Calling all jazz aficionados!

C

cosine

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
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I got a gift card for Christmas, and it has come time to spend it now. I’m looking to add some more jazz to my collection, but I’m not sure what I want to get. I’ve narrowed my choices down to these albums and this collection:

Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder

Thelonious Monk – Solo Monk, Monk's Dream

Brad Mehldau – Day is Done

Charlie Parker – The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes

(Links are to Amazon)


I really want all four of those albums and the Charlie Parker set, but don’t know which one to get. The Charlie Parker set is a bit more expensive than the others, and I’d have to make up the difference with cash.

Any recommendations, reviews, comments about these albums? Other suggestion for what I might like and want to get?
 
Lee Morgan was a great trumpeter.

Monk (along with Miles, Coltrane and Mingus) is my all time favorite. Just love the man's music and vision.

I'm primarily interested in the period from the late 40's to early/mid 60's so I can't help much with Mehldau.

Parker, it goes without saying, is of great musical and historic interest. (That said, I still lean toward the recordings of my big four mentioned above.)
 
if the Bird record includes the sessions from the savoy shows, it is amazing. I had it on vinyl-4 lps long. The complete intros and everything were on it. Sid got more drunk as the show goes on..
 
Let's look at this rationally -- you're going to get them all; it's a question of which to get first. How about in chronological order, get the earliest first? My own introduction to jazz was backwards; I heard the modern stuff first and only heard the earlier stuff it was based on later (and much later heard the standards in their original Tin Pan Alley versions). That was confusing; I think I would have been better off if I had encountered things in their proper order.
 
Dijos said:
if the Bird record includes the sessions from the savoy shows, it is amazing. I had it on vinyl-4 lps long. The complete intros and everything were on it. Sid got more drunk as the show goes on..
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It does, and that's why I don't know what to get. I can afford to make up the difference for the Bird set with my gift card, but it probably would be awhile before I could by it by itself at that price.
 
Cougar Allen said:
Let's look at this rationally -- you're going to get them all; it's a question of which to get first. How about in chronological order, get the earliest first? My own introduction to jazz was backwards; I heard the modern stuff first and only heard the earlier stuff it was based on later (and much later heard the standards in their original Tin Pan Alley versions). That was confusing; I think I would have been better off if I had encountered things in their proper order.
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So you recommend the Charlie Parker?
 
Get the Parker for sure. I would like to recommend some stuff to check out as well.

Jeff "Tain" Watts
Branford Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Eric Dolphy
Sonny Sharrock
Jimmy Smith
Sonny Rollins
Ornette Coleman
Herbie Hancock
John Coltrane
Coleman Hawkins

These are just a few. . . There are so many great artists.
 
Charlie Parker always is a great choice. But I would buy the Charlie Parker box set "Studio Chronicle 1940-1948" from JSP instead of "The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes" after I followed your link and read this review by someone named Ralph:

"I discovered that JSP has out a Charlie Parker box set titled "Studio Chronicle 1940-1948," also available here on Amazon, which by all appearances is a far superior purchase. For only $28, you get 5 full discs worth of material, including a wealth of early recordings not included here, as well as a number of recording sessions not led by Parker (notably those under Dizzy Gillespie's name). Apparently some of these rarer recordings are hard to find elsewhere. Everything included on the present set is on that set as well. All in all you get almost twice the number of tracks (125 to 65) for nearly half the price. And, from what I've read, the sound quality on that set is actually marginally better."

If you spend less on the Charlie Parker, this would leave you some money to buy other albums. Perhaps you own the following CDs already, but if not, you might consider buying these classic recordings:

- Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus (Prestige)
- John Coltrane, Giant Steps (Atlantic)
- John Coltrane, Love Supreme (Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival 1965 / Giants Of Jazz)
- Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (Columbia)
- Billie Holiday, Greatest Hits (Columbia)
- Jim Hall, Concierto (Sony Music)
- Bill Evans Trio, At The Village Vanguard (Riverside)
- Roland Kirk, The Inflated Tear (Atlantic)
- Art Tatum, The Tatum Group Masterpieces (Pablo)
- Art Blakey & Clifford Brown (NY, Birdland 1954 / Giants of Jazz)

I've listened to all of these albums over and over again and I never get tired of them.

