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Top 10 must have jazz albums for a beginner

As an aside, anyone ever seen Shelly Manne: At The Blackhawk, Volumes 1 - 5 sold as a 5 disc set?
 
Nice one guys....keep them coming. Amazon is going to be hit with a big order soon!!
Have heard some of these and youre right, Ive been struggling with the more challenging side of jazz. I went to the chick corea/mclaughlin concert last November and shamed to say i had to leave early...didnt quite 'get' it. Pity, as on the advice of a friend i went ive seen mclaughlin (with lucia and meola) before and thought he was brilliant.
 
In the larger scheme of things, McLaughlin & Corea, are by no means "challenging" but certainly I would not recommend their music to the jazz beginner. Which is why I hesitate that you consult the Penguin list or any other list of "best" jazz albums. They contain guys like Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Zorn, Ganelin, David Ware, Evan Parker etc. Stuff which I am still trying to digest even though I have been listening very seriously to jazz for over 20 years!

With the difficult albums, you get intimidated, then frustrated and then you give up. The reality is that our ears sometimes are just not ready for the stuff.
 
Some more things that I think haven't been mentioned:

Find some Art Tatum. I don't know what to recommend (someone here will know). The records I have of his stuff were picked up from a car boot sale for 50p a shot. Everything i've heard of his is staggeringly good.

EST are good, modern and different - Tuesday Wonderland is nice. It's good to hear modern production techniques, overdriven guitar, synths etc appear in jazz.

Bill Wells. Try 'Also in White' by the Bill Wells Trio. Modern, simple, humourous. I also really like 'Osaka Bridge' recorded with Maher Shalal Hash Baz which is difficult to describe, as the playing is purposely loose and often wrong with duff notes. You'll either find it annoyingly amateur or insightful. The missus struggles with the dodgy tuning though but thankfully i'm immune to this.

Oh, and you need something with vibes, which says Milt Jackson. I suggest the Modern Jazz Quartet, I always like their 'plays Gershwin' album. Simple playing, lovely sounds wafting around the house. Milt Jackson is a real hero, and John Lewis plays so few notes on the piano he makes it sound easy (it's not). What's not to like?

Cesare
 
GIL EVANS - BIG STUFF
MILES DAVIS - WATER BABIES
WAYNE SHORTER - SECOND GENESIS
HERBIE HANCOCK - MAIDEN VOYAGE
WALT DICKERSON - TO MY QUEEN
OLIVER NELSON - MORE BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH
KEITH JARRETT - BREMEN/LAUSANNE (3LP SET)
YUSEF LATEEF - EASTERN SOUND
DUKE ELLINGTON & JOHN COLTRANE
EGBERTO GISMONTI - DANCA DE CABECAS

have fun:
+blackforest
 
I would recommend listening to suggested albums at Allmusic.com. It's an easy fast way to determine whether or not you'll like something. The service provides thirty second samples of each song on an album.

John
 
PsB said:
Have you thought of going to a record shop, one that has a decent jazz dept. and asking them for advice? Usually works well for me. (Some years ago I couldn't recommend a Top 10 because I didn't have 10 jazz records. Now I could, but most have already been mentioned in this thread or in SSB's piece on ZG).
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Record shops? Do proper ones exist anymore??
 
ratcatcher said:
Nice one guys....keep them coming. Amazon is going to be hit with a big order soon!! ...
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I've bought a fair amount of stuff from Fopp, who are also worth checking out. They do a lot of jazz at a cheapish price.

At one point they were selling otherwise quite expensive Miles Davis box sets for £25.

Unfortunately, I don't think they do an online service.

Jack
 
jackbarron said:
I've bought a fair amount of stuff from Fopp, who are also worth checking out. They do a lot of jazz at a cheapish price.
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Me too!

hmv.co.uk and Amazon.co.uk both have a lot of 'classic' jazz CDs for 3.99 - Giant Steps, Pithecanthropus Erectus and so on.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Can vouch for the link to Broad St Jazz in Bath (was Music Matters Jazz)

Good little shop and great free post service on all purchases
 
John said:
Here's a list of the five star recordings from the Penguin Guide.
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Hey, I was going to (slightly jokingly) suggest 'Machine Gun'.

I'd go for 'The Atomic Count Basie' as the pick of Count Basie's, though. That one's definitely one of the ten to start with.
 
Spotify is your friend.

You can select the radio function to get a random selection of jazz tracks filtered by decade and see what turns you on.

And/or you can try out this playlist I put together for a mate who was embarking on a similar quest of discovery. The core of it is very much based around the albums mentioned in SSB's most excellent 'intro to jazz', with a few of my own suggestions thrown in too.

Steve.
 
2 mentions for "Love Supreme"? No, no no! It's horrible! I just cannot get that album. Iknow the afficionados will scoff but it's bloody awful. Buy almost anything else first. Any Parker, any Bechet come befor ethat pile of self indulgent toss IMO. :)
 
I like Jazz, but some of it is really hard to get into. So my list includes some easy intros

Oscar Peterson - Night Train
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Ella Fitzgerald - Gershwin Songbook
Sonny Rollins - Way Out West
Lee Morgan - Sidewinder
Art Blakey - Moanin'
John Coltrane - Coltrane meets Hartmann
Buena Vista Social Club (Ok it's world music really)
Count Basie - Atomic Basie
Art Tatum - Solo Pablo Recordings

Charlie
 
stevec67 said:
2 mentions for "Love Supreme"? No, no no! It's horrible! I just cannot get that album. Iknow the afficionados will scoff but it's bloody awful. Buy almost anything else first. Any Parker, any Bechet come befor ethat pile of self indulgent toss IMO. :)
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You are Philip Larkin AICMFP :)
 
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