don't!!

As a Jazz beginner I bought this maybe 6 months ago and I've listened to it maybe once a month since, but no... I still think its aimless, self obsessed, tuneless doodling.

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If you want more straight ahead (hard bop)stuff try Dizzy (not sure what's on CD, I've some stuff on Crescendo vinyl that is great) and early Roland Kirk "We Free Kings" is one of my favourites. I'll second woodface's post as well

Simon

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Originally posted by greeny:
As a Jazz beginner I bought this maybe 6 months ago and I've listened to it maybe once a month since, but no... I still think its aimless, self obsessed, tuneless doodling.

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My mum was visiting once, "put on some jazz", she says. Since Everyone(TM) likes KoB I put on KoB. Mum looked rather distressed. "This sounds like they're making it up as they go along!" she complained. Well, ummm, yes..., that is a lot of the point....

But if you don't like it, you don't like it, and I'd avoid the suggestion of In A Silent Way as that's far less focused then KoB.

If you like Time Out then let's look at Piano driven stuff with accessible meoldies... I'll suggest Chick Corea's "Akoustic Band", Fred Simon's "Dreamhouse" and Brian Kellock's "Live at Henry's" for starters.

The best way to find out what jazz you like is to go and see some live. Being relatively non-mainstream tickets tend to be reasonably priced and venues good, with friendly, respectful audiences. Label sampler CDs are quite handy things too, and tend to be cheap to very cheap. Caber's, for example, are well worth a perusal (http://www.cabermusic.com/)

Pete.

I find that getting into jazz was easier by identifying where you are coming from, and what you like to listen to. I started coming from rock in the late 70's, so got into Santana, to Santana/Mahavishnu, to Mahavishnu, to Chick Corea, which led to Chick's more obscure acoustic solo piano stuff, and so on.
As a 17 year old with a pile of jazz records under my arm going round to a girlfriend's place, I ended up spending the evening with her mum (she was a jazz singer & I didn't know it). But that's another story . Jazz is very sexy though.....nice...

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Originally posted by Pete:
If you like Time Out then let's look at Piano driven stuff with accessible meoldies... I'll suggest ... Fred Simon's "Dreamhouse" ...

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Hi Pete. Thanks once again for the kind words; I'm very honored to be mentioned in the company of Brubeck and Chick (not familiar with Kellock, but I'm sure I would likewise be honored).

And as it seemed to me, too, that my album Dreamhouse would be an appropriate suggestion, thanks for saving me the horror of crass self-promotion. Good choice. Well said. No, really.

More Ellington

Woodface is right about the Duke. I would also add "Blues In Orbit" to his list of recommendations. Absolutely fabulous!

Kevin

Some good albums to get you started, and what I consider to be easy listening, lyrical, essential small group jazz:

_Miles Davis_ _Kind of Blue_ .....on its way

_Ella Fitgerald & Louis Armstrong_ _Ella & Louis_.....bought just fab

_CannonBall Adderley _ _Something Else_...not my bag but thanks


cheers my collection grows and horizons broaden

all art is contemporary; it is the way we look at it that changes...

Fred - you realise that by being here on this forum, you are providing a near unique opportunity to be bombarded regarding your music.
Shall I be first?
When you recorded Yes Yes Yes off the Dreamhouse album, what was so different about that particular session? Were you stoned? Had you been playing it all your life? The performance of that track - well - it becomes not a performance, if you know what I mean. It's a standout track. My favorite.

..for modern(ish) piano jazz

Ahmad Jamal - Live in Paris '92, or any his on the Telarc label.

Kenny Barron - just about anything he's done but the best since 1990 are
-Live at Bradleys
-Night and the city
-Wanton Spirit

Bobo Stenson Trio - War orphans
Bill Cunliffe - Live at Bernie

All highly recommended. Have fun.

CL

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Originally posted by Rasher:
Fred - you realise that by being here on this forum, you are providing a near unique opportunity to be bombarded regarding your music.
Shall I be first?
When you recorded Yes Yes Yes off the Dreamhouse album, what was so different about that particular session? Were you stoned? Had you been playing it all your life? The performance of that track - well - it becomes not a performance, if you know what I mean. It's a standout track. My favorite.

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Ummm ... errr ... uhhh ... thanks ... I think.

You're speaking of the track Yes I Said Yes I Will Yes, yes? The whole album was recorded in one session over the course of a few hours. It was 95 degrees Fahrenheit with no air conditioning. The drummer was eight months pregnant. My state of consciousness will remain classified, although I wonder why you ask? I had been playing the song off and on for about 10 years. And actually, I'm not sure I do know what you mean by "it becomes not a performance." I think it's a compliment, but can you clarify? Glad you dug it in any case. And, yes, I do realize I'm leaving myself open to bombardment regarding my music. Bombs away.

By the way, Rasher, the first round's on me if you can identify the source of that track's title.

Thanks for listening.

