Jazz Music-Where To Start?

[A. Vivaldi]

<font color='#000000'>I know a lot about Rock/Pop and Classical music, but almost nothing about Jazz. Much of what I've heard that has been called &quot;Jazz&quot; isn't what my idea of what Jazz should be. What would be some good titles for a Jazz beginner? I like some of the funky stuff with the bass, drums, keyboards, guitars, and I don't care much for trumpets or saxophones (I call them suxophones) but other wind instruments like the clarinet are cool. Is it true that some Jazz is made up on the spot? I've often heard of a certain recording being &quot;one of the greatest Jazz albums of all time&quot;. Why, Because a few guys got together and decided to play whatever was on their minds? How would they perform these recordings live? I've heard all kinds of stuff by musicians that have endless drival of them screwing around on demo tapes that sounds like some of this &quot;Jazz&quot;. &nbsp;Please correct me if I'm wrong.</font>

 

[frkuhn]

<font color='#000000'>OUCH! Jazz without sax is a hard task!

I'm not a real expert, but I can try to help. Be warned, though, you'll have to stand some sax playing in most of these, but not as the main focus.

Thelonious Monk would be a good start. He plays piano in a very unique way, but once you get used, you realize is really brilliant. &quot;Brilliant Corners&quot; is one of my fav.albuns of his. &quot;Monk Alone&quot; is a collection of his solo performances, if you want to avoid sax at all, but I find his band works more interesting.

Art Tatum is another great pianist. Very mellow, and great harmonies. I have &quot;Tatum Group Masterpieces vol 8&quot; and it's a incredible album.

John Pizzarelli plays guitar (no sax here!) in a kind of &quot;retro&quot; way. His father Bucky also plays guitar. I have his DVD-A &quot;Swing Live&quot;. Very good album, with AMAZING sound, and no sax either.
Early George Benson albuns are great (before he started to sing). I have &quot;Witchcraft&quot;, a live album with awsome music.

If you want to get more funky, You could go with Jimmy Smith (Hammond organ), Grant Green (guitar) or Lonnie Smith (also Hammond). This is as funky as it gets, but is a departure from more traditional jazz (call it jazz-funk if you want). Grant Green's &quot;Alive&quot;, Jimmy Smith's &quot;Back at the Chicken Shack&quot; and &quot;Home Cooking&quot; and Lonnie Smith's &quot;Live at Club Mozambique&quot; are all good examples of this genre. Jimmy Smith doesn't use saxes, either.

About beeing made at the spot, it's not tottaly true. They improvise the solos (everyone has its turn), but the music itself is created and rehearsed before.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Fernando R. Kuhn</font>

 

[jeffsg4mac]

<font color='#000000'>If you want some guitar stuff then try Lee Ritenour, Larry Caralton, Al Di'Meola, Steven Oliver, Pat Metheny my personal favorite, Joyce Cooling, for piano, try David Benoit, Diana Krall, and Keiko Matsui, Keiko is more new age but good none the less, for good sax try Richard Elliot or Tom Scott, for Vocals try Diana Krall, Bobby Caldwell, for funky try Spyra Gyra, The Rippingtons, Weather Report, Bella Fleck, and one jazz album that is a must have is The Dave Brubeck Quartets Take Five album, it is a classic from 1965.</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>The sax and the trumpet are perhaps the most fundamental jazz instruments, along with piano and upright string bass. It's like trying to listen to classical without violins! But there are so many ways to play them that you'll find something to like. And hey, there are four kinds of saxophone: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone!

To all of the above suggestions, you must also add the great big bands, especially Basie and Ellington. Big bands are the &quot;symphony orchestras&quot; of jazz, and like an orchestra can simply bowl you over with dynamics and power, plus they swing! Big band music is thus very &quot;accessable&quot; for the newcomer to jazz -- like the big orchestral warhorses are to classical.

Columbia is re-releasing lots of Ellington on CD. Both the Basie and Ellington bands did some great recordings in the 50s &amp; 60s in early stereo or good mono that are available on CD.

The trumpeter and high-note specialist Maynard Ferguson also had a great band in the 70s and 80s.

I've heard that Mapleshade Records has some good modern big band (and other jazz) recordings too. It's an &quot;audiophile&quot; jazz label.

And holy crap! No one mentioned Miles Davis!?! Shame!! That's like classical without Beethoven. In his long and sometimes controversial career he did it all, from bop to &quot;cool&quot; jazz, to big band, to funk/fusion. For a good overview, get the two CD set, &quot;The Essential Miles Davis&quot;, on Sony.

