If I wanted to get into Jazz...

**DaGeek** · 08-17-2007, 01:09 PM

Where would I start, and who would you recommend I check out/listen to?

rock_show_host · 08-17-2007, 01:15 PM

Miles Davis
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Charlie Parker
John Coltrane
Herbie Hancock
Bill Evans

Those are just some big ones to get you started. I'm about as far from a jazz expert as you can get, but I love the music. And all of the above artists are essentials.

Nate · 08-17-2007, 01:30 PM

Dave Brubeck would be a worthy inclusion in the list, too.

MJ_Avalanche · 08-17-2007, 01:41 PM

Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is essential listening, and is the record almost every jazz cat will tell you to listen to. Personally, I find it a little on the boring side (on sometimes wonder why it's so recommended by everyone to beginners), but there's some really groundbreaking stuff on there and some great playing from everyone on it.

Wes Montgomery's The Incredible Jazz Guitar and Smokin' at The Half Note are two REQUIRED records for guitar players. So much fabulous music on there.

Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus is fantastic. Tenor Madness is another great place to start with him. The Bridge is also really good because he plays with Jim Hall who is another fantastic guitar player on that record.

John Coltrane's Blue Train
Cannonball Adderly's Somethin' Else
Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage
Horace Silver's Song for My Father
Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder
Clifford Brown and Max Roach Study in Brown
Charlie Christian's The Genius of The Electric Guitar (He more or less invented the way modern guitar is played, so... He should be listened to I think.)
Dave Brubeck's Time Out. I think this is a tough record to really grasp the genius behind it, but until then... it's really a great listen even without fully comprehending what happens on the record.

I didn't say too much about the last couple albums just because I got tired of writing descriptions... So I'll just say they're all great records that should be checked out. There's a lot more, but I kind of blended my picks a bit with Jamey Aebersold's picks for the "ABCs of Jazz" as he calls it.

**beanbag** · 08-17-2007, 04:22 PM

I personally like old jazz, so I am going to say:

Fats Domino
Ella Fitzgerald
Etta James
Louis Armstrong

MJ_Avalanche · 08-17-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beanbag

I personally like old jazz, so I am going to say:

Fats Domino
Ella Fitzgerald
Etta James
Louis Armstrong

If I'm not mistaken, Fats has more to do with early rock n roll then he does jazz. He's still good, but I'm not sure I'd call him jazz.

Good call to include the vocalists, though. They get left out of musician's jazz lists too often (mine included, of course).

I'd also like to second the recommendations for Ellington and Parker. Parker might be a bit hard to jump in to when you're first starting out listening, which is why I didn't put him in my list. But leaving out Ellington and Basie should be a big no-no on my part. You'd probably do just as well to get a compilation of both of those, seeing as how boths careers were rather prolific.

natedawg5280 · 08-17-2007, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

Where would I start, and who would you recommend I check out/listen to?

Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie are all worth noting. Great big bands. There are different styles of jazz though, from big band swing to fusion.

**DaGeek** · 08-18-2007, 10:59 AM

Just started on the names given, starting with Dave Brubeck. I like this song "Take Five" that I found on Youtube

.

**beanbag** · 08-20-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ_Avalanche

If I'm not mistaken, Fats has more to do with early rock n roll then he does jazz. He's still good, but I'm not sure I'd call him jazz.

hmm. good point. I didn't think of it that way.

I do still recommend him though.

**Sean.thomson** · 08-20-2007, 05:57 PM

Well, here are my top three...

Django Reindhardt
Charlie Christian
Grant Green

**DaGeek** · 08-20-2007, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean.thomson

Well, here are my top three...

Django Reindhardt
Charlie Christian
Grant Green

Django Reinhardt... Mmmmm... I love his stuff.

MJ_Avalanche · 08-20-2007, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beanbag

hmm. good point. I didn't think of it that way.

I do still recommend him though.

Indeed. Definitely worth listening to. Just not as a jazzer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean.thomson

Grant Green

I really like Grant's lines, but I HATE his sound. He sounds really plunky when he's playing. Definitely worth listening to, but I'd wait a bit before picking up a record of his.

FlyingV4Victory · 08-31-2007, 01:45 PM

Sax: Charlie Parker & Coleman Hawkins
Piano: Oscar Peterson & Vince Guiraldi
Guitar: Joe Pass & George Benson
Vocal: Billie Holiday & Norah Jones (I like them smooth lady vocals!)
Vocal groups: Take 6 & Manhattan Transfer (listen to their first few CDs)
Crazy stuff: Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

natedawg5280 · 08-31-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingV4Victory

Crazy stuff: Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

Ehhh.. thats bluegrass, not jazz.

MJ_Avalanche · 08-31-2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingV4Victory

Piano: Oscar Peterson & Vince Guiraldi

May as well add Bill Evans. Get his Portait in Jazz record.

Quote:

Guitar: Joe Pass

Definitely. Get his Virtuoso albums.

Quote:

Vocal: Norah Jones (I like them smooth lady vocals!)

Norah is far from jazz. She has more in common with just a really smooth pop artist then anything else. Enjoyable, but not jazz. Jane Monheit is who you should listen to.

And if we're gonna recommend the Flecktones, I might as well throw Weather Report out there, too. And Mahavishnu Orchestra. And Miles Davis' *****es Brew. At least get some earlier fusion in there.