Help Needed for Jazz

woodsman10b

I have been interested in getting into some Jazz music lately(mainly for the musical qualities). I really know nothing of this music, so any input will be appreciated. Im looking for suggestions on who I should look into listening to, some vintage stuff and some newer.

Erik Tracy

woodsman10b wrote: »

I have been interested in getting into some Jazz music lately(mainly for the musical qualities). I really know nothing of this music, so any input will be appreciated. Im looking for suggestions on who I should look into listening to, some vintage stuff and some newer.

Do you have satellite or cable now?

I tune between the smooth jazz and traditional jazz music channels, then pitter about the house doing stuff while listening and if I hear something I like, the display will show the artist, album, and title and I'll write it down then order it on-line to hear the whole album.

Enjoy the journey!

George Grand

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Oh and just anything by Diana Krall.

How'd I do fellows?

coolsax

+1 on Diana, can't ever get enough of her.
Count Basie is a good one too.. the Atomic Basie is a great introduction to his music.

Willow

George Grand wrote: »

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Oh and just anything by Diana Krall.

How'd I do fellows?

Excellent Sir.

to which I would add
Wyton Marsalis (or any of his family members) mostly him though he has won a pulitzer in 1997.
St Germain
Glen Miller
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Miles Davis
Charlie Parker
Dizzie Gillespi
Stan Getz
The Fantastic Canadian..the late Oscar Peterson (sorry for the canuck plug there)
You could look in to acid jazz as well, it's along the lines of Lounge music, picture yourself at a martini bar type music.

xj4094dg

All good choices above. Especially Dave Brubeck's Time Out, a classic and never gets old.

Something a little newer: Grover Washington Jr.'s Winelight, there are some great sounding recordings of this album. Released in 1980. One of the best for sure.

Enjoy!

polkatese

I would add these artists:

- Gene Harris
- Joe Sample (best one is "Sample This", specifically of its recording quality)

Fongolio

George Grand wrote: »

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Oh and just anything by Diana Krall.

How'd I do fellows?

Great George!!
Cannonball Aderley is great old school. As is John Coltrane. There is really old stuff like dixieland and big band. I really like a lot of jazz fusion by the likes of Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola for great guitar jazz. For keyboard jazz Chic Corea or Keith Jarret. Easy light jazz George Benson and Spyro Gyra. Another great for jazz/pop is Lee Ritenour.

Jazz like rock has many sub-genre's. You have to go with what your ears tell you you like. Starting with internet/satellite jazz radio stations (they also feature many sub-genres of jazz) will help you figure out what styles you like. Miles Davis spanned and experimented (and invented) many different styles of jazz. Some of them I like and others not so much.

Have fun.

Kelvin

vc69

John Coltrane - Blue Train
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue

polkatese

Fongolio wrote: »

For keyboard jazz Chic Corea or Keith Jarret.
Kelvin

Kelvin, I love Keith Jarret, he is definitely very talented and his improvs are one of its kind. However, the guy drives me nuts with his mumbles, I wish he would had bite his tongue and played without making those noises.

Erik Tracy

I'm on a guitar kick lately so my small contribution would be:
Lee Ritenour
Larry Carlton

vc69

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I'm on a guitar kick lately so my small contribution would be:
Lee Ritenour
Larry Carlton

And of course Django!

sda2mike

jazz is a massive expanse....jump in anywhere and call that your starting point...where you go is all up to you...:cool:

wayne3burk

my suggestion (what i do) is to tune into shoutcast using winamp (beats the pants off the lama) and tune to Jazz Excursion radio station. Try also Dinner Jazz Excursion, and try also Station: Brazil flavored - Bossa nova, Samba Radio Station - as there is some serious overlap between jazz and bossa nova.

If you want to carry it a step further - use StreamRipper's Simple Ripper - and you can rip the individual songs to your hard drive for later playback.

And to get more info on the artist's as they are playing - you can download Last.FM's scrobbler utility - and it will tell you something about each artist as the tune is playing. (from your hard drive - using winamp or iTunes)

Well you get the idea. The vast array of jazz artists and variations is amazing and seemingly endless.

FWIW wayne

Disc Jockey

A lot of good suggestions here. I'd throw Tomasz Stanko - Susprnded Night in the mix too for something a little different. Minimalist, but it can be intense as well.

Erik Tracy

Living in San Diego has some other cool perks aside from the weather.

We have a public radio jazz station, KSDS:
http://www.jazz88.org/

You can even stream it live to your iphone - tune in and get hip!
http://www.publicradiotuner.org/

Once downloaded, search for "Jazz 88.3 KSDS" in California

stephen0630

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Do you have satellite or cable now?

I tune between the smooth jazz and traditional jazz music channels, then pitter about the house doing stuff while listening and if I hear something I like, the display will show the artist, album, and title and I'll write it down then order it on-line to hear the whole album.

