Pariah Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 It's recently come to my attention that there's a gaping hole in my music collection where jazz is concerned. I feel I need to rectify that. So I'm asking for your recommendations. The jazz I have in my collection right now is pretty much limited to the following: * Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet * Bitches Brew by Miles Davis * My Favorite Things by John Coltrane * The Definitive Collection by Chick Corea & Return to Forever * A big chunk of Al Di Meola's discography * A couple of albums by Candy Dulfer * A Charlie Parker anthology So, what do I still need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ternaugh Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 I'd suggest some Herbie Hancock, and maybe a few jazz vocalists, like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Louis Armstrong. For Dixieland, I'd recommend starting with Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, and the Dukes of Dixieland. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 I admit I have a bias against vocals, so nearly all these are instrumental. If you generally like vocals, there are legendary names to pursue: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Nat King Cole, and so on. Things I have in my CD collection: The eponymous first album by Pat Metheny Group, and other stuff that came later Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good (which came out the spring/summer I graduated from college; aside from the weird and small Doctor Demento concert in '76, that was the first popular concert I went to), and earlier stuff (Land of Make Believe, Chase the Clouds Away) John Klemmer's Touch A Glenn Miller collection (there are several now which benefit from digital processing of the old 1940s recordings); I would consider him a gateway drug to other Big Band music, but other huge names include Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and a number of others. My father was a Stan Kenton fan, but he doesn't do a lot for me See if you can find recordings or archives from the old KUOW radio broadcast series "The Swing Years And Beyond". Amanda Wilde ran that program, and she spanned an immense amount of stuff in that long, long run. Henry Mancini composed some dazzling stuff, some of which counts as jazz, and a big bunch of movie and TV music. "Baby Elephant Walk", the Pink Panther theme, the Peter Gunn theme, "Moon River". Some of it is out of this genre, and I don't know where to start on the pick-and-choose that is likely to be needed. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 John Coltrane Giant Steps. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjack Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 Finally something I know something about! Start with.... Bill Evans—Sunday at the Village Vanguard Diana Krall—Live in Paris Miles Davis—Kind of Blue or Sketches of Spain Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker—A Night in Tunisia Try anything by any of the Marsalis family A lot of these guys were mix & match in different combos so try a lot of different groups during different eras. Also YouTube has a surprising number of wonderful albums on tap. Give a listen to a bunch of stuff and you’ll find some new favorites to go out and purchase. P.S. HOW DID I FORGET!!! The soundtrack for the Ken Burns series Jazz!! From early Dixieland to Modern Fusion you’ll find a taste of it here. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Lot of good suggestions already. Any collection of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Getz/Gilberto by, well, Stan Getz and João Gilberto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Another disk in my hoard that occasionally gets ear time is Politics by the Yellowjackets, dated 1988, and seems to bear the "jazz fusion" tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Any discussion of the best Jazz artists would have to include Karl Malone and John Stockton as I'm sure you're aware. So I'm going to look past the obvious choices and recommend you take a look at the careers of Jeff Hornacek, Pete Maravich, Adrian Dantley and Donovan Mitchell. Mark Eaton is also niche suggestion - he really only did one thing, but he did it very well. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted November 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 You're forgetting bandleaders Frank Layden and Jerry Sloan, as well as Hot Rod Hundley on the mic. On a more relevant note: Norah Jones as jazz? Yea or Nay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted November 25, 2020 Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 IMO putting Norah Jones in the jazz bin is a stretch. She's a torch singer, and by its nature torch singing can be done in almost any genre, depending on what musical accompaniment is present. So yes, some of her stuff goes in the jazz category, but I think it would be a mistake to label her a jazz musician, much like it would be a mistake to label Barbra Streisand as a jazz musician. Tjack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjack Posted November 25, 2020 Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Cancer said: IMO putting Norah Jones in the jazz bin is a stretch. She's a torch singer, and by its nature torch singing can be done in almost any genre, depending on what musical accompaniment is present. So yes, some of her stuff goes in the jazz category, but I think it would be a mistake to label her a jazz musician, much like it would be a mistake to label Barbra Streisand as a jazz musician. In that vein I’ll include Morgan James. You all must check YouTube for her acoustic version of Queen’s “Who wants to live forever”. The long harp solo at the beginning is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 25, 2020 Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 Ask Cmdr Riker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted November 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 I was thinking of Norah as a jazz pianist rather than (or perhaps in addition to) a jazz vocalist, in something of the same vein as Diana Krall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted November 25, 2020 Report Share Posted November 25, 2020 If I might say, PostModernJukebox does some fun and lovely covers in different Genres... some of them in Jazz Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grailknight Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 Wynton Marsalis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted November 28, 2020 Report Share Posted November 28, 2020 Today at the Black Friday sales, picked up Miles Davis Kind of Blue legacy edition. This, supposedly, contains the full sessions of recording the album plus outtakes, alternate takes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted September 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 Bump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 I might suggest tracking down the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, which documents the Newport Jazz Festival of 1958. It's a fantastic snapshot of where Jazz was in the middle of the Twentieth Century, and filled with great performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 11/28/2020 at 7:01 PM, Bazza said: Today at the Black Friday sales, picked up Miles Davis Kind of Blue legacy edition. This, supposedly, contains the full sessions of recording the album plus outtakes, alternate takes etc. better start to listen to it, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjack Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bazza said: better start to listen to it, eh? Don’t fault yourself, it is kind of a brick. More for scholars and purists than comfortable listening. The original album had only five cuts. Maybe the brevity is part of its brilliance? Edited September 14, 2021 by Tjack Checking my references Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 My dad liked Take 5 by the Dave Brubeck Quartet On the Internet the essential Jazz standards top 10 are listed as I Got Rhythm Body and Soul All the Things You Are Autumn Leaves What i the Thing Called Love Stella by Starlight On Green Dolphin Street Have You Met Miss Jones It Could Happen to You There Will Never be Another You so if you have those you are golden. There is a film called Kansas City from 1996 which is worth a look and the soundtrack is pretty good. You might also want to consider the Cotton Club film soundtrack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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