NationStates Jolt Archive

Hello, I was hoping if anyone from this forum could help me with something: I've just discovered the incredbly awesome world of Jazz. Now since I'm totally new to this genre I need a "self-proclaimed" Jazz fan's (hell anybodies) opinion on very good Jazz groups that I could listen to to further enrich my experience. All I ask is that the groups you mention tend to be on the none-vocal style of presentation (but anything really is just fine :)).

You want new stuff or old stuff? Or anything as long as it's instrumental?

Anything really.

im more of the classical kind of guy. that new smooth stuff just doesnt connect with me as well. kinda too fake, good background music but fails to get my emotions.

ps i play trombone too ;P

John Coltrane's "Lush Life" is always a good album to try. I don't think Thelonius Monk ever made a bad record. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie did great work together and by themselves. Dave Brubeck played with time signatures a lot and I love his percussive style on the piano. Both Branford and Wynton Marsalis are more recent performers--they've been around over 20 years each, but they're still recording today. That's probably enough to get you started.

More names: Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Dexter Gordon, Bix Beiderbecke, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock (especially Cantaloupe Island), Ornette Coleman (once you've gotten your feet wet--he's challenging), Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and I know you didn't want vocals, but Billie Holiday is a must no matter what.

Whoa! Alot of names to choose from. I'll just start on the first name and work my way down from there. Thank you very much :)!

Looking through my foobar playlist, I’d recommend:

The Boredoms
Cannonball Adderly
Charles Mingus
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Herbie Hancock
John Coltrane
John Zorn
The Love Substitutes
Miles Davis
The Residents
Satanicpornocultshop
Sun Ra

Looking through my foobar playlist, I’d recommend:

The Boredoms
Cannonball Adderly
Charles Mingus
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Herbie Hancock
John Coltrane
John Zorn
The Love Substitutes
Miles Davis
The Residents
Satanicpornocultshop
Sun Ra
Cannonball Adderly was a long time teacher at the high school near my apartment.

I only have two jazz cd's, and bought them 5 or 6 years ago iirc. John Coltrane and a 'various artists' cd. I like them both. Will probably get more down the road.

Cannonball Adderly was a long time teacher at the high school near my apartment.
That’s ace! Music teacher, I presume?

My tenuous claim to jazz fame is that Craig Ward, guitarist for The Love Substitutes (and formerly dEUS), taught me guitar :D

Oooh, and Stratfor: as long as you have A Love Supreme by Coltrane and Kind Of Blue by Davis, I'll be happy. Absofuckinglutely amazing albums, both.

Traditional jazz:
-Louis Armstrong
-Duke Ellington
-Count Basie
-Lester Young
-George Gershwin
-Oscar Peterson
-Benny Goodman
-Earl Hines
Bepop, etc.:
-Miles Davis (early career)
-John Coltrane
-Ornette Coleman
-Charlie Parker
-Dizzie Gillespie
-Theolonious Monk
-Lee Morgan
-Sonny Clark
-Wayne Shorter
-Horace Silver
-Max Roach
-Clifford Brown
-Sonny Rollins
-Coleman Hawkins
Cool Jazz:
-Miles Davis (middle career)
-Bill Evans
-Dave Brubeck
-Vince Guaraldi
Latin Jazz:
-Sergio Mendes
-Poncho Sanchez
-Buena Vista Social Club
-Antonio Carlos Jobim
-Gilberto Gil
-Tito Puente
-Artruro Sandoval
-Stan Getz
Crossover:
-Steely Dan
-Earth, Wind, and Fire
-Ray Charles
-Pink Martini
-Norah Jones
-Jaimie Cullum
Vocal Jazz:
-Ella Fitzgerald
-Billie Holiday
-Sarah Vaughan
-The Manhattan Transfer
-New York Voices
-Frank Sinatra
-Bobby McFerrin
-The Real Group
-Nina Simone
Progressive Jazz, Free Jazz, and Fusion:
-Don Ellis Orchestra
-Miles Davis (late career)
-Weather Report
-Herbie Hancock
-Branford Marsalis
-Charles Mingus
-George Benson
New Jazz:
-Wynton Marsalis
-Spyro Gyra
-Joshua Redman
-SF Jazz Collective
-Randy Porter
-Bix Biederbecke
Other:
-Jelly Roll Morton
-Dr. John
-Chick Corea
-Django Reinhart
-Marian McPartland
-Keith Jarrett

