The Greatest Jazz Albums
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 03/23/2004 - 13:22
Tags:
- Muhal Richard Abrams - Levels and Degrees of Light (67)
- Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else (58)
- Cannonball Adderley Quintet - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' (66)
- Nat Adderley - That's Right!: Nat Adderley & The Big Sax Section (60)
- Mose Allison - Greatest Hits (88)
- Mose Allison - Allison Wonderland: Anthology (94)
- Laurindo Almeida with Bud Shank - Brazilliance, Vol. 1 (53)
- Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (54)
- Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (00)
- The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Urban Bushmen (82)
- Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (64)
- Sweet Emma Barrett - New Orleans: The Living Legends (61)
- Count Basie with Joe Williams - Count Basie Swings -- Joe Williams Sings (55)
- Count Basie - April in Paris (56)
- Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport (57)
- Count Basie - The Complete Decca Recordings (1937-1939) (92)
- Bix Beiderbecke - Bix Beiderbecke, Vol. 1: Singin' the Blues (91)
- Bix Beiderbecke - Bix Beiderbecke, Vol. 2: At the Jazz Band Ball (91)
- Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart in San Francisco (62)
- Tony Bennett - The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album (75)
- Tony Bennett - Jazz (87)
- Tony Bennett - Forty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett (91)
- Tony Bennett - The Essential Tony Bennett (02)
- Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin' (58)
- Claude Bolling & Jean-Pierre Rampal - Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio (75)
- Lester Bowie - The Great Pretender (81)
- Michael Brecker - Michael Brecker (87)
- Dee Dee Bridgewater - Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver (95)
- Tina Brooks - True Blue (60)
- Tina Brooks - Back to the Tracks (60)
- Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun (68)
- Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (59)
- John Bunch - Solo, Vol. 1 (97)
- Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue (63)
- Kenny Burrell - Ellington Is Forever, Vol. 1 (75)
- Kenny Burrell - Ellington Is Forever, Vol. 2 (77)
- Don Byron - Bug Music (96)
- Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - 1930-1931 (94)
- Cab Calloway - Are You Hep to the Jive? (94)
- Betty Carter - The Audience With Betty Carter (79)
- James Carter - JC on the Set (94)
- Ron Carter and Jim Hall - Live at Village West (84)
- Ron Carter and Jim Hall - Telephone (92)
- The Allan Chase Quartet - Dark Clouds with Silver Linings (95)
- Pete Christlieb / Warne Marsh Quintet - Apogee (78)
- June Christy - Something Cool (54)
- Circle - Paris Concert (72)
- Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin' (58)
- Stanley Clarke - Journey to Love (75)
- Rosemary Clooney - Blue Rose (56)
- Rosemary Clooney - Love (63)
- Arnett Cobb - Blows for 1300 (47)
- Nat King Cole - Nat King Cole [Box Set] (92)
- Nat King Cole - Lush Life (93)
- Nat King Cole - The Greatest Hits (94)
- Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (59)
- Ornette Coleman - The Art of the Improvisers (70)
- Ornette Coleman - Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (93)
- Johnny Coles - Little Johnny C (63)
- John Coltrane - Blue Train (57)
- John Coltrane - Giant Steps (60)
- John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (61)
- John Coltrane - Coltrane Plays the Blues (62)
- John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (63)
- John Coltrane - Live at Birdland (63)
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (64)
- John Coltrane - The Major Works of John Coltrane (65)
- John Coltrane - Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (95)
- John Coltrane - The Complete Africa / Brass Sessions (95)
- John Coltrane - Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (97)
- Harry Connick Jr. - When Harry Met Sally (89)
- Chick Corea & Return to Forever - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (68)
- Sonny Criss - Crisscraft (75)
- Bing Crosby - Bing! His Legendary Years, 1931 to 1957 (93)
- Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby's Gold Records (97)
- Jim Cullum, Jr. - Super Satch (86)
- Kenny Davern - Breezin' Along (96)
- Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Big Band - Trane Whistle (60)
- Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home (76)
- Miles Davis - Walkin' (55)
- Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool (56)
- Miles Davis Quintet - Round About Midnight (56)
- Miles Davis - Cookin' (56)
- Miles Davis Quintet - Relaxin' (56)
- Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (57)
- Miles Davis - Milestones (58)
- Miles Davis / Gil Evans - Porgy and Bess (58)
- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (59)
- Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain (60)
- Miles Davis - Miles Smiles (66)
- Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (69)
- Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (69)
- Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (70)
- Miles Davis - Pangaea (75)
- Miles Davis - Agharta (76)
