Jazz music

[crithit5000]

Over year ago, I started a thread about classical music and threatened to start a jazz thread sooner or later. The classical thread helped me a lot; pushing me in the right directions to finding new and different things to listen to and I hope this thread will accomplish the same for me.

But unlike the classical thread (where I had at least some exposure to the more well known composers and pieces in the genre), I have no real prior experience with jazz music in general; only random encounters listening to it off the radio, really. No names of must-listen-to songs and artists, nothing at all.

So, basically, I'm asking for where to even begin on this one. Recommendations are what I'm looking for, and I encourage you guys to post specific artists, albums, and songs that you'd recommend to any jazz newcomer. Thanks.

[t0yrobo]

As a total jazz noob I can recommend anything Miles Davis, you really can't go wrong with his stuff.

[Jockel]

May or may not fit your definition of jazz, but you should check out this album:

Cinematic Orchestra - Man with a Movie Camera

you can sample a bit from it by digging around youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeKKeiXTBos

[Udderdude]

These are some artists from my collection. There are a TON of different styles of Jazz, so if these aren't to your liking, I'm sure someone else will post more. I won't bother with the classic names like Coltraine, Miles Davis, etc. since someone else will get to that eventually :X

Chick Corea
Esbjörn Svensson Trio
John Mclaughlin
Acoustic Alchemy
George Benson
Michel Camilo
Casiopea
Goblin
Stanley Clarke

[crithit5000]

The Cinematic Orchestra was suggested in the classical thread, and I'm glad they were since I've grown quite fond of them. Man with a Movie Camera is an amazing album.

[Udderdude]

Cinematic Orchestra is definitely more Chillout-ish than Jazz. Still worth listening to, though. I like them as well.

[jpj]

great thread

i recommend listening to anything sjewkestheloon suggests

right now, i'm listening to Bright Sized Life by Pat Metheney, and the eponymous debut of Bad Plus

[Rob]

May or may not fit your definition of jazz, but you should check out this album:

Weird, just downloaded that the other day. Much prefer the Alloy Orchestra ver. I don't think CO's would fit the movie at all. :/

[charlie chong]

brit jazz picks

mike westbrook
ian carr
tubby hayes
don rendell
john surman -indo jazz lps
neil ardley
nucleus
keith tippet
centipede
michael garrick

probbly more on that tip but my mind gone blank

euro jazz

kristof(sp) komeda
niagara
sunbirds
release music orchestra
jazz q
placebo (not the indie band)

the uk stuff is more modal/free the euro stuff more funky fusiony in general.

[CMoon]

I guess I'll pick up the slack and make the obvious suggestions...

Jazz is something I've spent a long time (I mean, really, like 15 years) trying to fully appreciate. By the 40's, jazz is becoming increasingly abstract, and by the late 50's we have more in the way of modal playing, greater use of dissonance, and by the mid 60's there's free jazz and total improvisation (which is where I started.) Meanwhile, jazz has probably countless styles--some are really challenging while others are bluesy or chilled-the-fuck-out. So from the beginning there is a question of what you are aiming for. Jazz does (unfortunately) make for some of the best filler music (as proven by Starbucks), but there's no way your going to hear Coltrane's ascension playing in the mall.

Here are some of my recommendations:

Oscar Peterson - brilliant highly accessible piano jazz circa the 50's and beyond. There are dozens of albums by this guy, I imagine they're all great.

Stan Getz (both in collaboration with Gilberto and Byrd) need to be mentioned. Also high accessible. Latin chill out jazz, but these two albums do it better than anything else I've heard in the genre.

Miles Davis - much, much less accessible, in part because Davis has no problems making an ugly sound on his horn. Since the guy has dozen of albums and his style changes radically throughout his career, trying to do a run down here would be pointless. It is important to note that Davis is central to the evolution of jazz since many of his albums push the envelope of what jazz could be. With Davis, most of his albums are significant and worth checking out (short of perhaps his 80's work). I'm going to go so far as to say any real understanding of jazz requires hearing and appreciating Davis...heh, I look forward to your letters...

John Coltrane - well duh. Unlike Davis in two major ways -- his sax is in general much less abrasive and for most of his career you don't see him pushing the envelope in quite the same way Davis did, though his 60's output changes all that. Coltrane's approach always seems a bit lusher, and this culminates in his classic quartet (of the early-mid 60's) which virtually dominates the impulse sound. Here I can recommend some albums. The best place to start is easily the Classic Quartet albums (A Love Supreme, Crescent, First Meditations, Sun ship, etc.), but Coltrane is already in top-form before his classic quartet: The Africa Brass sessions are also highly recommended. Once fully digested, once can branch out in any direction. Coltrane's work prior to Impulse is excellent (and can be collected rather cheaply through box sets) and then there's Coltrane's full on free jazz outings. Not sure what to recommend here as they've never been collected in a box, and opinions vary on this music (though I like it.)

