suggest me a jazz CD

robbie the roadie

Bit O/T but hey. Looking to expand my CD collection horizons a bit from rock/punk/ska.

Basically I like the sort of faster paced stuff (like in the remake of Alfie) with saxophones, trumpets,cool drum beats etc.

What do you recomend?

Cyrenne

A good jump off point is anything on mid/early 60's Blue Note.
Try Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder or Jimmy Smith's The Sermon for something really greazzy....
Horace Silver had an abundance of cool Blue Notes.
Head over to http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?, buy their CDs even!
Have fun. My jazz journey started out 15 years ago and it's cost me an arm and a leg!

cyclingfury

Robbie,

Try anything from a band called "The Bad Plus." The drummer is an absolute genius in my opinion, who maintains a mix of manic and complicated beats that make the group sound like no other jazz band.

TheGreatGatsby

miles davis - birth of the cool or Charlie Parkers Bird. Little more off the wall try Bitches brew by miles davis or Nefertiti.

For something more funky and up to date try US3 hand on the torch or an ordinary day...

for Piano stuff try Esbjörn Svensson Trio - A strange Place for snow or Viaticum

For any Drum orientated Jazz try Art Tatum.

and for voice obviously try Ella, Nina or Louis.

Enjoy

Gats

Eddy S

Some great suggestions so far to get you going although I have to admit that I just don’t get the Bad Plus! :?

If you’ve got a DAB radio, tune in to the theJazz. If you haven't got DAB, you can find the station at http://www.thejazz.com and listen online and it’s also on Sky if you have that – you will pick up on all sorts of styles.

Although it’s a bit of a predictable suggestion, pick up a copy of “Kind of Blue” by Mile Davis – it’s a really great place to start your jazz journey.

Soon you’ll end up with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of jazz albums! :oops:

jpembroke

Loads of recommendations here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebUMhJAKSM

Enjoy!

DanS

The Bad Plus are great... utterly irreverent, but that's maybe not a bad thing.
Likewise, Acoustic Ladyland - awful name, great band, fantastic live.
For classics - you can't go wrong with Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk - try Genius of Modern Music Vol. 1.
Miles Davis of course - Kind of Blue is just beautiful, great Winter cycling music. And John Coltrane - A Love Supreme is one of those pieces of music I keep coming back to again and again.
Dan

ricadus

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue.

From there you can branch out and explore albums by the musicians on Miles' album (John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley), and, from there on to other contemporaries, such as Thelonious Monk, Gil Evans and Charles Mingus.


Or you dip your toes in by getting a good compilation album.

There was a pretty good Joe Henderson (sax player) CD box set that was compiled not only from his own Blue Note albums but also all the other Blue Note albums he guested on – and so many of them were classics of their time so its also something of a Blue Note greatest hits box set. May be worth checking eBay, or amazon: http://tinyurl.com/yuf2ul

Another compilation box set to get rather than individual albums is the Dave Brubeck "Time Signatures" one as, unusually, it spans an entire career over a number of record labels. You may not recognize the title, but almost certainly you've heard his piece "Take Five".


But all that's just from one era - jazz covers everything from big bands to solo artists (including vocalists), from early 20th-century scott Joplin ragtime, to 21st-century world music fusions on the ECM label. You can spend forever discovering new things called "jazz"..

meesterbond

As a good cross-over starting point I'd suggest looking for some Weather Report - ok not Jazz in it's most traditional form, but great, great tunes and probably the best bass player that ever lived.

Heavy Weather's probably the best one to start with...

secretsqirrel

Bjork's album 'Gling Glo', Icelandic Jazz at it's best.

BiggerBoat

Dave Brubeck "Take Five". No collection is complete without this standard. A true classic.

robbie the roadie

cool cheers will have a peep on amazon later. thanks.

ricadus

A copy of the Penguin Guide to Jazz is a useful thing to have, as it reviews 1000s of albums, has author biogs and also identifies albums regarded as crucial for a newbie listener.

robbie the roadie

just bought miles davis 'Kind of Blue' and 'Birth of cool' for £8 of amazon

The penguin book sounds good though.

Cyrenne

ricadus wrote:

A copy of the Penguin Guide to Jazz is a useful thing to have, as it reviews 1000s of albums, has author biogs and also identifies albums regarded as crucial for a newbie listener.

Essential. Any edition of it too! Although with older copies you miss out on reviews of certain fabulous ECM discs that have been released in recent years. That's where th'internet's handy......
But to your OP: Those early Blue Notes epitomise what you're after IMO.

johnnyhotdog

old - django reinhardt

new - john zorn.

as said before, blue note is a fantastic place to start - lots of good quality compilations available at a reasonable price.

Anonymous

Anything featuring Oscar Peterson on piano.The Godfather of jazz piano.

ricadus

johnnyhotdog wrote:

as said before, blue note is a fantastic place to start - lots of good quality compilations available at a reasonable price.

You might want to hold off buying Eric Dolphy's Blue Note album "Out to Lunch" though, despite the beautiful cover. It was the 2nd or 3rd jazz album I bought, so the music was somewhat unsettling compared with Miles's "Kind of Blue" or a Bill Evans album or whatever it was I ad heard previously. "Out to Lunch" is a great set, but it's kind of like a cubist painting – initially unsettling and opaque until you get used to his style.

magibob

"The Birthday concert." Jaco Pastorius. tasty stuff, and accessible too.

Anything with Buddy Rich if you like drummers, I like "Big swing face." Has "The beat goes on," on it that was completely ripped off by the all seeing eye as a dance track about 10 years ago.

Nathalie Cole "Unforgettable with love." Natalie performing her Dad-s tracks with everything from a trio to a big band. Dave Weckle on a couple of tracks, Swings like F...

Andy

simon_e

I'd also suggest a Blue Note compilation - mix of styles, instruments and players - and something more contemporary. There are plenty of general compilations that will get you started too. As others have said, there are loads to choose from. I've taken to borrowing CDs from the library now and again, it's a cheap way to try stuff out.

Radio 3 does some jazz programmes that are well worth listening to. Also, a new series called The Best Of Jazz on R2 claims to play "classic tracks, rare recordings and the best of the re-issues and the new jazz releases." Links to info as well as progs at BBC Music: jazz.

3 favourite recordings (not necessarily classics) I particularly enjoy:
1. Martin Taylor - Spirit of Django
2. Andy Sheppard - Andy Sheppard (his first album)
3. Larry Carlton - Last Nite
Some great playing, if nothing else.

another jacko

There is an excellent radio show on Radio Humberside - The Real Music Show with Henry Ayrton. Blues, Jazz, Swing etc. lots of information, history, stories behind the artists. If you are not blessed with living in this wondeful part of the world you can listen on the old webby thing, although the 'listen again' link for last weeks show seems to take you to a football commentary!

robbie the roadie

another jacko wrote:

If you are not blessed with living in this wondeful part of the world !

i am indeed blessed, hee hee Radio Blunderside might have to check it out though.

cavasta

Can't believe nobody's recommended Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott (either as individuals or together as the Jazz Couriers). Or how about Johnny Griffin? What about Sonny Rollins, who recorded a version of Alfie's Theme? You'd never have guessed that I used to play tenor sax would you? 8)

Anonymous

Jack DeJohnette and Special Edition. "Earthwalk."