recommend jazz and classical?

gmorris

Can anyone recommend some jazz and classical CD's?

My current CD collection is mostly rock, classic to alternative to modern, ect... mostly rock.

I would like to get into some new music genres. I paricularly like piano, so if anyone knows any good jazz and/or classical with piano that would be cool.

Any suggestions are welcome...

Thanks,
gm

Wardsweb

Pick up Dave Brubeck - Time Out, it is a classic.

If you like bass, Brian Bromberg - Wood

George Grand

The Planets by Gustav Holst is always a favorite man's classical piece. Jupiter is a scream. Mars too.

That being said, there are about 999,999 other good classical albums I didn't mention, and 999,999 classic jazz albums after the one Ward mentioned.

Check out Oscar Petersen, Thelonius Monk, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett. That ought to get you started on the jazz.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

AsSiMiLaTeD

Originally posted by George Grand
The Planets by Gustav Holst is always a favorite man's classical piece. Jupiter is a scream. Mars too.

That being said, there are about 999,999 other good classical albums I didn't mention, and 999,999 classic jazz albums after the one Ward mentioned.

Check out Oscar Petersen, Thelonius Monk, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett. That ought to get you started on the jazz.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

Also, if you're wanting to try out other types of jazz, check out the latin stuff - Arturo Sandoval...

Also, the One O'Clock Lab band (university of North Texas) has some really good stuff, a little more progressive on some stuff...I like it anyway.

Then of course there's all the classics that you'll hear mentioned here.

Don't forget to check out Michael Brecker for sax and Dennis Chambers for drums, each considered by many to be the best in their particular area...

woodyjacobs

And don't forget Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Probably the most influential jazz recording of the last half of the 20th century. "Blue in Green" is track 3 - beautiful piano stuff. Very mellow.

polkatese

Here are some names, that haven't been mentioned above (specific to Jazz: Piano):

Joe Sample
David Benoit
Bob James
Ahmad Jamal
Michel Camilo (Bossa/Latin)

and if you are ready for the heavier improv. side:

Chick Corea

Frank Z

I've mentioned the 10 disc PBS special titled "Jazz" previously and again I strongly recommend it to anyone that wants to gain a greater appreciation for Jazz and learn a lot about America's jazz heritage. I'd even go so far as to say it's a "Must Have" for everyone's collection.

therockman

Miles Davis KIND OF BLUE sounds so awesome in SACD 3.0. The center channel speaker just opens up the sound on this recording.

John K.

GM, I have about a thousand classical CDs and of course the difficulty is picking ones that someone else will probably enjoy. I'll start by agreeing with George that Holst's Planets is about as sure-fire a piece as any that I can think of. Your Borders in Fairlawn has in stock the excellent Mehta performance on Decca Eloquence ELQ 467 418(around $8). If you stop there, three others now in stock you should pick up(each about $8)are Brahms, Hungarian Dances(Bogar, Naxos NXS 8.553026); Smetana, Ma Vlast(My Country)(Berglund, Seraphim SPH 73736)and Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade(Batiz, Naxos NXS 8.550726).

If you mean solo piano, the very colorful(and very difficult to play)Spanish rhythms of Albeniz's Iberia(De Larrocha, London 448 191, a 2 disc set around $16)are very attractive. For vocal music, a stunningly beautiful disc has Anna Moffo singing and wordlessly vocalizing the Rachmaninoff Vocalise and others on RCA 7831(about $11). Two more bargains on Naxos conducted by Batiz which shouldn't be passed up are the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances(NXS 8.550583)and the Respighi Pines of Rome(NXS 8.550539).

There's a whole world of great music out there waiting for you.

gmorris

Wow, thanks fellas. Super cool. I never expected so many quality responses. I'll have to start poking around and see what floats my boat.

John K., yes, I did mean solo piano. Also, you seem familiar with Fairlawn, ever been to Golden Gramophone?

wodom1

For some great piano, I recommend Thelonius Monk, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Art Tatum to start...Look for some albums by these guys and you'll be impressed.

George Grand

John K. knows a good tune when he hears one. That Smetana stuff is real good, but by all means, pick up Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsodies". There's a bunch of different numbers (Rhapsody #2, #6), just buy them all. Not only is it great music, it's the stuff that a lot of cartoons use!

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

pjdami

For some modern day Jazz I like:

Chriss Botti
Patricia Barber
Diana Krall
Norah Jones
Mindi Abair
Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 71 "Jazz Cafe"

John K.

GM, I'm not from the Akron area, but I noticed that you were. So, as a possible convenience to you I checked online for your nearest Borders and checked their store inventory to see which of the items that I recommended were in stock. If you'd want to get any of these immediately(and you should!), those four are there just hoping that you'll come in and give them a good home.

gmorris

Thanks again everyone.

John K., thanks for the extra effort, very much appreciated.

Javyn

If ya like piano and violin, you can't go wrong with Schubert!

Tour2ma

gm,

Don't forget to look at BMG Music for classical. They've quite a good selection and great prices for new. For used half.com and amazon's seller groups can be very cheap...

Good stuff above. Pleased to see some Spanish representation as well as the normal composers, although as a group the Russians are my favorites. Falla is another Spaniard to consider.

I'll add a few classical rec's here and chime in with specific recordings when I get home later today.

Full Orchestra

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto - The marathon of all violin concertos. All the fire and glory one would ever want. Heifitz owned this piece, and while the recording is very old, it stands up very well.

Dvorak's Sym #9 "The New World" - wonderful piece with plenty of man appeal without being as bombastic as Holst.

Piano - Solo and Concerto

Horowitz... so many recordings to choose from and only one or two clunkers in the lot. A couple quick favorites...
"... in Moscow" - essential solo work if for nothing ellse than the reception he receives after decades of exhile
"Golden Jubilee" another live preformance, but with full orchestra

gmorris

Well, I went out this weekend and picked up 2 CD's.

First, I picked up a used copy of a Dave Brubeck - Greatest Hits. Got it for $7.

Next, I got the Gustav Holst - Planets. Got it for $13 at Borders.

I like both of these very much, just what I was hoping for. Thanks again everybody. I'm going to work my way thru all these recommendations and see what I like.

Tour2ma

Hey, it's a start...

gm,
Don't overlook doing a search on classical as well. Will turn up some nice threads like this one:
http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4600&highlight=classical

John K.

GM, glad to see that you're enjoying those CDs, but you didn't tell us which performance of The Planets you got. It isn't the Mehta, since that's about $8, and there's over 50 others. In pop recordings often you can mention a title and that tells you exactly what CD is meant, but that usually doesn't work in classical. The different performances of the same composition can vary greatly(I have as many as six different CDs of the same work)and that's why I always specify a particular CD. For example, the four I saw were in stock at Borders would probably be in the separate section where they usually keep lower-cost classical CDs under about $10. Good listening.

gmorris

John K.,
I'm not sure which performance the Planets CD is. I'll check tonight. It was in the Classical section of Borders, and cost $12.99. I did see the dates on the back, 1977 & 1991, if that means anything.