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Top 10 jazz albums


Jerdrum

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I have played jazz occasionally, and have been exposed to different styles of jazz, periodically , throughout my life. It has never really been my first choice for listening or playing, but now I would really like to get deeper into it, and really study the different styles of jazz and the great drummers. I would like to get a playlist, on my ipod, of the ten best albums to learn different styles of jazz and learn from the master drummers of jazz. I realize that it's probably hard to pick the ten best, but I would like evereyones 'opinion, and I will take the most popular answers.Hopefully, they are available from I tunes. Thanks.

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That's a good plan! Jazz can be overwhelming if you're not sure where to start so having a few great albums to start with is great. Here's a few ideas.

 

Album, Artist, Drummer

 

Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins. Max Roach.

Four and More, Miles Davis. Tony Williams.

Kind of Blue, Miles Davis. Jimmy Cobb.

A Love Supreme, John Coltrane. Elvin Jones.

Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, Chick Corea. Roy Haynes.

A Night At Birdland vol. 1 or 2, Art Blakey. Art Blakey.

Live, Brad Mehldau. Jeff Ballard

Big Swing Face, Buddy Rich. Buddy Rich.

Time Out, Dave Brubeck. Joe Morello

Elvin! Elvin Jones, Elvin Jones

Milestone, Miles Davis. Philly Jo Jones.

 

That list should be a good start for you. I'd follow-up with anything by any of those guys. Note that Ballard is a modern guy who does a great job on that Mehldau CD.

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10: Miles Davis- Kind Of Blue

9: Bela fleck and the fleck tones- hidden land

8: Art Blakey & the jazz mess- A night in Tunisia

7: The Jazz Messengers

6: Louis Armstrong: Hello Dolly

5: The Bad Plus: For all I care

4. John Coltrane- Blue Train

3: John Coltrane- Giant Steps

2: Miles Davis- Birth of Cool

1: John Coltrane- A love supreme.

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Miles Davis-Kind of blue(really anything before his later period was highly praised)

Dave Brubeck-Time out

Claude Bolling and Yo-yo ma- Suite for cello and jazz trio

Dexter Gordon-Go

Cannonball Adderley-Something Else

Diana Krall-Stepping out

Dr. Lonnie Smith-Too damn Hot!

Kurt Elling-the Messenger

Oscar Peterson-We get requests

Pat Metheny-Day Trip

Wynton Marsalis-Standard time volume 1

Bill Evans- At the Montreaux.

 

more fusion, latin, or the funky side:

Chick Corea-Ultimate adventure

Soulive-Steady Groovin

Medeski Martin and wood- It's a jungle in here(my fav but all their albums are fun)

John Scofield-A Go Go(featuring Medeski, Martin, and Wood)

Jaco Pastorius-self titled

Joshua Redman Elastic Band-Momentum

Billy Cobham-Spectrum

Michael Wolff-Dangerous Vision

Steve Smith and Vital Information-Vitalization

Tim Hagans-Animation-Imagination

Weather Report-8:30

Pancho Sanchez-Conga Caliente

Conrad Herwig-Another kind of blue(kind of blue all latin style)

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I won't give you a ten best but what I will say is work your way into it via basic swing to the more crazy stuff.

 

So take someone like miles davis....you could start with the early stuff like round about midnight (Philly Joe Jones) and kind of blue (Jimmy Cobb) and then follow the progression to the tony williams era stuff which kind of gets nuts.

 

Of course get stuff by the masters like Art Blakey, Max Roach, Tony Williams Elvin Jones etc...(they should all be on i tunes I would guess)..the list is crazy....but be aware with out a basic grasp of triplet time swing patterns...a lot of what you'll hear from those guy's will be difficult to pull apart and learn.

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Moanin' - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

Bam Bam Bam - Ray Brown Trio

Blue Train - John Coltrane

Milt Jackson and the Clayton Hamilton Orchestra - Explosion

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

Buddy Rich - Swingin' New Big Band

Gene Krupa - Drumming Man

Spectrum - Billy Cobham

Heavy Weather - Weather Report

Maynard Ferguson - Chameleon

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Gil Evans - Out of the Cool

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, In A Silent Way

Return To Forever - Crystal Silence, Light As a Feather

Weather Report - 1st self-titled album

Dianne Reeves - Good Night and Good Luck

Charlie Parker - Now's The Time

Jaco Pastorius - Word of Mouth

Los Hombres Calientes - Vol.2

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damnit boom, we were all agreed on 'Kind of Blue' until you
:mad:

(
:lol:
)

 

Yeah I know D. I just gotta be different.

 

I have "Kind of Blue" and it's good and all that, but I think it's kindof boring. Love "Minnie the Moocher", especially the piano solo. I think part of it is the one I have has two versions of "Blue in Green" back to back a the end. Kindof does me in I guess. But, yeah, it's a good one. Maybe #11.

 

Check out "Miles Smiles" though if you don't have it. It will make you smile!

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what album was Minnie the Moocher on? I've heard of Cab Calloway and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's version but never Miles. Also, my Kind of Blue album has two versions of flamenco sketches. Do you have a special edition or something?

 

 

Sorry, I meant "Freddie Freeloader" (it was a late). You're right about "Flamenco Sketches" being on there twice. Sounds like you and I have the same CD.

 

Sorry for the misinformation ...

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Can't think of ten, but these are a few 'must have' albums for me:

 

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

John Coltrane - Crescent (very soulful)

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (trippy grooves)

Gary Burton - Country Roads and Other Places (the late 60s album, not the more recent one with similar name):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjawOCLFFeE

 

Plus, any 60s Ramsay Lewis Trio, Roland Kirk, Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Can't go wrong with those guys.

 

Incidentally, the above were chosen for the music, not necessarily the drumming.

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