...and many, many more. Welcome to the extraordinary world of jazz. Happy hunting.

I personally enjoy Big Band, especially Glenn Miller. A good CD with many famous musicians is "The sunny side of the Street" along with "Tenor Madness". This coming from a tenor player though. The Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band has done some modern 'remakes' of classic big band songs such as sing sang sung. They still have the original 'themes' but are on much better recordings and add new, subtle things.

Big Band is where it is at.

More names: Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Dexter Gordon, Bix Beiderbecke, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock (especially Cantaloupe Island), Ornette Coleman (once you've gotten your feet wet--he's challenging), Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and I know you didn't want vocals, but Billie Holiday is a must no matter what.
May I add Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald to your list?
Thank you.

May I add Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald to your list?
Thank you.

Nina's kind of an acquired taste. Ella is the best vocalist to start with, probably. She actually started as a dancer at a talent show and another dancer went on before her and did a lot better. She chickened out and couldn't figure out what to do instead. One of the judges suggested that she sing something. She did and blew everyone out of the water.
Two more vocalists to look at: Peggy Lee and Dakota Staton. And Mel Torme.

John Coltrane's "Lush Life" is always a good album to try. I don't think Thelonius Monk ever made a bad record. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie did great work together and by themselves. Dave Brubeck played with time signatures a lot and I love his percussive style on the piano. Both Branford and Wynton Marsalis are more recent performers--they've been around over 20 years each, but they're still recording today. That's probably enough to get you started.

More names: Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Dexter Gordon, Bix Beiderbecke, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock (especially Cantaloupe Island), Ornette Coleman (once you've gotten your feet wet--he's challenging), Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and I know you didn't want vocals, but Billie Holiday is a must no matter what.

A great list! Monk and Coltrane did work together as well.

Another one for the OP is Professor Longhair. More along the lines of Calypso but the piano style is unique!

Now, I'm not really big on jazz, but some free jazz influenced hardcore always makes me smile...

Some tracks that aren't hardcore songs:
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Weekend Sex Change
Plot To Blow Up The Effel Tower - Exhibitionism
PTBUTET - It's In His Kiss

The rest of their material is hardcore (with jazz influence) and may be less to your tastes.

Everyone paying attention to this thread should look into an aquaintance of mine

Devin Phillips (http://www.devinphillips.com/) (actually, my wife did his website, and I was the chef for his latest release party)

Truly the most awsome sax I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Cannonball Adderly was a long time teacher at the high school near my apartment.

No foolin'? May I touch you?

LOVE Cannonball.

