Great thread. I'm a jazz newbie, but have been spending a lot of time listening the last year or so.

A couple of my favorites:

Stardust: The Music Of Hoagy Carmichael
by Bill Charlap



Night Train
by The Oscar Peterson Trio



Love Stone
by JD Allen

Kind of Blue released on this day in 1959.

Mine would be Barney Kessel's Autumn Leaves album.

Freddy Hubbard--- First Light

4-sight. A One time collaboration, from 1998 of 4 young (at the time) post bop musicians that got some praise initially but then faded into obscurity.

A lot of jazz greats have already been deservedly mentioned in this thread but few know of this hidden gem.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/4-sight-mw0000599466

Sonny Rollins Way Out West.

Sonny Rollins:Saxophone colossus comes to mind but there are so many others to choose from

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff:

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Too many to mention. I don't have a favorite. Most of Coltrane's stuff, Sonny Rollins' stuff. Herbie Hancock in the 60s and early 70s, Weather Report, Mingus, the list goes on. I don't think a jazz fan has a favorite album.

This.

and this,


w/ an exception,

Brubeck's Take 5,

I have the first pressing (was my dad's) and the Zenith console LP player he played it on,



other than that,

VPM (used to call themselve NPR) has a Jazz show most evenings , that I listen to when I have a late shift at work,


I really like the 50's blue note stuff, up thru the modern stuff,

listened to some fusion (yellow jacktes, spyro gyra and a good local band called Secrets) in the 80's,

some of that holds up, some seems dated, but all is good

These days I've been listening to more jazz then I have in years. Still listen to a lot of hard rock and certain eras of other stuff, but that advancing age thingy is warping things to a mellower vibe more than I care to admit.

With jazz I've always have favored the saxophone--especially tenor--over other lead instruments. Not sure I have an absolute favorite album, but I do have a couple go-tos that I can't seem to get bored of. A bit of a dichotomy between them but my two most listened to albums are A Love Supreme and Ballads, both of course by Coltrane.

But I've also listened to a lot of Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball, Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon as well over the years. And many others. Lately I've been mixing in quite a bit of Brandford Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek, Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt and Stanley Turrentine into my streaming playlists. Thank the heavens for Spotify; there's a LOT of great music (and albums) that I've missed over the decades, quite a lot of it out of print.

Guilty pleasure #1: Grover Washington, Jr., particularly the early days when he was recording for CTI Records. Jazz and hunk o' funk...fun stuff if a bit poppish. Guilty pleasure #2: Candy Dulfer; sure it's mellow and soft and milquetoast smooth jazz cra...uh, 'stuff'. But she sure is easy on the eyes as well as the ears. There are other 'guilties' as well, but those I'll keep as 'need to know'.

This isn't a big band, but just a combo. There is an album called "Heavyweights" by Bobby Shew and Carl Fontana. It's one of my FAVORITES.

I worked with Bobby Shew once- what an incredible musician.

Here's the playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playli...4DF5sB6o4MgdqXYaGmW4

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:
These days I've been listening to more jazz then I have in years. Still listen to a lot of hard rock and certain eras of other stuff, but that advancing age thingy is warping things to a mellower vibe more than I care to admit.

With jazz I've always have favored the saxophone--especially tenor--over other lead instruments. ...

Great post. I got a real kick reading it. You could be describing me.

High school: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, etc.
College: Springsteen, The Clash, Talking Heads, etc.
Working Years: "Smooth Jazz": Peter White, Kenny G, Dave Koz, etc.
Now: 1950s-60s Jazz, particularly tenor sax

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:
But I've also listened to a lot of Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball, Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon as well over the years. And many others. Lately I've been mixing in quite a bit of Brandford Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek, Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt and Stanley Turrentine into my streaming playlists. Thank the heavens for Spotify; there's a LOT of great music (and albums) that I've missed over the decades, quite a lot of it out of print.

I think streaming music is the best thing since the internet. Exploring Spotify and Apple Music, I have found a lot of these great artists as well. A couple you didn't mention are some of my favorites: Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Scott Hamilton.

Got to the dentist for a broken tooth yesterday. Asked what kind of music I'd like. Said "Jazz!" He chuckled saying it was a welcome break from all the country other patients had asked for. He and his assistant were surprised when I commented about what was playing at one point. Even nailed it saying it was 1972 or 1973. Love this album!

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Got to the dentist for a broken tooth yesterday. Asked what kind of music I'd like. Said "Jazz!" He chuckled saying it was a welcome break from all the country other patients had asked for. He and his assistant were surprised when I commented about what was playing at one point. Even nailed it saying it was 1972 or 1973. Love this album!

Grover was fantastic.
I started listening to him in the mid 70's, some of my first exposure to Jazz.
I saw him once in concert - it was great.
RIP

Les Mcann and Eddie Harris Swiss Movement

Donald Byrd Flight Time

I am not well versed in Jazz but enjoy Cool Jazz. Like other said, Kinda Blue by Miles Davis is a favorite.

Regarding albums, 'Jam Session in Swingville' is one I really enjoy. It features Coleman Hawkins and Pee Wee Russell

Link to the Jam Session in Swingville Videos


Thought this was an interesting review from Amazon:

The first 4 tracks feature Hawk on tenor, Joe Newman on trumpet, J.C. Higgenbotham on trombone, Hilton Jefferson on alto, Jimmy Hamilton (Duke man) on clarinet, Claude Hopkins on piano, Tiny Grimes on guitar, Wendell Marshal on bass, and Bill English on drums.

The four pieces are long (averaging 9 minutes), everybody gets to the mike, and Jimmy Hamilton's arrangements prevent a free-for-all. And while Hawkins doesn't get the solo time I was hoping for, the solos he does take are well crafted in the late Hawk rich tone. He's particularly beautiful duetting with Hamilton on "Cool Sunrise". But all the musicians' solos are good, and seem to fit together nicely. I suspect everyone was kickin' it up a notch, playing with the Hawk and all.

The second set kicks off with a short number by the rhythm section consisting of Cliff Jackson on piano, Joe Benjamin on bass, and J.C. Heard on drums. The final six numbers add Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Vic Dickenson on 'bone, Al Sears and Buddy Tate sharing tenor sax duties, and Danny Barker on guitar. Al Sears did the arranging and, like the Hamilton in the previous session, keeps things well stitched together. In fact, despite the complete personnel change, is stylistically similar.

So it's not really a jam session, things are pretty well bolted down and (except for the ever quirky Russell) few chances are taken. I'd classify the music more as mainstream jazz that swings a bit than as "swing music". While no new ground is broken here, and most of the players are beyond their energetic years (most are in their late fifties), there is a tight "in the pocket" groove that goes down very nicely when you'd like your brandy smooth. Not a lot of adventure, but a whole lot of hard-earned competence. Remastered sound is impeccable from the clean Van Gelder Prestige masters. A good recording for the jazzophobic.

Spyro Gyra -- Morning Dance, is one of my favorites

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Got to the dentist for a broken tooth yesterday. Asked what kind of music I'd like. Said "Jazz!" He chuckled saying it was a welcome break from all the country other patients had asked for. He and his assistant were surprised when I commented about what was playing at one point. Even nailed it saying it was 1972 or 1973. Love this album!

Listened to this last night. Great album. Grover really gives the sax a workout on Inner City Blues.

The Jazz Crusaders aka The Crusaders