You'll find that jazz, like rock and classical, encompasses many styles and sub-genres. As with rock and classical, you'll undoubtedly gravitate to certain ones.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Great question. I would add Vince Guaraldi to the pianists worth getting. I don't know how you feel about big band but start with The Duke. Benny Goodman if you like clarinet.

Mapleshade is a fabulous label, I have 30 or 40 CDs. The price ($9.60 each) when you buy for is a deal and the quality amazes me. Drums in particular sound fabulous especially cymbals. I would recommend Larry Willis for piano and Asante for African Drums. The Clifford Jordan big band stuff is quite good.</font>

 

[frkuhn]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">And holy crap! No one mentioned Miles Davis!?! Shame!! That's like classical without Beethoven. </td></tr></table>

Miles was my first thought, but Vivaldi didn't want sax or trumpet!!!

Fernando</font>

 

[nm2285]

<font color='#000000'>How bout the Modern Jazz Quartet? &nbsp;No horns whatsoever and in my opinion, excellent but not very well known in mainstream jazz.

See Stereophile.com for a list of what they consider the 40 greatest albums. &nbsp;Mind you, I disagree with some of the things they include and some of the things they omit but the artists that are important are mostly there.</font>

 

[A. Vivaldi]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks for all the imput. I picked up a Concord jazz sampler cd that had a band called The Scott Hamilton Quartet that was pretty cool. No horns in the tune I heard, but a member of the clarinet family. I find the trumpet slightly more tolerable the then sax, but not up front in the mix and as a focal point. A lot of times when I hear a sax on jazz, it either just sounds like a bunch of random fart noises or is simply just too harsh. I think I'll start with a few of the albums I keep hearing about, such as The Dave Brubeck Quartet Takes Five, the SACDs of Norah Jones and Diana Krall, and mabye the SACD of Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue (I'll try to keep an open mind). I'm also interested in hearing Buddy Rich and Jaco Pastorius. I've never heard any of this stuff. &nbsp;

</font>

 

[A. Vivaldi]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> It's like trying to listen to classical without violins! </td></tr></table>After I thought about it a bit, there's a whole ton of great classical without any strings at all, but I know what you mean.</font>

 

[jeffsg4mac]

<font color='#000000'>For a sax sound that is smooth listen to Grover Washington Jr, it don't get much smoother, Winelight is an excellent example. Also for a nice smooth trumpet try Chris Bottie, very nice. I am partial to Jazz/fusion and I love the guitar. My personal favorite is Pat Metheny, Get his Secret Story CD, superb songs interlaced with some orchestra. Just an awesome Metheny CD, Stay away from a CD though called Songx with Metheny and Ornette Coleman, It sounds like random notes, very annoying. Runner ups would be Still Life Talking and Letter From Home.</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'm also interested in hearing Buddy Rich and Jaco Pastorius.</td></tr></table>

They were both monsters on their respective instruments. Very different eras and styles, though. Buddy Rich had his own very good big band; I have some vinyl from the 60's and 70's. One of the great virtuosi of the drum kit! As a former drummer myself he was one of my childhood idols.

Jazz fusion has never been my &quot;thang&quot; but I do know that Jaco Pastorius fronted his own band for a few recordings but I think can mainly be heard as a sideman with most of the big names in that genre.

I suppose I could have said &quot;like rock without electric guitar&quot;, instead!

Oh, and another scandalously omitted name: Oscar Peterson, piano. Virtuoso technique. Some say he's all technique and no soul but I think that's a bad rap. His trio was (is?) just piano, bass &amp; drums so it's good for your horn phobia!

Full disclosure: I'm not into jazz as much as I am into classical, so there are large gaps in my knowledge; I am no conoisseur.

Oh, yeah; Scott Hamilton quartet is good (I've only heard them on radio -- we have a great jazz DJ on our public radio station). No, he's not the skater!</font>

 

[A. Vivaldi]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I suppose I could have said &quot;like rock without electric guitar&quot;, instead! </td></tr></table>You know... there's a whole ton of great acoustical rock music... Just kidding!

I kinda take back what I said about trumpets as far as classical is concerned. Handel does some great stuff with them, probably one of the few who have made me enjoy them, but jazz trumpets are totally different, and the suxaphone has no place in classical music!</font>

 

[steve]

<font color='#000000'>You guys really need to go the the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. &nbsp;Unlike the cheesy Winter Park Art Festival, Jacksonville has many headliners you have noted above including, Joe Sample (Rippingtons), Keito Matsui, George Benson, Pancho Sanchez (Santana percussionist), Branford Marsalis, &nbsp;Guitars &amp; Saxes (Warren Hill, Marc Antoine, Jeff Golub and Euge Groove), and a boat load more. &nbsp;This will be the best free Jazz concert event of the year. &nbsp;I'm staying from Friday night to Sunday night and have a hotel for $80 per night. &nbsp;Well worth it considering the free line-up throughout the weekend.