- Miles Davis - The Complete Concert: 1964 (My Funny Valentine & "Four More") (92)
- Miles Davis - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (95)
- Miles Davis - The Complete Birth of the Cool (98)
- Buddy DeFranco Quintet - Like Someone in Love (89)
- Jack DeJohnette - Special Edition (80)
- Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, & Paco DeLucia - Friday Night in San Francisco (81)
- Walt Dickerson - To My Queen (62)
- Johnny Dodds - 1926 (91)
- Johnny Dodds - 1927 (91)
- Johnny Dodds - Wild Man Blues: 24 Clarinet Classics (98)
- Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch (64)
- Eric Dolphy - Last Date (64)
- Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra - Contrasts (93)
- Charles Earland - Black Talk! (69)
- Madeline Eastman - Mad About Madeline! (91)
- Billy Eckstine - Everything I Have Is Yours: The Best of the M-G-M Years (91)
- Harry Edison - Edison's Lights (76)
- Roy Eldridge 4 - Montreux 1977 (78)
- Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - The Carnegie Hall Concerts (January 1943) (43)
- Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown (53)
- Duke Ellington with Max Roach and Charles Mingus - Money Jungle (62)
- Duke Ellington - ...And His Mother Called Him Bill (67)
- Duke Ellington - Duke's Men: The Small Groups, Vol. 1 (92)
- Duke Ellington - Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick Recordings (1926 - 1931) (94)
- Duke Ellington - The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944 - 1946) (00)
- Duke Ellington - The Duke: The Essential Recordings (1927 - 1962) (00)
- Don Ellis - Electric Bath (67)
- Bobby Enriquez - Live! in Tokyo (83)
- Peter Erskine - Peter Erskine (82)
- Booker Ervin - Freedom Book (64)
- Booker Ervin - Space Book (64)
- Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz (60)
- Bill Evans Trio - Explorations (61)
- Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard (61)
- Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby (62)
- Bill Evans Trio - Cross-Currents (78)
- Bill Evans - Paris Concert, Edition One (80)
- Bill Evans - Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (02)
- Charles Fambrough - The Proper Angle (91)
- Art Farmer - Portrait of Art Farmer (58)
- Art Farmer - Something to Live for: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (87)
- Art Farmer - Blame It on My Youth (88)
- Ella Fitzgerald - The Jerome Kern Song Book (63)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall (73)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella in London (74)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Rodgers & Hart Song Book (93)
- Ella Fitzgerald - 75th Birthday Celebration (93)
- Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books (97)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the George & Ira Gershwin Song Book (98)
- Bob Florence Limited Edition - With All the Bells and Whistles (95)
- Frank Foster with Frank Wess - Two for the Blues (83)
- Bill Frisell - Have a Little Faith (93)
- Dave Frishberg - Live at Vine Street (84)
- Dave Frishberg - Dave Frishberg Classics (91)
- Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea (56)
- Stan Getz with Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba (63)
- Stan Getz / Joao Gilberto - Getz / Gilberto (64)
- Terry Gibbs - Dream Band, Vol. 1 (86)
- Terry Gibbs - The Dream Band, Vol. 5: Big Cat (91)
- Banu Gibson - Livin' in a Great Big Way (94)
- Dizzy Gillespie - The Complete RCA Victor Recordings: 1937 - 1949 (95)
- Dizzy Gillespie - Birk's Works: Verve Big Band Sessions (95)
- Jimmy Giuffre 3 - 1961 (92)
- Benny Golson - New York Scene (57)
Author Comments:
I'm only including discs I'm pretty sure are still in print.
Obviously, still under construction.
I'm happy so far. Good list. Bix B. bugs me though.
Thanks! Have you talked to Bix about it?
The most frustrating element is the out-of-print factor. For example, all the Anthony Braxton albums I wanted to put on here seem to be unavailable...which is a crying shame.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I talked to Bix. He said I should get over the be-bop fixation and get with flappers. I said I will try. He said No try, do or do not. (snicker snicker) :?)
I only have 8 so far. There's a lot I haven't heard. The only one I quibble with is any inclusion of Mose Allison, but only because his voice grates on me unbelievably.
Very interesting... The complaint about Mose I usually hear is that he plays the same riffs over and over too often.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Great List!!!
I've always wanted to try some really good jazz (It's hard to find stuff to actually introduce you to a genre). I'll have to check some of those out. (I've actually heard of a lot of these artists - just never knew they were jazz, or actually heard the artist before). What songs would be a good introduction to jazz?
Good completion by the way - I see too many lists with 2 items on it around here. It's good to see an actual LIST rather than just the massive stream of "post-it notes" many people send in.
Thanks! Truth be told, I have several lists here I still need to finish, so I'm no poster child for complete lists!