Fred - Yes it was a compliment . I just meant that there is an ease to it, some sort of familiarity that allowed some extra freedom with it. I guess if you had been playing it for 10 years, that may be why! The performance thing is just my own take on how, when things are right, the clock stops and you are not conscious of the mechanics of what you are playing or what you have played. You know, on a scale of - " I played crap tonight", " I played OK tonight", "I played really good tonight", "Were did it go? Can't remember a thing about it - whaddaya mean it was the best ever!" C’mon, you know exactly what I mean! I would guess that the title was chosen because you had been nagged into putting it down for so long, but where the line comes from, I couldn’t guess.
Yes - of course it's a compliment.

The funny thing about "Time out" is that it was not well liked by the critics of the day. Besides the obvious classical influence, drummer Joe Morello had picked up a few new tricks during a recent tour of India, so as far as the "experts" were concerned, this was a bit of a dog's breakfast. Strange then that it hasn't been out of print for 43 years.

"Kind of blue" and "A love supreme" are the obvious ones and have already been covered. If you especially like the sax bits (what's not to like ?) take a branch to Paul Desmond's other efforts (I really like "two of a kind" with Gerry Mulligan) or try Art Pepper's "meets the rhythm section". For more overt classical jazz fusion have a listen to the Jacques Lussier trio.

Dave Brubeck Take 5,

Jazz trainer wheels and a bit like the porno equivalent of deep throat, but, seeing you have the will to dig deeper heres some must haves;

John Coltrane-Blue train

Stan Getz-Captain Marvel

Horace Silver-Song for my father

Bill Evans-Paris Concert

Chet Baker-Best of

Bud Powell-the complete boxed set on Verve

And,

Dire straits-Love over gold

Good luck and remember to keep saying 'nice'
in a really smooth croakey voice when you have this stuff on.

All the best!

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Originally posted by Rasher:
Fred - Yes it was a compliment . I just meant that there is an ease to it, some sort of familiarity that allowed some extra freedom with it. I guess if you had been playing it for 10 years, that may be why! The performance thing is just my own take on how, when things are right, the clock stops and you are not conscious of the mechanics of what you are playing or what you have played. You know, on a scale of - " I played crap tonight", " I played OK tonight", "I played really good tonight", "Were did it go? Can't remember a thing about it - whaddaya mean it was the best ever!" C’mon, you know exactly what I mean! I would guess that the title was chosen because you had been nagged into putting it down for so long, but where the line comes from, I couldn’t guess.
Yes - of course it's a compliment.

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Well, that's a relief. Thanks for the compliment.

Yes, I do know what you mean. But why that track in particular? A couple of the others had been in my repertoire equally as long, or even longer, as in the case of The Listening Well which dates back to at least 1976. In fact, it is on that track that the clock stopped most definitively for me, partly due to the larger proportion of improvisation to written material. And why the question about my chemical composition on that session?

The title, while it may seem to be the answer to some incessant nagging, is actually the life-affirming final words of James Joyce's Ulysses. But thanks for playing.

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.. And why the question about my chemical composition on that session?

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Its nothing..really. It's just British humour.
Hope the next album isn't too far away.
I'm off to find the Jacques Lussier trio on Minky's recommendation.

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Originally posted by fred simon:

not familiar with Kellock, but I'm sure I would likewise be honored.

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Fred, I think you owe it to yourself to check him out, he's quite a star in Scotland, in as much as you can say that about jazz musicians in Scotland... He's got a couple of CDs on the Caber label now, he plays on several other Caber releases, and you can get a bargain box of 3 of them now and save some shekels.

Pete.

I am glad someone mentioned Blues in Orbit as i was going to recommend this but couldn't remember the title! I am really bad at remembering albumn titles!

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Originally posted by Rasher:
Hope the next album isn't too far away.

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Can't say too much yet other than it is getting closer. And I hope you dig it.

Thanks,
Fred

Oscar Peterson might be a good place to start. His album with Harry "Sweets" Edison (the one which starts with "Stuffy") is a favorite of mine. His album with Count Basie, "The Timekeepers" is sublime. I've never heard a bad Oscar Peterson album.
It has been said that there are no bad Miles Davis albums but...judge for yourself. I can't abide "Sketches of Spain", and some of the earlier stuff sounds like a junkie playing a horn, which is what it is. I like "Kind of Blue", tho'.
The Swedish album "Jazz at the Pawnshop" gets slagged here on a regular basis, but it's well played, enjoyable background music. There are various versions, and the shorter versions (1 CD) leave off some of the more meandering stuff.

Small group, tuneful, mostly pianists:

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus Muscular saxophone playing that grabs you by both collars; even when he's playing a ballad you get the feeling he can't wait to let rip...
Bill Evans: Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie Subtle music that could be mistaken for smooth background mush if it was not so superbly varied and well-played
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Theolonius Monk No Monk recommendations and everyone needs to hear his unique piano playing. This is pretty good place to start
Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder The title track got me into the whole naim thing, talk about foot-tapping...it still goes to every audition, but don't let that put you off
Abdullah Ibrahim: Tintinyana A compilation on Kaz records. Joyful South African music mixing Ellington with local influences.

Another vote for Horace Silver and the early Herbie Handcock.

duncan

Email: djcritchley at hotmail.com