Greatest Jazz Albums (Ranked)
Submitted by Parable on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 03:34
Tags:
- 1. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady (1963)
- 2. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill (1971)
- 3. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1964)
- 4. Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)
- 5. Anthony Braxton - For Alto (1968)
- 6. John Coltrane - Ascension (1965)
- 7. Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures (1966)
- 8. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1969)
- 9. Marion Brown - Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (1970)
- 10. Myra Melford - Even the Sounds Shine (1995)
- 11. Stan Kenton - City of Glass (1951)
- 12. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)
- 13. Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation (1961)
- 14. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956)
- 15. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (1956)
I really like this list, especially seeing Escalator Over the Hill ranked so highly. That album it is sort of flirting for my #1 spot on a jazz list. What do you think of Brilliant Corners?
For some odd reason I removed Brilliant Corners from my list last year. This tasteless blunder has been corrected ;-).
Are you forgetting Michael Mantler's Jazz Composer's Orchestra or do you need to borrow it some more? How about a temporary trade for Litanies of Satan, along with that CD case?
I still haven't heard Jazz Composer's Orchestra in it's entirety, although what I have heard of it sounded quite impressive. I'd be willing to do a short term trade, maybe 1-2 weeks. Litanies is one of the albums that I still listen to regularly, so I wouldn't want to be without it too long.
Sounds good. I wouldn't need it any longer than that anyway, and vice versa to you. I would expect JCO to make your top 5.
What do you think about Giant Steps or Mingus Ah Um? I know, they're not exactly a Unit Structures or Love Supreme, but still solid albums that stand above the herd? By the way, great list (again).
I seem to be pathologically incapable of responding to the correct post. Plus, this will bump my comment count to 8. See below for my actual response.
Mingus Ah Um was one of the albums that got dropped when I parred down my list last year. It is an excellent album, but not quite on par with Pithecanthropus Erectus. Of course, now that I've said that, I'll go re-listen to it and end up putting right back on my list.
I'll have to give Giant Steps another spin as well. I remember really liking the title track, but it didn't quite hit me as an "all-time favorite". Then again, I hadn't really developed a relationship with Coltrane's music at the time, so I may have a different reaction to it now.
Thanks again, and keep the recommendations coming. At this rate you may just force me to start listening to jazz again.
Your very welcome. Personally I'd put Giant Steps in front of Brilliant Corners. It's one of the most astonishing 'mainstream' jazz works I've ever heard and I wouldn't want to be without it. But then again, I am jee-ust getting into jazz myself and do find the accessible works generally more appealing than the For Alto's.
Because I love the vast majority of your selections, your list inspired me to dig up Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, and for that I'm grateful. I loved him on Ascension but for some reason had never picked up any of his own work. It's a beautiful, beautiful album that I can't believe I haven't heard before. Brown seems to come off as more of a painter than a musician, I feel; detailing vivid soundscapes that I completely lose myself in. I think I'll be listening to it years from now.
Thanks, really.
You're very welcome; I'm glad to hear that the album had as big of an impact on you as it had on me. Real credit is due to Scaruffi and AfterHours, who introduced me to Marion Brown as well as countless other artists that I have since come to love.
I completely agree with you about Brown's style being similar to that of a painter. The title track sounds more like a field recording than jazz music, but it so vividly realized that it becomes a visual and tactile experience.
I think this Amazon reviewer summed it up best:
"Brown and crew create an impressionistic soundscape that for me evokes early childhood memories of summer afternoons in rural northeast Texas (not quite Georgia, but close enough). The sound of the birds, insects, the breeze blowing on the leaves, the sultriness of the hot and humid summer afternoons -- it's all there."
I am flabbergasted by the fact that it was actually created by PEOPLE using musical instruments. Nevermind the fact that is was completely improvised.