I'm awful at suggesting songs; I'm more of an album person, but I'll see what I can come up with over the next few days.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm more of a song person but only within the subset of jazz that is good to swingdance too. (DJing tends to do that to you)
Alright, here a few song suggestions from the albums I've listed so far:
Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else - Autumn Leaves, title tune
Mose Allison's Wonderland Anthology - Black Country Suite: Blues, Your Mind Is on Vacation
Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Seven - West End Blues, Cornet Chop Suey, Heebie Jeebies, Gut Bucket Blues, Struttin' With Some Barbecue
Count Basie's April in Paris - title tune, Corner Pocket
Count Basie's Decca Recordings - Jive at Five, One O'Clock Jump
Tony Bennett's Essential - I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Rags to Riches, If I Ruled the World
Art Blakey's Moanin' - title track, Along Came Betty
Dave Brubeck's Take Five - title track, Blue Rondo a la Turk, Three to Get Ready
Ornette Coleman's Shape of Jazz to Come - Lonely Woman, Congeniality
John Coltrane's Blue Train - title track
John Coltrane's Giant Steps - Giant Steps, Naima, Cousin Mary
John Coltrane's Love Supreme - Acknowledgement
Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool - Boplicity, Jeru
Miles Davis' Round About Midnight - title track, Bye Bye Blackbird
Miles Davis' Kind of Blue - So What, Freddie Freeloader, All Blues
Miles Davis' Miles Smiles - Footprints
Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain - Concierto de Aranjuez
Miles Davis' Bitches Brew - title track, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down
Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch - Hat and Beard, title track
Duke Ellington's Essential - East St. Louis Toodle-Oo, It Don't Mean a Thing, In a Sentimental Mood, Mood Indigo, Take the A Train
Whew! Well, that should keep you busy for a bit!
If you only try one song, it might as well be Miles Davis' So What, which to many people is what they think of when they think of jazz.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I've actually been waiting for a good list like this. Acclaimedmusic.net doesn't cover jazz, and it's not talked about too often 'round here. I love Kind of Blue, and I should really get more acquainted with some jazz.
One possible request. Once you're done, could you maybe pick out 10 or 20 albums that you would consider the cream of the crop? I appreciate the thoroughness, but that's a lot of jazz to sift through...
I'll certainly create a 'short list' version of this huge list soon.
For my money, a jazz explorer could do much worse that picking up The Essential Miles Davis. It covers his entire career rather well, which means by extension it does a pretty good job of summing up much of the jazz world from the late 40s to the 80s. The Louis Armstrong Complete Hot Fives and Sevens set does a good job filling in the gap prior to that collection. Pinpointing which Miles tunes you like best gives you a pretty good idea of what jazz might be up your alley.
For my money, add to the Essential Miles Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, Miles Smiles, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew, and you have a pretty good Davis starter kit and lots of great music! After that, one probably would do well to sample the John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and Mingus albums above, with Brubeck's Time Out and Blakey's Moanin' thrown in.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Anybody catch Branford Marsalis on The Daily Show last night? sooo cool! Some may disagree, but he may be a good choice for an easily accessible Jazz style CD purchase.
I guess not. It was actually Wynton, his brother. (missed the intro.) I'll stay with the recommendation for Bradford though.
Hardy har, har! Never let your kid have access to your password. Just in case no one knows, DrJimmy is my son and he has a weird sense of humor just like his old man, hense the previous posts using my name to talk about Jazz. He knows I hate Jazz, especially that free-style "Bird" crap. Sorry for this embarrassment. He will pay! It won't happen again Jim.
"Why I outta..."
Ha! Too funny. Incidentally, I like both Marsalis brothers, but Branford isn't so straight-laced about jazz as an art form. He's done lots of great work with various rock musicians, for example (Sting and Fishbone at least, I think).
Great list LBangs! BUT... Where's the Django Rheinhart? and Jimmy Smith's The Black Cat?
Thanks!
This list is far from finished, and it is roughly coming together in alphabetical order, so any R and S entries have a bit to wait still...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oh, my bad. I thought you were oddly fixated on the first four letters of the alphabet ;)
Is this list getting too large to be helpful? Should I trim a bit? Let me know...
I have started a very selective short list which I will finish side by side with this one.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Nah, go all out. :-) An alternative to a separate short list would be to bold or otherwise highlight the cream of the crop from this list. Ambitious project you have going here! I suppose jazz isn't any more sprawling than rock and roll, but sometimes it feels that way to me.
Well, it has been around about twice as long...
That's one vote for keeping this super sized! Anybody else?
The bolding is a great idea, but alas, I've already started the other list, so I'll probably just keep the setup I have. Thanks, though!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm happy with the big list since it's reminding me how limited my jazz collection really is in a way (in variety not size)
I vote for supersize. Just out of curiosity, is it possible to throw in a blank line in these lists? Breaking it up by alphabet might make reading it that much easier.
Making the first character of a line an underscore will suppress the bullet. Putting an underscore on a line by itself will make a blank line. Kinda kludgy, but it works (it'd work better if I'd document it in an easier-to-find place :-).
Something I learned awhile back when I wanted a little more freedom to format was to post the list in "article" form. Great for eliminating bullets and negates the need to underscore for spacing lines, paragraphs, etc.
That's a very good idea. Consider it done.
It looks like super-size wins, which is frankly a bit of a relief!
Thanks, all!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Make this list as long and as full as humanly possible. Peeps need the funk, dude. (sister says size really does matter. tee hee) :?)
(Sister says she's waiting impatiently for Stan Getz and Sinatra. Says don't forget Erroll Garner and Sonny Rollins either...and Charlie Parker) I'm thinking this is a tad strident since who would not list Charlie Parker. cest la vie . :?)
Tallyho!
(sister says thanks for Jazz Samba and Getz/Gilberto) I'm wondering however, why is there no Stan Getz "Focus" listed?