Thelonious Monk - Not so much to say here. I've never really picked up on periods or anything like that with Monk. He's probably most accessible through his solo piano work, but that could be just me. Sometimes Monk is more concerned about being angular rather than melodic, but mostly he's very much steeped in blues tonality. Monk started making more sense to me after listening sequentially to Bach's WTC and then Shostakovich's 24 piano preludes.

Charles Mingus needs to be mentioned here as well. He's very singular in his approach to jazz which is both influenced by blues and avant garde, but isn't really either. A lot of new comers to jazz find him interesting enough for him to make a good early entry point. My favorite is The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady but one could start with any number of his albums.

So, yeah, there are some of the BIG names, and many of them with dozens of albums. Nothing any of us is going to write though will be more than a drop in the bucket.

Edit--found a typo.

[Arcatech]

One suggestion I have to offer: Idris Muhammad - Power of Soul. Very nice sounding stuff.
Might be on a more soul/funk tip but it sounds jazzy to me.

[louisg]

Try the first couple Mahavishnu Orchestra albums, or Oh Yeah by Jan Hammer. Also, if you like Zuntataish jazz, try the later Return to Forever albums like Romantic Warrior, or the debut Elektric Band disc. I also can't recommend Herbie Hancock's albums Man-Child, Headhunters, and Mr. Hands enough.

And, for prog crossover, Wired by Jeff Beck is good. And Udderdude already recommended Goblin, which is pretty firmly on the prog/soundtrack side of things but still excellent. Chris Potter's Underground is also great (especially the track "Nudnik"), and lately I've been getting into In a Silent Way.

Happy listening!

[ASK]

Cinematic Orchestra is definitely more Chillout-ish than Jazz. Still worth listening to, though. I like them as well.

Would disagree with that. Cinematic Orchestra (pre-Ma Fleur) are Downtempo or Nu Jazz. You look at tracks like Theme Reprise, Ode To The Big Sea, Bluebirds, Diabolus, and they definitely fall under a more modern Jazz. Just because something's slow doesn't need it needs to be dumped into some meaningless genre people stuff the likes of anything from Fila Brazilia to Royksopp to Thievery Corporation into.

[louisg]

Would disagree with that. Cinematic Orchestra (pre-Ma Fleur) are Downtempo or Nu Jazz. You look at tracks like Theme Reprise, Ode To The Big Sea, Bluebirds, Diabolus, and they definitely fall under a more modern Jazz. Just because something's slow doesn't need it needs to be dumped into some meaningless genre people stuff the likes of anything from Fila Brazilia to Royksopp to Thievery Corporation into.

Well, at first I thought they were downtempo trip-step, but after another listen I realized they occasionally used a crash cymbal, and hence were merely gabberclash with nu chillcore sensibilities.

[ASK]

Well, at first I thought they were downtempo trip-step, but after another listen I realized they occasionally used a crash cymbal, and hence were merely gabberclash with nu chillcore sensibilities.

[CMoon]

Here are a couple I just recently picked up off Blue Note, definitely worth hearing:

Andrew Hill: Point of Departure

Larry Young: Unity

A few other favorites-- (in more or less increasing order of outness)

Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch

Archie Shepp's Fire Music

Pharaoh Sanders' Karma

Albert Ayler's Live in Greenwich Village (preferably the 2CD version)

Ornette Coleman's Complete Science Fictions Sessions (2CD) & Skies of America

Don Cherry's Mu (parts 1 & 2)

Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds 1 & 2

There is no shortage of good jazz albums.

[CMoon]

So, basically, I'm asking for where to even begin on this one. Recommendations are what I'm looking for, and I encourage you guys to post specific artists, albums, and songs that you'd recommend to any jazz newcomer. Thanks.

Have you considered the Ken Burns' Jazz overview? I'm sort of assuming your looking for a foundation for understanding--I understand that documentary (or cd set if you just want to hear the music) might not be a bad place to start.

Edit: huh, it stops its coverage around 1961. Maybe this is worth skipping, I dunno.

[Vexorg]

I've picked up a fair bit of big band music in my collection since I started using ZunePass, and of the various artists I've listened to, I've found that Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman seem to be the ones I listen to the most. Haven't really delved much into other forms of Jazz though, so I'm not familiar with a lot of it.

[Dale]

Bob James may be fusion but I'd still give him a listen. Start out with his first four albums for some great Rhodes action. Amazing instrument if you haven't heard it. Look up the songs Night Crawler, Westchester Woman and Take Me to the Carnival(Probably up there with the Amen Break and some of Trouble Funk's stuff as one of the most sampled peacies of music). Keiko Matsui is also fusion and very good.

I'd also reccomend Jimmie Smith.

[ROBOTRON]

I love JAZZ...

