Recommend Me One 'Classic' Jazz Album, and WHY.
 

I keep flitting in and out of listening to jazz. Mostly when I do, it's either Charles Mingus' Black Saint... or John Coltrane's Giant Steps. But when it comes to getting more stuff it's the usual case of too much choice, too little money and not enough knowledge. So in order to bolster my meagre half a dozen CDs i need you to recommend me a 'classic'. It would also be helpful if you could tell me a tiny bit about it - its style, etc.

You can't really go wrong with Coltrane or Mingus if you ask me.

Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage is one of my favs.

This is a good book by the way:

ISBN 978-0-9765531-3-7

I've been thinking about Maiden Voyage. Sounds like a good bet for the summer months.

Thanks for the nod about the book, too.

I would go wih

Ornette Coleman - Free jazz

PHAROAH SANDERS - Thembi

great album, lots of different styles but if you like mingus and coltrane then i'm sure you like this one as well.

Yeah, Free Jazz. Wild stuff.

On the mellow side, try Tina Brooks' True Blue. A Blue Note classic if ever there was one. With Freddie Hubbard sounding rather Miles Davis-like circa Kind of Blue. Brooks's sax playing sounds very heartfelt, and the whole thing swings and even rocks a little. Plus the cover's cool.

Also, you cannot go wrong with

KIND OF BLUE by Miles Davis.
It is an astoundingly beautiful album of music. Unbelievable performances and solos. It wil rule your mind and heart and toes.

because!!!!!!!!!!

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ps- just noticed.... since money is an issue, why not get some compilations? that's what got me started. you can cover a lot with little $ and then pick & choose. lemme suggest some names:


thelonious monk
duke ellington
count basie
pharoah sanders
charlie parker
sun ra
alice coltrane
louis armstrong
django reinhart
sonny rollins
dizzie gillespie
you've mentioned mingus & coltrane - mingus blues & roots is a great compilation
miles davis - cheeto mentioned kind of blue, you could also try sketches from spain, quasi-classical (concierto de aranjuez)
anything with max roach
bud powell
get some ragtime & some dixieland (couldn't name you)
herbie hancock
albert ayler
peter brotzmann
stan getz
chet baker
i'll think of more...

rather than give you a meaningless description of these people i suggest looking at some internet radio/sampler or amazon & listen to some samples. emusic offers you 50 free mp3s when you subscribe, rhapsody gives you 25 free listens on its radio, amazon has clips im sure for all these...

Good suggestions so far. I even have Maiden Voyage on cassette from the old days.

Herbie's Empyrean Isles and Tyner's The Real McCoy are excellent also. I think you might like the extended jams ("The Egg" and "Passion Dance," respectively) and some elements of rockin' ostinato playing on those. Both are '60s classics, to be sure. Herbie jacked Miles' band and McCoy absconded with 'Trane's band for their early solo material. This is why Miles' and John's line-ups changed when they did.

But if you're after something a bit earlier, maybe try We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite or Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers' Moanin'.

fast(er) - The Avant Garde John Coltrane and Don Cherry
slow(er) - Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

That John Coltrane record is hot shit, I highly recommend it. Probably not his best work, but I always prefer to make recommendations that build up to an artists best. If your only exposure to Trane is Giant Steps than this will make for a nice transition: a little faster, a little more avant garde.

Why?
It's probably the most consistently perfect jazz record from start to finish ever. Dolphy's bass clarinet sounds like no other instrument. It doesn't even sound like a bass clarinet. So deep and slippery and smooth. His improvising is fierce enough for free jazz fans, but melodic enough for my mom to enjoy.
Just get it. I've never met anyone who doesn't like it.

It's so good I even named my interweb persona after its opening track.

oh man, I just put this on... this record is also awesome.

I just listened to At the Five Spot Vol. 1 and it ruled.

Jazz... *le sigh*

Yes, this one or









Why? Because it's the soundtrack of freedom !!!

I would recommend Guitarist John McLaughlin's Extrapolation. Especially if you like a little rock and blues mixed in. It was released around his stint with Miles. Excellent soulful playing from the whole band, not just chops. great 4 piece. John Surman on sax is very underrated.guitar, bass, drums and sax.

Can I suggest you pick up The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Written by Richard Cook and Brian Morton. Published by Penguin and in paperback (ISBN-10: 0141023279 and ISBN-13: 978-0141023274). Now in its 8th edition, its about 2000 pages and covers every jazz genre. It's a brilliant reference guide.

