celt_rock
Member
We're talking desert island type records here, not what you think should be your favorite but actually are. Obviously this is for the jazz fans, if you're not a fan, maybe skip this one!
I was going to ask what your single favorite jazz album is but that's too hard and easy all in one. I think you get a much more comprehensive look at a person with 10. Here are mine (in no particular order) with a highlight or two mentioned;
Someone gave me this record, after years of having to sing Ease On Down the Road and On Broadway in school chorus I was not a Benson fan. Then I heard Clockwise. Bam. This is his best album, first time I heard Stormy Weather uptempo and the guy does have a pretty good voice. Guitar, organ and Bari Sax. Great combo!
Holy cow, Birth of a Band is a great tune but there's also a great rendition of Moanin' and my favorite version of I Remember Clifford. Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry all in this band, how could it not rip?
Two words... 27 Choruses.
I don't know what it is about trumpet players who died too young, this album is pure classic. The title track alone is enough to sell this one. The new Blue Note 75 pressing of this is fine, just make sure you get a good copy, there are some bad ones out there.
I first picked this up on CD about 15 years ago when I started playing with a jazz band that wanted to play Joy Spring. If I had to take only one album on that island with me, this would probably be it. I love using Blues Walk as a model for my students on trading fours and then watch their minds get blown as Brown and Lands start trading twos, then ones, then halves... love it!
First got this one for free in a batch of records one of my college professors gave me when the music department was relieving itself of vinyl. At that time I wasn't a fan of Miles' sound, that thin, tinny, piercing horn. Then it grew on me. A lot. I could talk about why I love this album but I think it's all been said plenty of times before and I don't feel like I have any unique insights to offer. I'll just say So What, Freddie Freeloader and All Blues are staples of my HS Jazz Ensemble
This album was my first jazz love and continues to inspire my music even though I don't play in a jazz group at this time. Aside from the big two on this one, my favorite is Three To Get Ready. It's amazing how effortlessly the band grooves on two bars of 3 and two bars of 4. And that Desmond sound? NOBODY sounds like Desmond.
Up until a couple of months ago I would have had a Grappelli/Reinhardt album here but when I found this in a $1 bin it uprooted the old Hot Club of France recordings. I'm actually pretty disappointed that I don't have a Django album here, I feel like I've failed as a guitarist, but this album is SO good and I don't even file it away anymore because it fits just about any mood and I'm always willing to play it. This is a must for me.
Isn't this on everyone's list? Back when I bought the Clifford Brown on CD I also picked up this one as the band was going to play Moanin' and I needed to learn it. This album is like Catcher in the Rye in that I have 3 or 4 different copies of it. Lee Morgan and Benny Golson together? Yup.
I know, right? A group made the list twice? This was the only time I brought home an album, sat down to listen to it and after finishing side 1 immediately went and started writing a tune. Again, I love Desmond's sound and I love the way the band plays together. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a huge Brubeck Quartet fan.
This list by no means exhausts my favorite jazz albums but man, it's hard to just pick 10! I just purchased a whole bunch of the Blue Note 75th Anniversary albums on vinyl; Blue Train by Coltrane, Song For My Father by Horace Silver, Blue Midnight by Kenny Burrell, Something Else by Cannonball Adderley. They're all great and keep making the rotations and I may listen to them enough where they'll start to supplant what I have here but until that day comes, this is my list! What's yours?
I was going to ask what your single favorite jazz album is but that's too hard and easy all in one. I think you get a much more comprehensive look at a person with 10. Here are mine (in no particular order) with a highlight or two mentioned;
Someone gave me this record, after years of having to sing Ease On Down the Road and On Broadway in school chorus I was not a Benson fan. Then I heard Clockwise. Bam. This is his best album, first time I heard Stormy Weather uptempo and the guy does have a pretty good voice. Guitar, organ and Bari Sax. Great combo!
Holy cow, Birth of a Band is a great tune but there's also a great rendition of Moanin' and my favorite version of I Remember Clifford. Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry all in this band, how could it not rip?
Two words... 27 Choruses.
I don't know what it is about trumpet players who died too young, this album is pure classic. The title track alone is enough to sell this one. The new Blue Note 75 pressing of this is fine, just make sure you get a good copy, there are some bad ones out there.
I first picked this up on CD about 15 years ago when I started playing with a jazz band that wanted to play Joy Spring. If I had to take only one album on that island with me, this would probably be it. I love using Blues Walk as a model for my students on trading fours and then watch their minds get blown as Brown and Lands start trading twos, then ones, then halves... love it!
First got this one for free in a batch of records one of my college professors gave me when the music department was relieving itself of vinyl. At that time I wasn't a fan of Miles' sound, that thin, tinny, piercing horn. Then it grew on me. A lot. I could talk about why I love this album but I think it's all been said plenty of times before and I don't feel like I have any unique insights to offer. I'll just say So What, Freddie Freeloader and All Blues are staples of my HS Jazz Ensemble
This album was my first jazz love and continues to inspire my music even though I don't play in a jazz group at this time. Aside from the big two on this one, my favorite is Three To Get Ready. It's amazing how effortlessly the band grooves on two bars of 3 and two bars of 4. And that Desmond sound? NOBODY sounds like Desmond.
Up until a couple of months ago I would have had a Grappelli/Reinhardt album here but when I found this in a $1 bin it uprooted the old Hot Club of France recordings. I'm actually pretty disappointed that I don't have a Django album here, I feel like I've failed as a guitarist, but this album is SO good and I don't even file it away anymore because it fits just about any mood and I'm always willing to play it. This is a must for me.
Isn't this on everyone's list? Back when I bought the Clifford Brown on CD I also picked up this one as the band was going to play Moanin' and I needed to learn it. This album is like Catcher in the Rye in that I have 3 or 4 different copies of it. Lee Morgan and Benny Golson together? Yup.
I know, right? A group made the list twice? This was the only time I brought home an album, sat down to listen to it and after finishing side 1 immediately went and started writing a tune. Again, I love Desmond's sound and I love the way the band plays together. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a huge Brubeck Quartet fan.
This list by no means exhausts my favorite jazz albums but man, it's hard to just pick 10! I just purchased a whole bunch of the Blue Note 75th Anniversary albums on vinyl; Blue Train by Coltrane, Song For My Father by Horace Silver, Blue Midnight by Kenny Burrell, Something Else by Cannonball Adderley. They're all great and keep making the rotations and I may listen to them enough where they'll start to supplant what I have here but until that day comes, this is my list! What's yours?