Jacksonville Jazz Festival

Winter Park smothered Jazz Festival</font>

 

[rgriffin25]

<font color='#000000'>You might want to check out &quot;The Bad Plus&quot;. A Jazz trio that consists of Bass, Piano, and Drums and have a pretty unique sound. They have a few cover songs that I never expected to hear in the Jazz world. They have released &quot;Every Breath you Take&quot;, &quot;Smells Like Teen Spirit&quot;, and &quot;Iron Man&quot;. Whether or not you like the cover songs, they have some music of their own that sounds great.

</font>

 

[frkuhn]

<font color='#000000'>Vivaldi, since you like classical you may wanna try to listen to Jacques Loussier. He plays piano, and have a trio with bass and drums.

He has a long career making jazz versions of classical stuff. His Bach works are the most famous, and he says Bach is the more suited for the versions he does, but he also has albuns of Beethoven, Vivaldi, Debussy, Handel and Erik Satie.

I actually haven't heard his music yet, but I'm really curious because everybody says it works pretty well.</font>

 

[MerlinMacuser]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

jeffsg4mac : If you want some guitar stuff then try Lee Ritenour, Larry Caralton, Al Di'Meola, Steven Oliver, Pat Metheny my personal favorite, Joyce Cooling, for piano, try David Benoit, Diana Krall, and Keiko Matsui, Keiko is more new age but good none the less, for good sax try Richard Elliot or Tom Scott, for Vocals try Diana Krall, Bobby Caldwell, for funky try Spyra Gyra, The Rippingtons, Weather Report, Bella Fleck, and one jazz album that is a must have is The Dave Brubeck Quartets Take Five album, it is a classic from 1965.

I'd echo this advice and add:try Metheny's Missouri Sky or Still Life, Talking...two of the best ever.

Rippingtons are superb but feature tenor sax as an occasional lead instrument. Much of their music is driven by Russ Friedman's innovative guitar playing though. Another guitarist previously mentioned is Al DiMeola..I love the gypsy flavor of his Casino album. Wes Montgomery was a legendary and highly influencial guitarist. Lee Ritenour is wonderful.

If you like classical music I think you would love the complexity of Jean Luc Ponty's Enigmatic Ocean. He is a violinist with the heart of a jazz musician.

Another group that plays a more exotic brand of jazz would be Special EFX. Their stuff is hard to classify however I find it very pleasing and melodic. The rhythmns seem afro-brazillian while the melodies are carried by guitar and other strings.

I would recommend getting a GRP Jazz sampler. Dave Grusin wrote many themes used in TV and movies like St. Elsewhere and On Golden Pond and his other tunes are bright, accessible and appealing without becoming overly sweet. He is definitately NOT an Ornett Coleman or Pharoh Sanders! Try them only when you feel ready to really listen to a saxophone having an orgasm. Less challenging but very pleasant would be John Klemmer's Waterfalls.

My first jazz album is still one of my favorites: Eddie Harris's Plug Me In.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I think Miles Davis' &quot;Bitch's Brew&quot; is one of my favourite Jazz recordings but if you are trying to stay away from trumpet, try the keyboardist Chick Correa. Chick played with Miles for quite a while but also had an extensive solo career. For me, he played during a very exciting time and experimented a lot using early electronic instruments. If that's not your thing then you may not get into it, but I believe it is worth at least exposing yourself to it.</font>

 

[petermwilson]

Hi,
I was in the same predicament.

Now I own the HIREZ versions of a pretty good selection of what "people in the know" suggest are the must haves in a Jazz collection.

I still don't know anything about Jazz but I've got about 40 discs that can be hauled out at any given time that would help me fake it.

One sacd John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" seemed to be finding it's way to my player quite a bit so I just figured that I liked it and that was that.

To my great suprise when I visited my local BigBox book store here in Toronto Chapters I found a large Hard Covered book Devoted just to that album.

I guess other people like it also!!

Peter m.

 

[docferdie]

Diana Krall's new hybrid SACD is out . "The girl in the other room". I'm listening to it right now as I'm typing and so far I'm satisfied.

 

[av_phile]

Do check out a Peter White album. For me, his style and technical confidence exuded in his records seemed less contrived or artificial compared to Earl Klugh. But I like both.