I've been listening to Sun Ra a lot lately, so my suggestion would be Jazz In Silhouette. It's one of his more accessible albums and kicks off with enlightenment, which is beautiful. Cosmic Tones/Art Forms or Atlantis are more standard/freer sounding Sun Ra. In fact you can't go wrong with most of the Evidence issued Sun Ra cds.

One of my long time favourites is Ornette Coleman, and I would recommend the Beauty is a Rare Thing box set, which collects his early recordings for Atlantic. Failing that pick up Shape of Jazz to Come from that period or his most recent release, Sound Grammar.

And Out To Lunch definitely fits the bill of a 'classic.'

Perhaps not classic in the accepted sense, but I like it very much:




Why? it's a powerhouse of a record that nonethless has great use of dymanics (i.e. not just loud all the way through). Where else would you get amphetamine-charged jazz from a bunch of bearded Germans, Dutch and Brits?

This one is an oldie and well known but i HUNTED FOR AN ORIGINAL PRESSING IN GOOD CONDITION WHICH IS A bitch TO FIND AND i FOUND IT AND THE WHOLE AL BUM IS FUCKING AMAZING MUSIC.
sorry about all caps. I hit the shift lock button accidentally

Dave Brubeck Quartet
TIME OUT

crescent by john coltrane is very good and quite overlooked. also reccomend journey to sachindinanda by alice coltrane and maiden voyage by herbie hancock.

If you can find it (you can find the vinyl box set on ebay for under $20 ussually, or the CD box set) get the smithsonian Colelction of Jazz.

It is fucking awesome an dit covers everything from the joplin and jelly roll morton to satch to billy day and swing and all the way to miles and trane and mingus and CECIL TAYLOR and coleman too!

You gotta get some of the second great Miles Davis Quintet - possibly the most worshipped group of musicians in all of jazz - Miles, Wayne, Tony, Herbie and Ron. Circle remains the most beautiful Miles ballad.


Sun Ra's catalogue is so immense that it can be very intimidating. This is a perfect place to start (just make sure you have lots of disposable income cos Sun Ra fans always turn into avid collecters!). Not to out there, but definitely different. Awesome space jazz, exotic landscapes, tribal drumming, big band jazz. Nifty.


Duke Ellington's discograpy is almost as big as Sun Ra's. This is a perfect staring place, this one properly clicked me on to Ellington and I since became a rabid fan. More of a laid back good times session this one


Just buy it! 4 disc set of exceptionally inspired Coltrane with Elvin, McCoy and mr Eric Dolphy!

But, of course! I agree wholeheartedly.

I ranked Out to Lunch as the #2 all-time behind Coltrane's MyFavorite Things recently, but somehow blanked-out on it today.

Horace Silver - A Song For My Father

Why? Well, nobody suggested it and it features a excellent mixture of blissful introspective piano joints and straight ahead movin' jazz. YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED!!!

what about happenin' noise jazz like scissor shock

You asked for one, so I'll respect that, but it's hard. I've done two radio shows, one where I played 4 hrs of just Sun Ra, and another where I played 6 hrs of same. But for one "Classic" Jazz Record, I'm going to go with Miles.

Lots of other people are covering Kind of Blue, so I'll take the other extreme: On the Corner. It was hated by jazz purists when it came out, because he fully embraced electronic instruments and funk beats. Decades later it was listed by many a punk/funk artist as a major inspiration, but it goes beyond that, and way beyond the "fusion" ghetto as well. It's actually quite melodic at times, though always rhythmic, and it takes the classic spirit of jazz and transports it to a whole new playground.

HOME COOKIN with Jimmy Smith

great great great jazz organ.


fuck

great

I second this even though I only have Back at the Chicken Shack, which is very good. Retarded nasty funk.

Yeah I love Crescent.

YES!

My favourite Miles Davis record.

I heard a two disc live album from this period today. I liked it a lot.

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady



No-one dislikes this album.

No-one.

beautiful album. Thelonious's first truly massive accomplishment.
though the recording of the album was tension filled and strained, everything came out beautifully.
Bemsha Swing (in it's best incarnation, imo) is worth the album alone.
Brilliant Corners is a maze of a song, twisting and turning and landing on top of your head. etc etc.
great album, among Thelonious's other masterpieces.