New To Jazz Music - Need Album Recommendations

[MinusTheBear]

I know nothing about jazz, but it has peaked my interest due to the fact that a lot of people rave about it and more specifically the actual recordings and sound quality. I am looking for some c.d's to buy and would like some reccomendations.

 

[sgtpepper9]

Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet - Husky (crazy, wild, psychedelic jazz; personal favorite of mine)
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Miles Davis - B*tches Brew
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood - Out Louder
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Welcome Home
Jaco Pastorius - Self Titled (excellent bass player)
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
The Bad Plus - Prog
John Scofield - Uberjam
John Scofield - A Go Go

Hope that helps

I'd like to hear other people's suggestions for myself as well....

 

[jliedeka]

There are many styles of jazz. You may like some better than others. Traditionally there was Dixieland, Swing and Bebop. There's also fusion which is somewhere between jazz and rock. Also, modern jazz really goes beyond bebop. I'm not much of a scholar so I don't know the proper terms.

I like Swing/Big Band and Bebop plus more modern styles. Light jazz is okay as a background but gets boring if you try to listen to it.

For Swing, I'd recommend Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway and the soundtrack to Woody Allen's Sweet & Lowdown.

For bebop and beyond, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Charlie Hayden.

Jim

 

[Halon451]

Personally I feel that you can't go wrong with a couple of good jazz standards in my opinion - anything by Coltrane or Miles Davis. Two of the greats.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Does anyone have experience ordering from www.telarc.com. Are their prices competitive and how fast do they ship?

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet - Husky (crazy, wild, psychedelic jazz; personal favorite of mine)
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Miles Davis - B*tches Brew
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood - Out Louder
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Welcome Home
Jaco Pastorius - Self Titled (excellent bass player)
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
The Bad Plus - Prog
John Scofield - Uberjam
John Scofield - A Go Go

Hope that helps

I'd like to hear other people's suggestions for myself as well....

You have some good fusion there. 70s jazz fusion is my favorite style of jazz.

Some others to pick up:
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Billy Cobham - Stratus
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame
Eleventh House - Introducing the Eleventh House with Larry Coryell
Al DiMeola - Anthology (a collection of all his best stuff)
Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow or, Wired

and if you want classic traditional, pick up something by Dave Brubeck.

 

[zhimbo]

I know nothing about jazz, but it has peaked my interest due to the fact that a lot of people rave about it and more specifically the actual recordings and sound quality. I am looking for some c.d's to buy and would like some reccomendations.

The usual recommendation is "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. Absolute classic, but whether it's a good starting point depends on what your tastes. It's definitely on the "cool" side. If you like this, check out Bill Evans Trio, "Sunday at the Village Vanguard". Evans is on piano for Kind of Blue, and the Village Vanguard live recordings (continued on "Waltz for Debby") are usually considered his best work.

Another classic: Sonny Rollins "Saxophone Colossus". More great small group jazz. Great drumming by Max Roach. A calypso-flavored piece, a Brecht song, A tremendous blues closing things out...it's an amazing disc. If you like that, a good follow up would be "Sonny Side Up" with Rollins, Sonny Stitt, and Dizzy Gillespie. That's one smokin' record.

If you think you like fusion-y funk/rock/jazz, I'd say John Scofield, A-Go-Go and Uberjam are where to start for recent stuff. (I'm not a huge fusion fan, but for Scofield I make an exception).


Added:

John Coltrane: True genius...but his style evolved dramatically through his (too short) career. In Chronological order: Blue Train, Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, Live at the Village Vanguard, Love Supreme. If you're conservative, start early. After A Love Supreme, things go crazy.

Some contemporary artists I like, other than Scofield: Joshua Redman (Wish, Spirit of the Moment, Beyond) ; The Bad Plus (These are the Vistas); Taylor Eigsti (Lucky to Be Me).

 

[MinusTheBear]

I am definetly looking for something heavily layered and very precise. I wanna hear very small details in the songs like the plucking of a string or the crispness of a hi-hat . I really love good bass lines too and the use of the splash and crash cymbals on the drums

 

[darien87]

I would recommend anything by Oscar Peterson, David Sanborn and Bob James.

I also really like Hiroshima. They mix traditional Japanese instruments with jazz.

 

[Halon451]

You have some good fusion there. 70s jazz fusion is my favorite style of jazz.