Everyone else has mentioned "well knowns" I'll list a few of my fav somewhat obscure jazz artist:

Freddie Redd - "Everybody Loves a Winner" ...this man is sex with the piano
Bob's Diner - Bob Mintzer and company
The Rippington's (w/Russ Freeman) - You can't go wrong with any CD but my favs are "Sahara" and "Welcome to St. James Club"
Physical Therapy/ - Put on your headphones and play this one all the way through!
Ralf Illenburger - "Love Bird"
Carl Craig/ The Detroit Experiment - From my own backyard comes an extraordinary CD!
Darryl Alexander - "Coast to Coast"
Roy Ayers/ Best of - Dude's still kickin' out the jams since the 70's. He did a recent project called "Nuyorican Soul" w/Jazzy Jeff (Fresh Prince)....sounds weird? GIVE IT A LISTEN, HOME SLICE!

ever wanna experiment with acid jazz?

The Return of the Brecker Bros. (Mike Brecker died last year....:cries:)
Variable Unit - CD "Cold Flow" "A court of cords" <--- That one single is worth the price of the entire CD. Guaranteed to remove "rap music listners" from your home....maybe even off the block!

EDIT: ...@ Dale....Bob James made a song called "Westchester Lady" not woman. I still have it on vynyl somewhere

[CMoon]

Everyone else has mentioned "well knowns" ...

Really? I thought I was the only one listing more in the way of well-known stuff (and Vexorg listing some big band). Was actually rather worried that since the OP requested 'a place to begin' that in fact we were mostly failing to deliver.

[charlie chong]

i thought cmoon was the only person who put standard picks down. My picks were based on stuff i like at the moment compared to a more helpful post(to the og op) which would have outlined the different styles of jazz such as bebop/modal/free/fusion/jazz rock/prog jazz/spiritual jazz/cosmic jazz/soul jazz .. it would just take to long to outline all this and explain the subtle and not so subtledifferences . modal era miles and coltrane is very very different to say a bob james album.

if the op gave some examples of jazz he has heard and liked it would be easier

[CMoon]

i thought cmoon was the only person who put standard picks down. My picks were based on stuff i like at the moment compared to a more helpful post(to the og op) which would have outlined the different styles of jazz such as bebop/modal/free/fusion/jazz rock/prog jazz/spiritual jazz/cosmic jazz/soul jazz ..

Yeah, that would be a pretty substantial outline...I'd love to see it myself.

[Ed Oscuro]

I thought this was interesting. Not only are the balance of remittances actually going from Mexico to the US now (opposite of what it's been doing for a while, admittedly), but now Mexican players are helping keep one of America's favorite musical forms alive. (There was an interview with Mr. Sanchez yesterday; I don't have time to find it right now.)

[TLB]

Amazing idea for a thread. I know what I'm doing with my day off today, thanks :D

My only (and probably completely inappropriate) contribution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df3xWMBSdx0

It's A Perfect Circle's cover of When the Levee Breaks. Really not even jazz at all, but it could have been quite easily. It's just some great, noir chillout music for me.

[jonny5]

Amazing idea for a thread. I know what I'm doing with my day off today, thanks

My only (and probably completely inappropriate) contribution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df3xWMBSdx0

It's A Perfect Circle's cover of When the Levee Breaks. Really not even jazz at all, but it could have been quite easily. It's just some great, noir chillout music for me.

ya...thats not jazz

[Udderdude]

Amazing idea for a thread. I know what I'm doing with my day off today, thanks

My only (and probably completely inappropriate) contribution:

It's A Perfect Circle's cover of When the Levee Breaks. Really not even jazz at all, but it could have been quite easily. It's just some great, noir chillout music for me.

Back in the IRC cage with you.

[ROBOTRON]

Everyone else has mentioned "well knowns" ...

Really? I thought I was the only one listing more in the way of well-known stuff (and Vexorg listing some big band). Was actually rather worried that since the OP requested 'a place to begin' that in fact we were mostly failing to deliver.

I was referring to your first post. Your second post contains a list of artist I will look into.

In the past few years Detroit jazz stations (FM) have gone into obscurity. Satellite is the only thing going. Sooth jazz doesn't count, for some reason Kenny G. represents all jazz.

[CMoon]

I was referring to your first post. Your second post contains a list of artist I will look into.

In the past few years Detroit jazz stations (FM) have gone into obscurity. Satellite is the only thing going. Sooth jazz doesn't count, for some reason Kenny G. represents all jazz.

*nods* Wasn't meant to sound accusatory or anything. I was just wishing more people here were expounding on say the 40's-60's stuff as I have so much to learn about jazz.

That second list I put was some of my favorite jazz albums of all time, but they're all 60's, and many getting pretty 'out'. Definitely not of much help to someone trying to wrap their head around jazz.

[captpain]

I'm a classical music major....