I also like using the itunes radio. It has a good selection of jazz stations.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
One approach is to buy one of the classics that have been mentioned above. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, for example. Then use that as a jumping off point, take each of the musicians on the recording, Bill Evans or Coltrane, for example and buy a CD from each of them. Then take the Bill Evans CD, for example and buy a CD from somebody who's playing on that one, Scott LaFaro, for example. So on until, within a short time, you have explored a wide spectrum of music.
Enjoy, Ken
ps, that's a good way to have a nice listening experience, pick a record at random and then, after listening to it, pick a record that someone else, from the record, recorded on. Interesting trail...

woodsman10b

Wow!! Thanx to everyone and the quick responses for this new adventure of mine! I am goin to a few stores on thursday with a list of everyone that is mentioned. I will let everyone know of my likes and dislikes in a few weeks, and again thanks!
tom

thsmith

I just discovered Willis "Gator" Jackson, my try some of his stuff too.

maggiefan

I'm a big fan of Peter White and Paul Hardcastle. And was mentioned anything by Diana Krell. Almost forgot, Brian Culbertson.

DForeman

To kick start my jazz collection 4-5 years ago I used this list. Many of the artists/albums mentioned above are on it (for classic jazz that is). All great stuff.

http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/jazz100/top100.html

sda2mike

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello,
One approach is to buy one of the classics that have been mentioned above. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, for example. Then use that as a jumping off point, take each of the musicians on the recording, Bill Evans or Coltrane, for example and buy a CD from each of them. Then take the Bill Evans CD, for example and buy a CD from somebody who's playing on that one, Scott LaFaro, for example. So on until, within a short time, you have explored a wide spectrum of music.
Enjoy, Ken
ps, that's a good way to have a nice listening experience, pick a record at random and then, after listening to it, pick a record that someone else, from the record, recorded on. Interesting trail...

good advice...especially for the 'hard-bop' era of jazz, say late 40s to 65 or so..you'll find that alot of people, big-names went through the various bands of miles davis. some to high levels of success. kind of like f zappa. they both held the distinction that, if you made it to that band; you were fkg good! but, had to be on your toes at all times. THAT made for some sublime music!
check out: CANNONBALL ADDERLY...Something Else..timeless stuff;)

headrott

coolsax wrote: »

+1 on Diana, can't ever get enough of her.
Count Basie is a good one too.. the Atomic Basie is a great introduction to his music.

How about the MFSL version of Basie's "April In Paris"? Great album with outstanding fidelity!

Greg

Systems

I'm a huge fan of Eric Dolphy, but I think it's mostly because he does bass clarinet jazz :P

Fongolio

sda2mike wrote: »

check out: CANNONBALL ADDERLY...Something Else..timeless stuff;)

I recently picked up a Japanese pressing of this album in stereo with OBI for $10.00 in near mint condition. Sounds simply amazing on this jazz masterpiece.

Norm Apter

I can't help you out with the contemporary stuff (the only current artist I listen to is Charlie Hunter, a jazz guitarist out of Berkeley).

As for the vintage stuff, after you've acquired Dave Brubeck Time Out and Miles Davis Kind of Blue (by the way you should pick up the 2009 Legacy 2 disc editoin of KoB. The sound is excellent -- slightly better than 1997 release -- and it includes a separate disc of great bonus tracks from that era of Miles career), here are some of my favorites and each can be appreciated by someone just getting into jazz. I consider these to be the best of what I have heard thusfar:

Cannonball Adderly - Somethin' Else
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (I prefer this one to Bluetrain)
Art Blakey - Moanin (available on Hybrid-SACD through the label Analogue Productions)
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Wayne Shoter - Speak No Evil
Art Blakey - Night in Tunisia
Hank Mobley - Soul Station (available on XRCD)
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream
Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles
Freddie Hubbard - Ready for Freddy
Grant Green - Idle Moments
Red Garland - Soul Junction
Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Miles Davis - Milestones
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue

As others have mentioned, if you have a good jazz (NPR) station near you, check it out. I got hooked on Red Garland, for example, through KJAZZ 88.3 which broadcasts out of Long Beach. Second, I've been able to borrow many discs from Santa Monica Library, which as helped in decision making for purchases. See if your local library has a jazz collection.

Disc Jockey

If you want some easy access/quick exposure to a lot of these artists pick up the Playboy Jazz After Dark series. I think there was a I and a II.

headrott

Keiko wrote: »

You guys are breaking my heart. No one mentioned, Keiko Matsui.

I'll throw in a little more old school and add, Billie Holiday.

YES! Billie Holiday is one of my favorites! Her voice is so smooth, yet so unrefined at the same time. Kinda hard to describe. Her timing is great too.

Greg

DAGLJAM6

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello,
One approach is to buy one of the classics that have been mentioned above. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, for example. Then use that as a jumping off point, take each of the musicians on the recording, Bill Evans or Coltrane, for example and buy a CD from each of them. Then take the Bill Evans CD, for example and buy a CD from somebody who's playing on that one, Scott LaFaro, for example. So on until, within a short time, you have explored a wide spectrum of music.
Enjoy, Ken
ps, that's a good way to have a nice listening experience, pick a record at random and then, after listening to it, pick a record that someone else, from the record, recorded on. Interesting trail...

That's my approach as well, whatever the genre, you can always find some obscure gem from searching supporting artists on a given recording.
Also, i've found that seeing an artist performing, especially some older footage ie. Ken Burns' series on jazz , gives me a completely different outlook on specific artists as well.

Fongolio

I discovered a new/old gem last night. A record I picked up from George Grand. Joe Morello's It's About Time. Joe was the drummer on Dave Brubeck's Time Out LP and part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet for several LP's. The LP has several styles of Jazz on it from Swing to very laid back. A real pleasure if you like the late 50's early 60's jazz.