Traditional jazz:
-Louis Armstrong
-Duke Ellington
-Count Basie
-Lester Young
-George Gershwin
-Oscar Peterson
-Benny Goodman
-Earl Hines
Bepop, etc.:
-Miles Davis (early career)
-John Coltrane
-Ornette Coleman
-Charlie Parker
-Dizzie Gillespie
-Theolonious Monk
-Lee Morgan
-Sonny Clark
-Wayne Shorter
-Horace Silver
-Max Roach
-Clifford Brown
-Sonny Rollins
-Coleman Hawkins
Cool Jazz:
-Miles Davis (middle career)
-Bill Evans
-Dave Brubeck
-Vince Guaraldi
Latin Jazz:
-Sergio Mendes
-Poncho Sanchez
-Buena Vista Social Club
-Antonio Carlos Jobim
-Gilberto Gil
-Tito Puente
-Artruro Sandoval
-Stan Getz
Crossover:
-Steely Dan
-Earth, Wind, and Fire
-Ray Charles
-Pink Martini
-Norah Jones
-Jaimie Cullum
Vocal Jazz:
-Ella Fitzgerald
-Billie Holiday
-Sarah Vaughan
-The Manhattan Transfer
-New York Voices
-Frank Sinatra
-Bobby McFerrin
-The Real Group
-Nina Simone
Progressive Jazz, Free Jazz, and Fusion:
-Don Ellis Orchestra
-Miles Davis (late career)
-Weather Report
-Herbie Hancock
-Branford Marsalis
-Charles Mingus
-George Benson
New Jazz:
-Wynton Marsalis
-Spyro Gyra
-Joshua Redman
-SF Jazz Collective
-Randy Porter
-Bix Biederbecke
Other:
-Jelly Roll Morton
-Dr. John
-Chick Corea
-Django Reinhart
-Marian McPartland
-Keith Jarrett

...and many, many more. Welcome to the extraordinary world of jazz. Happy hunting.

QFT!

You, sir, know your shit!

A great list! Monk and Coltrane did work together as well.

Another one for the OP is Professor Longhair. More along the lines of Calypso but the piano style is unique!
I was in fifth grade when Professor Longhair died, and I was in a new school where I was the new kid, wore glasses, and was the smartass. Kids in the class called me Professor, and in the cases of the few who made it through to graduation, that nickname stuck.

I was in fifth grade when Professor Longhair died, and I was in a new school where I was the new kid, wore glasses, and was the smartass. Kids in the class called me Professor, and in the cases of the few who made it through to graduation, that nickname stuck.

So people call you professor longhair? That kicks ass.

(It's at least a lot better than my nickname in any case).

The Five Corners Quintet is pretty good modern, non-vocal jazz :)


sadly, while i love jazz, its a very difficult genre to 'get into' :(

To the OP, try to introduce yourself to the classics (ie Kind of Blue), and then brace yourself for Oronette Coleman and later Coltrane.

Well there isn't much more for me to list, which disappoints me.

So instead I'll re-point out that Jazz is as vague enough term as rock. There are a lots of kinds of jazz. Your best way in is to look at what you already listen to and like, there is a jazz that will sound right to you to let you in.

Hello, I was hoping if anyone from this forum could help me with something: I've just discovered the incredbly awesome world of Jazz. Now since I'm totally new to this genre I need a "self-proclaimed" Jazz fan's (hell anybodies) opinion on very good Jazz groups that I could listen to to further enrich my experience. All I ask is that the groups you mention tend to be on the none-vocal style of presentation (but anything really is just fine :)).

New Stories
ps. Pandora (http://www.pandora.com/) could help.

Start with Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Then work your way through Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charles Mingus etc.....

And Miles Davis - Bitches Brew....that is a really good album :D

Kenny G. He is great. Kind of light with no vocal.

Kenny G. He is great. Kind of light with no vocal.

Get a rope...

Get a rope...

You don't like Kenny G? :(

You don't like Kenny G? :(

You know the only difference between an uzi and Kenny G?

An uzi only repeats itself 50 times.

Hello, I was hoping if anyone from this forum could help me with something: I've just discovered the incredbly awesome world of Jazz. Now since I'm totally new to this genre I need a "self-proclaimed" Jazz fan's (hell anybodies) opinion on very good Jazz groups that I could listen to to further enrich my experience. All I ask is that the groups you mention tend to be on the none-vocal style of presentation (but anything really is just fine :)).

Eh, I didn't notice there were two threads on this, but I didn't notice that you wanted instrumental jazz...well, despite not being much of a jazz fan...

...I can only reiterate that you should check out Bohren & der Club of Gore if you want something different. Instrumental and an awesomely dark take on the style.

jaco pastorius

jaco pastorius

Quality.