A partial essential jazz list for a jazz newbie (who loved the Blue Note Sound)
I created the following list for a jazz tyro. It's more hard bop centric - but that's the sound they wanted
Ahmad Jamal – Ahmad’s Blues
Andrew Hill, Black Fire
Andrew Hill, Point of Departure
Anthony Williams, Spring
Art Blakey – A Night in Tunisia
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Complete Blue Note Recordings
Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 1
Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2
Art Blakey, Free For All
Art Blakey, Mosaic
Art Tatum - Capital Music collections
Bill Evans, “The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961” (Riverside, 2005).
Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin
Bobby Hutcherson Happenings
Bobby Hutcherson, Components
Bobby Hutcherson, Total Eclipse
Bud Powell, The Amazing Volume 1
But Powell, The Scene Changes
Cannonball Adderley Quintet – Somethin’ Else
Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else
Cassandra Wilson, New Moon Daughter
Cassandra Wilson, Traveling Miles
Charlie Mingus - Ahh, Um
Charlie Parker – Charlie Parker With Strings
Charlie Parker & Dizzee Gillespie – Bird & Diz (Clef, 1952)
Charlie Parker, “Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve”
Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings (Pacific Jazz, 1956) and every other thing Chet did on Pacific Jazz Records
Clifford Brown and Max Roach, “Clifford Brown & Max Roach”
Clifford Brown Memorial Album
Coleman Hawkins – Body & Soul
Curtis Fuller, The Opener
Dexter Gordon – Go!
Dexter Gordon, “Our Man in Paris”
Dexter Gordon, Go
Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up
Dizzy Gillespie, Complete Small Group Recordings
Django Reinhardt, “The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order” (JSP, 2000; tracks recorded 1934-39).
Donald Byrd At the Half Note Cafe, Volume 1
Donald Byrd, A New Perspective
Duke Ellington, “Ellington at Newport 1956”
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis
Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch
Frank Sinatra, “Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie & the Orchestra”
Frank Sinatra, “The Capitol Years”
Freddie Hubbard, Blue Spirits
Freddie Hubbard, Breaking Point
Freddie Hubbard, Ready for Freddie
Granchan Moncur III, Evolution
Grant Green, Idle Moments
Grant Greet, Street of Dreams
Hank Mobley, The Turnaround
Hank Mobley, No Room for Squares
Hank Mobley, Soul Station
Hank Mobley, Workout
Herbie Hancock, Empyrean Isles
Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage
Herbie Hancock, Speak Like a Child
Herbie Hancock, The Prisoner
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Horace Silver, “Song for My Father”
Horace Silver, Blowin’ the Blues Away
Horace Silver, Cape Verdean Blues
Horace Silver, Song for My Father
Jackie McLean, The Complete Blue Note 1964-1966
Jimmy Smith, Back at the Chicken Shack
Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe
Joe Henderson, Page One
Joe Henderson, The State of the Tenor, Live At the Village Vanguard, Volume 1
Joe Lovano, Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard
Joe Lovano, Rush Hour
John Coltrane "The Classic Quartet"
John Coltrane, "the Complete Atlantic Recordings"
John Coltrane, “A Love Supreme”
John Coltrane, “Giant Steps"
John coltrane, Blue Trane
John Coltrane, Major Works of John Coltrane
John Coltrane, Plays the Blues
Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett, The Koln Concert
Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue
Kenny Drew, Undercurrent
Larry Young Unity
Lee Morgan, Cornbread
Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land
Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder
Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh, “Intuition”
Louis Armstrong – Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
Louis Armstrong, “The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings
McCoy Tyner, Expansions
McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy
McCoy Tyner, Time for Tyner
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Miles Davis - Bootleg Series (all)
Miles Davis and Gil Evans - Porgy and Bess
Miles Davis and Gil Evans - Sketches of Spain
Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” (Sony, 1959)
Miles Davis, “The Complete Birth of the Cool”
Miles Davis, Volume 1
Miles Davis, Volume 2
Milt Jackson – Bags & Trane
Modern Jazz Quartet, “Django”
Ornette Coleman, “Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings”
Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’
Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’
Sonny Rollins, “Saxophone Colossus”
Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time
Sonny Rollins, Newks Time
Stanley Turrentine, That’s Where It’s At
The Dave Brubeck Quartet, “Time Out” (Sony, 1959).
