List Your Top 5 Jazz Albums of All Time

[Dock]

Since I'm not a metal fan I thought I'd ask you jazz loving brothers to list your favorite jazz albums of all time...

#1 Miles Davis "Birth of The Cool"

#2 John Coltrane "Blue Train"

#3 Bill Evans Trio: "Sunday Night At The Village Vanguard"

#4 Billy Holiday "Solitude"

#5 Joshua Redman "Timesless Tales For Changing Times"

*Honorable Mention: Mel Torme "Songs of New York"

 

[shadrack]

I like jazz but never got into it enough to know many major artists. Hopefully I can find weed out a few gems as the lists roll in. :study:

 

[Anonymous]

Ditto SHAD!
Dock..... Sorry my man, I don't mind jazz, but would not know what to list....lets see what the brothers come up with!

 

[Trout Bum]

Hard not to name any five random albums from Miles and J Coltrane... but here's my list:

1) Miles Davis -- Kind Of Blue

2) John Coltrane -- Cookin' and of course Kind Of Blue (Both with Miles)

3) Thelonious Monk -- Brilliant Corners

4) Duke Ellington -- In A Mellow Tone

5) Sonny Rollins -- Saxophone Colossus

 

[Tim in Ohio]

I like jazz okay, I just never realized there was more than one song.

 

[DoverPipes]

Ditto SHAD!
Dock..... Sorry my man, I don't mind jazz, but would not know what to list....lets see what the brothers come up with!

Jazz??? What's this thing you call "Jazz"???

 

[Puff Daddy]

I love jazz, listen to it more than anything else (that heavy metal was from my youth, I rarely listen to it anymore). Problem is, I listen to a ton of public radio and just groove on the huge variety of jazz available. I just don't buy many CD's at all anymore. Tough to make a list as I have a lot of favorites but don't have a lot of CD's. Just not much of a need beyond the few I keep in my truck for road music.

My fav artists are:

Keith Jarrett
Karrin Alysson
Duke Ellington
Jimmy Smith
Thelonious Monk

 

[Midnight Blues]

Thanks Dock for this opportunity to share, I love Jazz and have been a fan for a long while. Its going to be hard to list just five but here goes.

 

[shadrack]

Sounds like I need to check out some Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. I'm familiar with both names being that they are jazz legends but wouldn't be able to pick out their music if I heard it.

 

[Midnight Blues]

Sounds like I need to check out some Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. I'm familiar with both names being that they are jazz legends but wouldn't be able to pick out their music if I heard it.

Shad, If your going to check out Miles I would suggest Kind Of Blue. Load up your favorite pipe pour your favorite drink, sit back and enjoy.

 

[Jack Straw]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Puff Daddy. I don't buy music anymore, except as a rare treat. Luckily I'm blessed with one of the best public jazz stations out there within tuning distance, WBGO out of Newark, NJ. You can listen online as well for free.

I wouldn't say I'm extremely well versed in Jazz beyond the albums of Miles Davis who I was obsessed with for a time, except I won't abide the cool years and bop years. My favorites are Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Jack Johnson, Miles Ahead, and Bitches Brew. Besides that, well Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane are great. Loved Getz/Gilberto. Love Charlie Parker. Love Charles Mingus.

I like Duke Ellington, but I can't listen to it as much because I played it too much in jazz bands. I'm always up for a good rendition of Satin Doll though.

Almost forgot Dizzy Gillespie, particularly his small group stuff and African/exotic sounding stuff. I guess you have to throw John Faddis in there as well.

 

[scottbtdmb]

Hard not to name any five random albums from Miles and J Coltrane... but here's my list:

1) Miles Davis -- Kind Of Blue

2) John Coltrane -- Cookin' and of course Kind Of Blue (Both with Miles)

3) Thelonious Monk -- Brilliant Corners

4) Duke Ellington -- In A Mellow Tone

5) Sonny Rollins -- Saxophone Colossus

Hey Dock,
Great idea and it is cool to know that I have something else in common with you in addition to pipe smoking and Sherlock Holmes. Here we go in no particular order.