My favorite recordings from contemporary artists are currently:

- Brad Mehldau, Songs (Warner Bros. Records)
- Allan Holdsworth, None Too Soon (Cream Records)
- Michel Petrucciani & Eddy Louiss, Conférence de presse Vol. 2 (Dreyfuss Jazz)
- Roy Hargrove & Antonio Hart, The Tokyo Sessions (BMG)
- Keith Jarrett, Bye Bye Blackbird (UNI/ECM)

You can't go wrong with them.

RIP Michel
 
Some excellent sides included in the above couple of posts. I have all those classics and you can't go wrong with those terrific suggestions.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions Blues, and everybody else. I've already got Miles Davis - Kind of Blue and John Coltrane - Blue Train, and now I am looking to build a fairly large and comprehensive collection of jazz . I'm also learning to play jazz myself, as a side venture besides the classical piano training I've taken for years. So, any suggestions for classic jazz albums or simply any jazz you really like are appreciated!
 
Oh, BTW, I should say that I am fairly familar with most of the jazz greats mentioned in this thread. I'm looking to build my CD collection now. And Blues, the Bird "Studio Chronicles" set does look really good, probably better than what I was looking at. That's why I posted this thread here, I knew I would get some great advice! :)
 
Good jazz is the best there is. Years ago I used to go to some great jazz spots in Greenwich Village. I saw some legends there.
 
TakeFive~Dave Brubeck would be an excellent addition,I would also get Weather Report featuring the bonafide genius of Jaco Pastorius.
Charlie Parker blew some of the best jazz he ever played on a $20 cheapo horn,having sold his #1 to support his all consuming heroin addiction. :eek: Don't forget to add John Coltrane when you can afford it. Uh! Stevie Ray Vaughan.When we lost Stevie Ray Vaughan,the Jazz world lost mightily!
Stevie more well known for his Blues,loved Jazz and included a jazz song on almost all his albums,Lenny and Riviera Paradise come to mind.
That's all. :cool:
 
I recommend checking out some avant garde/free improv, like:

Cecil Taylor
Ornette Coleman
Eric Dolphy
Andrew Hill
Dave Holland - Conference of the Birds
Peter Brotzmann, especially Die Like a Dog Quartet and Last Exit w/Sonny Sharrock
Marilyn Crispell
Vijay Iyer
Fieldwork (Vijay Iyer's tech jazz tio... complex, with irregular time signatures and polyrhythms)
Rudresh Mahanthappa
Triptych Myth
Mujician
Satoko Fujii Orchestra (avant big-band)... also her trio and quartet are great. The Satoko Fujii quartet has the rhythm section from Ruins!
The Vandermark 5
The Claudia Quintet
John Hollenbeck
Irene Shweizer
Muhal Richard Abrams
Sylvie Courvoisier
John Zorn's Masada (jazz/klezmer/free improv)
Susie Ibarra trio
Albert Ayler
Keith Jarrett -- especially Inside Out
William Parker


also, if you don't have Mingus' The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady, get it.
 
I have to throw in a plug for a friend of mine here:Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan. www.swinggitan.com . I see you are not far from Chicago,he plays the Green Mill in Chicago just about every Wednesday.His style is Gypsy Jazz(Django Reinhardt).I'm no Jazz afficianado,but his music is lively,and they are a great group to see live(plus,he is a friend).I believe they have some samples at thier website...give em a look.

I would also get Weather Report featuring the bonafide genius of Jaco Pastorius.
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I have to agree 100% there!..Black Market was one of my favorite albums.Shame the way his life went.
 
Can't go wrong with Coltrane. Or maybe something more contemporary, like Weather Report or a Jaco Pastorius album.

EDIT: I should really just read the other replies first before repeating them :rolleyes:
 
Hey Habber, I'll have to check out your friend's group. I'll also take a look at Weather Report/Pastorius, he seems to be pretty popular.

I thought that I almost had my mind made up, and there everyone goes, giving me all sorts of other great suggestions. I really appreciate all these good ideas, but now I'm back to square one! ;)
 
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