Good jazz?

SpookyPistolero

SpookyPistolero

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
6,105
Hi folks-

Anyone got any recommendations for some good jazz? Not looking for acid jazz or anything too esoteric, just some good smooth tunes. Sax and/or piano would be winners, no elevator music. Also preferably a bit cheerful/upbeat.

Thoughts?
 
Keiko Matsui is one of my favorites. She usually plays at the Jazz festival that the local radio station puts on. I try not to miss her when she does play.

[youtube]XzqsWxau_gI[/youtube]
[youtube]ENKtl4lguUk[/youtube]

Some songs might be a bit "elevator" but you'll have to check out a few songs.
 
Ooh, that's very nice indeed. Thanks! I'll look into more of her stuff.

Any 'classics' that would be on easily-found vinyl? I've got a very good used record shop near me and I love the vinyl sound.
 
On vinyl you should be able to find some real classics.

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - The Birth of Cool
Dave Brubeck - Greatest Hits

one of my all time favorites:

[youtube]vmDDOFXSgAs[/youtube]

And yes, vinyl does sound better. ;) Theres just a feel to it that digital can't reproduce. I need to get another turntable.
 
Jazz is great.

If you have access to streaming video, I'd recommend checking out Pandora (http://www.pandora.com/). It's not perfect, but it's free and it can give you a good idea for future choices...

Some to listen to for now:

Jaco Pastorius - "The Chicken"

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

Roy Hargrove - "It ain't necessarily so"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWAjga8GuWY

Also, you can't go wrong starting out with Giant Steps (the whole album) or Kind of Blue. Good luck! I hope you like them.
 
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Classics? :cool:

So What - Miles Davis & John Coltrane 1959
[youtube]P4TbrgIdm0E[/youtube]
 
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker - A Night In Tunisia - Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945
[youtube]fk5WrAs4Utw[/youtube]
 
SpookyPistolero said:
listening to the same few songs over and over.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of what jazz is all about, though. How many times did Miles record So What -- all different? You could listen to him play So What for a couple of hours, then three hours of Charlie Parker playing Cherokee, then Dizzy Gillespie playing A Night in Tunisia -- of course they did a lot of other songs too....
 
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And the greatest jazz video ever, Betty Carter on Sesame Street! Damn, I can't embed this but do yourself a favor and check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eshALnJe-u0
 
A few good ones:

Art Tatum
Charlie Parker
Branford Marsalis
Art Blakey
Charles Mingus
Jeff 'Tain' Watts
John Coltrane
Jimmy Smith
Ornette Coleman
Eric Dolphy
 
Take the A Train - Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald (Billy Strayhorn composition)
[youtube]qhK-zYfFsIY[/youtube]
 
Somewhat more contemporary, but still not as esoteric as Coltrane's "Om" or Ornette Coleman's experimental stuff, Bill Frisell is a modern day jazz guitar master.

(His solo work, comprised of just him, his guitar, and a digital sampler live on stage, is pretty incredible as well. Although it's probably not what you are looking for in this thread, it's really worth checking out.)

[youtube]cmcmbpQ6H2g[/youtube]

[youtube]_JwZlu2mR84[/youtube]

[youtube]TD26t_GtUTY[/youtube]
 
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I tend to find lots of smooth jazz rather boring/ vomit inducing. So for more upbeat stuff look below. most of it is on the far side away from "elevator jazz". give it a chance, but its not really what you posted looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnGxAS
If you like that there is also Twinemen. very similar, some of the same band members.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI0FYN-r5c

Wont say much on this. you'll either love it or hate it, but give it 2 chances.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Hi folks-

Anyone got any recommendations for some good jazz? Not looking for acid jazz or anything too esoteric, just some good smooth tunes. Sax and/or piano would be winners, no elevator music. Also preferably a bit cheerful/upbeat.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

It's impossible to give an exhaustive list of all what has to be listened even if you reduce your choice to "good smooth tunes played by sax and piano". You have to begin by something anyway and after... it's endless.
If i well understand what you want to listen Hatchetjack gives a good starting point:

hatchetjack said:
Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper.
Click to expand...

Stan Getz: "Voyage" (Black Hawk BKH 51101) 1986.
Sonny Rollins: "After the bridge" (RCA Bluebird F 5634-1-RB 11) 1964.
Art Pepper: "Thursday, Friday, Saturday, More for Les; Live at the Village Vanguard", (4 albums), (Contemporary/OJC) 1977.

Add Miles Davis, "Kind of blue", John Coltrane "A Love Supreme".

I stop there. I dare to say that the records i've mentionned are absolute masterworks you can't dislike.

Good listening.

dantzk.
 
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