Thelonious Monk, “Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings”
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music Volume 1
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music Volume 2
Tina Brooks, True Blue
Wayne Shorter, Adam’s Apple
Wayne Shorter, Juju
Wayne Shorter, Night Dreamer
Wayne Shorter, Speak no Evil
Andrew Hill, Black Fire
Andrew Hill, Point of Departure
Anthony Williams, Spring
Art Blakey – A Night in Tunisia
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Complete Blue Note Recordings
Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 1
Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2
Art Blakey, Free For All
Art Blakey, Mosaic
Art Tatum - Capital Music collections
Bill Evans, “The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961” (Riverside, 2005).
Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin
Bobby Hutcherson Happenings
Bobby Hutcherson, Components
Bobby Hutcherson, Total Eclipse
Bud Powell, The Amazing Volume 1
But Powell, The Scene Changes
Cannonball Adderley Quintet – Somethin’ Else
Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else
Cassandra Wilson, New Moon Daughter
Cassandra Wilson, Traveling Miles
Charlie Mingus - Ahh, Um
Charlie Parker – Charlie Parker With Strings
Charlie Parker & Dizzee Gillespie – Bird & Diz (Clef, 1952)
Charlie Parker, “Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve”
Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings (Pacific Jazz, 1956) and every other thing Chet did on Pacific Jazz Records
Clifford Brown and Max Roach, “Clifford Brown & Max Roach”
Clifford Brown Memorial Album
Coleman Hawkins – Body & Soul
Curtis Fuller, The Opener
Dexter Gordon – Go!
Dexter Gordon, “Our Man in Paris”
Dexter Gordon, Go
Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up
Dizzy Gillespie, Complete Small Group Recordings
Django Reinhardt, “The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order” (JSP, 2000; tracks recorded 1934-39).
Donald Byrd At the Half Note Cafe, Volume 1
Donald Byrd, A New Perspective
Duke Ellington, “Ellington at Newport 1956”
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis
Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch
Frank Sinatra, “Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie & the Orchestra”
Frank Sinatra, “The Capitol Years”
Freddie Hubbard, Blue Spirits
Freddie Hubbard, Breaking Point
Freddie Hubbard, Ready for Freddie
Granchan Moncur III, Evolution
Grant Green, Idle Moments
Grant Greet, Street of Dreams
Hank Mobley, The Turnaround
Hank Mobley, No Room for Squares
Hank Mobley, Soul Station
Hank Mobley, Workout
Herbie Hancock, Empyrean Isles
Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage
Herbie Hancock, Speak Like a Child
Herbie Hancock, The Prisoner
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers
Horace Silver, “Song for My Father”
Horace Silver, Blowin’ the Blues Away
Horace Silver, Cape Verdean Blues
Horace Silver, Song for My Father
Jackie McLean, The Complete Blue Note 1964-1966
Jimmy Smith, Back at the Chicken Shack
Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe
Joe Henderson, Page One
Joe Henderson, The State of the Tenor, Live At the Village Vanguard, Volume 1
Joe Lovano, Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard
Joe Lovano, Rush Hour
John Coltrane "The Classic Quartet"
John Coltrane, "the Complete Atlantic Recordings"
John Coltrane, “A Love Supreme”
John Coltrane, “Giant Steps"
John coltrane, Blue Trane
John Coltrane, Major Works of John Coltrane
John Coltrane, Plays the Blues
Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett, The Koln Concert
Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue
Kenny Drew, Undercurrent
Larry Young Unity
Lee Morgan, Cornbread
Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land
Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder
Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh, “Intuition”
Louis Armstrong – Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
Louis Armstrong, “The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings
McCoy Tyner, Expansions
McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy
McCoy Tyner, Time for Tyner
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Miles Davis - Bootleg Series (all)
Miles Davis and Gil Evans - Porgy and Bess
Miles Davis and Gil Evans - Sketches of Spain
Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” (Sony, 1959)
Miles Davis, “The Complete Birth of the Cool”
Miles Davis, Volume 1
Miles Davis, Volume 2
Milt Jackson – Bags & Trane
Modern Jazz Quartet, “Django”
Ornette Coleman, “Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings”
Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’
Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’
Sonny Rollins, “Saxophone Colossus”
Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time
Sonny Rollins, Newks Time
Stanley Turrentine, That’s Where It’s At
The Dave Brubeck Quartet, “Time Out” (Sony, 1959).
Thelonious Monk, “Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings”
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music Volume 1
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music Volume 2
Tina Brooks, True Blue
Wayne Shorter, Adam’s Apple
Wayne Shorter, Juju
Wayne Shorter, Night Dreamer
Wayne Shorter, Speak no Evil
Great List - when I am asked about essential jazz albums by newbies I refer them to this list which provides a broad cross section of artists, eras and styles.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/19/100-essential-jazz-albums