1.) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
2.) John Coltrane - Giant Steps
3.) Wes Montgomery - Full House
4.) Thelonious Monk - Live at Newport 1963 and 1965
5.) Charlie Parker - The Complete Dial Masters

If you want to listen to a really great Coltrane album, check out Interstellar Space. It is just him and a drummer, but there is some really crazy avant garde jazz on that album. Also, I am a big collector of bootlegs and have tons of high quality live recordings of Coltrane, Davis, Montgomery, and many others. Message me if you would ever be interested and I could send you a copy of any that would interest you!

-Scott

 

[Anonymous]

I'm like the others, I enjoy Jazz in general (on the local NPR station) but can't really name individual artist's. About the only one that stands out is Wynton Marsalis, just because my brother-in-law is into Jazz (he plays standup base as well as sax on occasion) and has a few of his albums around. I've been wanting to check out more Jazz, so I'll be looking at you'se guys lists for direction.

 

[SC Smoker]

My Picks (subject to change)
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
John Coltrane - Blue Trane
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods
John Coltrane - Impressions
Miles Davis - Birth of Cool

 

[Trout Bum]

1.) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
2.) John Coltrane - Giant Steps
3.) Wes Montgomery - Full House
4.) Thelonious Monk - Live at Newport 1963 and 1965
5.) Charlie Parker - The Complete Dial Masters


-Scott[/quote]

I forgot about the mad skills of Mr. Wes Montgomery; the quintessential jazz guitarist, and in my opinion, a consummate master!!

By the way, a lot of these guys can be googled and watched/listened to on YouTube and such. Checkity check-check it out...

 

[pipetongue1]

No cool for me I like it hot.
Louis Armstrong
Sidney Bechet
Bix Biederbecke
Mugsy Spanier
Fletcher Henderson.........I was born too late! :tongue: Ken

 

[rick]

Some.................but not enuff props for the trpt players.
In no particular order:


1950's Dizzy Gillespie
Wynton, of course :roll:
Clifford Brown
Lee Morgan
Leroy Jones


and I could go on and on and on..........but.
Thats a start, for ya :~)

 

[Fratellino]

Ok, here goes, although I don't know if these are the best or merely my favorites:

1. Errol Garner: Concert by the Sea (Live at the Monterrey Jazz Festival)

2. Ambassador Satch: Louis Armstrong and his All Stars in Europe

3. Don Scaletta Trio: Any Time, Any Groove!

4. Ramsay Lewis: The In Crowd

5. Cal Tjadar: Soul Sauce

Okay, I know the first one is one of the five, the others are albums which I grew up with and convinced me of the breadth and distinct flavors of jazz. I might have also mentioned the Getz/Gilberto collaborations on Verve, uniting Samba and real jazz, the Benny Goodman Carnagie Hall concert recording, Ellington at Newport, anything by Charlie Parker (particularly the Dial Sessions), Coletrane's "Giant Steps", a ton of Miles and Gil Evans, or even a host of '78's I listened to as a kid. But these are the five that are in my DNA. Hope you like 'em, too!

 

[adauria]

Wow, a lot good albums already mentioned. At the risk of sounding redundant (and in no particular order):

- Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
- Dave Brubeck: Time Out
- Wes Montgomery / Wynton Kelly: Smokin' at the Half Note
- Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
- Joe Pass: Virtuoso #2

These are albums I could listen to every waking moment of my life and not tire of. But man, I am leaving off Trane, Bird, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Smith, Jim Hall, Lenny Breau, Barney Kessel, Grant Green, Django, Stan Getz... It's just not fair to list 5 albums!!


-Andrew

 

[Eric]

Miles Davis - Birth of Cool
John Coltrane - Blue Trane
Max Roach - at Basin Street
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Chick Korea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs