Hey there peeps.

I have always had an interest in jazz, and listen to "alot" of jazz once in a while. But i seem to have problems finding really good jazz. So this thread could maybe be seen as a start for a good jazz-guide. So that people like me could discover and read about jazz musicians and check out stuff. I often do get names, but forget them again. So at least here, they would be for a while.
So, if all you jazz-lovers out there would write down the names on the ones you find valuable to mention, and write something about their music and style, and personal opinions about that, I would become a happy jazzy lad.

Thanks
Satori

Nice topic, Satori. I will expound at some later date, but briefly:

IMHO jazz is at the top of the heap musically. I think it's the fact that it is all about improvisation that so fascinates. The compexity of organization coupled with the soulful spiritual elements is really an amazing accomplishment. Ray Charles called an album Genius + Soul = Jazz.

One good way to delve into it is to make a chronological study, because jazz has developed organically over the last century, each innovation based on what has come before. A true jazz musician has a deep knowledge and command of the history of the music, thats what keeps it real.

Here is an incomplete list of innovators roughly chronological. This is just for starters.

Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Charlie Christian
Count Basie
Lester Young
Coleman Hawkins
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie
Bud Powell
Thelonious Monk
Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Horace Silver
Art Blakey
Lee Morgan
Jimmie Smith
Sun Ra
Bill Evans
Wayne Shorter
Herbie Hancock
Chick Correa
George Benson

Well thats a start off the top of my head

I am going to make two suggestions, as a place to start:

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
John Coltrane-A Love Supreme

These are both deep, accessible, and works of musical genius.

Try 'em

To really understand those records it might be a good idea to hear what led up to them. The thing about Kind of Blue that made it so important that it started a jazz revolution was the departure it made from everything before. Up in till that time(1959 I think) jazz had been getting increasingly harmonically dense. The improvisations were based on more complex chord progressions and people like Coltrane were into just blasting through everything implied by the chord changes. It became an inntilectual exercise. The opitome of that is Tranes tune, Giant Steps. He set out to create the hardest chord progression possible to challenge his impovisational abilities.

At that point Trane and Miles figured they had gone as far as the could in that direction. When they put out Kind of Blue, the songs they wrote for it had just a few chords. For example So What's changes are this 16 measures of D minor, 8 measures of Eb Minor, 8 measures of D minor.

So now it was like a blank canvas, and you couldn't reley on the changes of a tune to guide your solo. You had to bring form and vision to the table.

So along with Cenacles suggestions I would first listen to Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and pre 1960 Coltrane.

Another thing to do is do an in depth study of one great artist, traceing his development.

The best one for that would be Miles Davis. His career strechted from bebop to hip hop. He was like Picasso, constanly reinventing himself.
Many of the great innovators were his sidemen, before they went on to be leaders in their own right.

excellent tip, jrl.

i picked up a copy of Miles' Autobiography and if you listen to the music and like to look at pictures to back up the sounds - the book is a great side dish.

And as jrl said, Miles developed from within a long history of music - it's a brilliant idea to approach the music historically and then listen to how the music reflected the times through hinting at the future.


you'll see what i mean as you listen to the growth. It's also good to go with your instincts - you might find your own chronological path.

Miles' book is a good read. Some funny cocaine stories among other stuff.

I few artists I missed first time through:

Ornette Coleman
Archie Shepp
Cecil Taylor
Pat Metheny
Wes Montgomery
John Scofield
Mcoy Tyner
Christian McBride

More to come.

I am farr from being a jazz expert, but I definitely respect it, almost to the point of being overwhelmed by the volume of what is out there. A few personal favorite jazz albums are:

-Miles Davis: Agharta, Get Up With It
-Pharoah Sanders: Black Unity, Summun Bukmun Umyun
-Sun Ra: lots, but right now I'm really into a bootleg called "Astral Planes and New Moonbeams - Atlanta, GA 1984"
-The Giuseppi Logan Quartet - 1st album (self titled)

Thanks for all the input guys Sure enough to start with, and some good pointers on HOW to start, hehe..

no jazz record collection is complete without the psychedelic sounds of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew.

i love jazz

also check out "take five" by charlie parker.
the Art Ensamble of Chicago is cool too.

there are more but most are listed above. enjoy!

What about Django Reinhardt?

I've been doing a little research in his direction as of late. Romani (gypsy) music in general has been tugging my trigger these daze. But Django was a natural (uneducated) improv monster, admired and sought out by many american jazz musicians of his time when visiting Europe.

guild rep #9

Django needs to be on the list for sure. There is a great video about all the Django disciples around the world, like young gypsy kids and old English guys all still obsessed with Django.

Out here in Calif there are a lot of old school country swing guys, and they come right out of Djangos bag. A lot of them play violin and 5 string electric mandolin and they swing their asses off.

So much music , so little time.

BTW, Take 5 is by Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond.

LOL I just caught the vid about Django's followers on Sundance channel.

What I found telling was the fact that even with a Django festival going on in his birth town, the local manouche aren't allowed to camp within three towns and they're even trying to evict that group from that site. Never mind the fact that the non-gypsy locals are cashing in on Django's name, the artist's BLOOD RELATIVES are still basically personas non-gratis.

And the band played on......

guild rep #8

i cant believe i forgot Django.

jaga jazzist isnt what you would call "classical" jazz (oxy moron?), but i would have to suggest them as well. especially for those interested in times besides 4/4...