Some others to pick up:
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Billy Cobham - Stratus
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame
Eleventh House - Introducing the Eleventh House with Larry Coryell
Al DiMeola - Anthology (a collection of all his best stuff)
Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow or, Wired

and if you want classic traditional, pick up something by Dave Brubeck.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - my god, I forgot all about them. It's been years since I listened to Inner Mounting Flame - great album, and a great addition to anyone's collection.

 

[jostenmeat]

Minus-Bear, I used to listen to a lot of jazz, but this is before I knew anything about audiophilia. I happen to have the impression that jazz isn't really an area where excellent recordings are the norm. Sure, they are available, but a lot of my favorite discoveries happen to suffer in SQ.

So THAT being said, I think Money Jungle (Ellington) is a must-have. Poor SQ is the problem.

No one is more layered than Mingus, IMHO. Again, often the SQ is not very great. Listen to Moanin' for an idea of what I think of "layering".

For SQ purposes (not that was what I was necessarily looking for) more recent things I listened to were Brad Mehldau recordings (some intricately layered stuff, but mostly within the piano itself. I daresay most persons would not notice, as its rather subtle in some ways; reminded me just a little bit of the classical Mompou). Also, what was an older gift to me, but Charles Lloyd's Voice in the Night has good SQ. C Haden's "Montreal Tapes" series has decent SQ. Its been a very long time since I heard the impressive Joshua Redman, but his stuff probably has decent SQ.

I am afraid to say that even some of these aren't on the same level as some classical recordings. If you look towards some older legends, such as Monk, Coltrane, etc, it will be really hard, if not impossible, to find "audiophile" recordings.

I think there is some new Blue Note re-issue/re-master series or something on vinyl (which I don't use as a format at all), but they are VERY pricey I think... well, have fun!

 

[Harrison476]

Bob James

I would recommend anything by Oscar Peterson, David Sanborn and Bob James.

I also really like Hiroshima. They mix traditional Japanese instruments with jazz.

Bob James is my favorite! I have most of his stuff, but FOURplay is the best best best.!!!!

 

[cl35m]

A good modern jazz cd is Dave Koz - The Dance and anything by Andreas Vollenweider like White Winds is pretty awesome although I don't know if he is considered jazz or just plain instrumental.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

One of my favorite jazz artists is bassist Brian Bromberg. The solo acoustic pieces on his Wood II CD are my primary audition material for bass.

 

[darien87]

Bob James is my favorite! I have most of his stuff, but FOURplay is the best best best.!!!!

My favorites by Bob are Obsession and Grand Piano Canyon. I've been looking all over for a CD of the album Bob James and David Sanborn did together, but I haven't been having much luck.

 

[caupina]

If jazz caught your attention, you should try some SACD/DVD-A (the one jazz DVD-A I have is Pat Metheny Group's "Imaginary Day" which I highly recommend, but I have more than 20 jazz SACD). I'm a big Pat Metheny Group fan, but there's a lot you can choose from. The ECM catalog has quite a variety of excellent musicians such as Tord Gustavssen Trio, Tomas Stanko Quartet, Manu Katche, Keith Jarret, etc. Good luck

 

[flippo]

Fusion

For fusion I highly reccomend

Pat Metheny Group
Flim and the BB's
Acoustic Alchemy
Spyro Gyra
Thom Rotella
Joe Beck

Flippo

 

[caupina]

For fusion I highly reccomend

Pat Metheny Group
Flim and the BB's
Acoustic Alchemy
Spyro Gyra
Thom Rotella
Joe Beck

Flippo

Wow, we pretty much share the same tastes in fusion. I have all the Acoustic Alchemy CDs and DVDs, some of the Spyro Gyra (all of them SACD), and PMG....I'm going to check out some of the other names you also included.

I forgot to include Chris Botti and Lyle Mays (his first CD and the last one stand out)

 

[maximoiglesias]

Pat Metheny Speaking of Now Live one of the best recorded concert DVD
Other well recorded DVD is Diana Krall Live in Paris

 

[flippo]

Flim & the BB's

Flim & the BB's is really fun music and is also recorded very well First 4 or 5 releases were on the DMP label. Try them, you will not be disappointed. Start with the album "Neon" or "The Further Adventures Of Flim & the BB's"

Flippo