Lesser Known Jazz Artists/Album Recommendations

[loquatious]

for some top-notch practitioners of '50s west coast jazz in the "third stream" vein check out:

jack montrose sextet- west coast classics
jimmy giuffre - tangents in jazz, jimmy giuffre 3, jimmy giuffre 4
duane tatro - jazz for moderns
lyle "spud" murphy - new orbits in sound
red norvo - music to listen to red norvo by
shelly manne and his men - volume 2
shelly manne septet - west coast sounds
gerry mulligan quartet - best of (w/ chet baker)





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[Cactus Bob]

Lennie Tristano

Herbie Nichols

Pat Martino

 

[RT Fan]

Jimmy Heath, Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Richie Kamuca, Red Garland....

 

[c.coyle]

Lesser Known Altos: Sonny Criss. I love This is Criss. Jackie McLean. Listen to Let Freedom Ring. Has anyone mentioned Lee Konitz?

Lesser Known Tenors: David Murray. Check out Like a Kiss That Never Ends. Tina Brooks. I love Back to The Tracks. If you like Jimmy Smith, you'll hear Tina on The Sermon. I don't think many would say Hank Mobley is lesser known or underrated. I personally put him right behind Coltrane and Rollins.

Lesser Known Piano: +1 to whoever mentioned Lennie Tristano. The New Tristano is a wonderful solo piano record.

 

[KrisM]

Head on over to the Jazz Playlist and you'll find a whole bunch of stuff!!

You beat me to this post. Jazz Playlist is a superb way to expand you Jazz Horizons.

A great idea.
I think one thing that gets overlooked about that thread is that it is FULL of jazz lovers that are more than happy to point you in the right direction, or a new direction, based on what they like.
I guarantee that if you sample that playlist, and start keeping a mental note of what stuff you like(and who is playing it), you'll find that certain members just happen to have a similar taste to your own. My own appreciation for digging deeper with jazz exploded a couple of years ago when I got into that thread, and noticed what guys like poppachubby were spinning.

As for recommendations, I think that there have been some great ones.

Paul Desmond was mentioned. If you like Brubeck you're probably hearing some Desmond, too. Take Ten and Two Of A Mind are personal favorites.

Herbie Nichols was mentioned, as well. If you dig Monk, I'll bet that you'll like Nichols' Blue Note stuff.

I could go on all day about Fuller. His Blue Note stuff is essential, as is his Savoy material. If you like him you need Blues-ette, IMO.
He also leads you to the Jazztet, where you'll discover Art Farmer and Benny Golson. Another Git Together, Here and Now, and Meet The Jazztet are great albums.

Anyway, welcome to the madness. The jazz well is DEEP!

 

[poppachubby]

Great stuff!!

Follow these rabbits down the hole!!!

As for recommendations, I think that there have been some great ones.

Paul Desmond was mentioned. If you like Brubeck you're probably hearing some Desmond, too. Take Ten and Two Of A Mind are personal favorites.

Herbie Nichols was mentioned, as well. If you dig Monk, I'll bet that you'll like Nichols' Blue Note stuff.

I could go on all day about Fuller. His Blue Note stuff is essential, as is his Savoy material. If you like him you need Blues-ette, IMO.
He also leads you to the Jazztet, where you'll discover Art Farmer and Benny Golson. Another Git Together, Here and Now, and Meet The Jazztet are great albums.

Lesser Known Altos: Sonny Criss. I love This is Criss.
Tina Brooks. I love Back to The Tracks. If you like Jimmy Smith, you'll hear Tina on The Sermon. I don't think many would say Hank Mobley is lesser known or underrated. I personally put him right behind Coltrane and Rollins.

Lesser Known Piano: +1 to whoever mentioned Lennie Tristano. The New Tristano is a wonderful solo piano record.

 

[poppachubby]

My personal suggestions of MASTERS who are considerably lesser known and among my favorites...

Booker Ervin
Woody Shaw
Gigi Gryce
Teddy Edwards
Howard McGhee
Ted Curson
Bill Barron
Al Grey
Ike Quebec
Budd Johnson
Booker Little
Frank Strozier
Benny Golson
Art Farmer
Ahmad Jamal

You should know that this list isn't just me throwing out a bunch of names. No, no, no... all of these players are absolutely hands down MASTERS of jazz. They were/are musician's muscians. I could add more names but frankly, as you discover their albums you will also discover more players.

From this list I will say that firstly, Woody Shaw is IMO the greatest jazzman to ever breathe air. I also believe that Booker Little, had he lived, would have been greater than Miles or any other player ever. I think that one of the greatest front lines in the history of bop was Bill Barron/Ted Curson - they were as amazing as Morgan/Shorter or any other duo you can name.

Gigi Gryce is grossly underrated, you may recognize some of his tunes which became standards like Minority.

I could go on and on, but these players listed here were complete musicians. They could write, arrange and play... some of them were highly original, and some simply lifted the tradition to Olympian heights.

Enjoy the discovery, it's the best part.

 

[Nick Danger]

Serge Chaloff, Illinois Jacket, George Braith, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Grachan Moncur III, Bill Evans, Gene Krupa, Django Reinhardt, John Patton, Freddie Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Larry Young, Roma Trio, Hustle Fuzz, Knud Jorgensen.

Enjoy your trip down the rabbit hole......

 

[KrisM]

Oh, you KNOW I'm going on a Howard McGhee run tonight/this weekend poppa, lol! With a side of Lucky Thompson.
Or should I have said, "Maggie's Back In Town"?

 

[xraelx74]

McCoy Tyner is one of my favorite jazz pianists, "The Real McCoy" is really something. If you like jimmy smith look for Larry Young, also an organ player.

 

[Zeego]

Thank you everyone for some great suggestions.

 

[Todd MacDona]

Erik Truffaz

 

[tomcatmixd]

Lesser Known Altos: Sonny Criss. I love This is Criss. Jackie McLean. Listen to Let Freedom Ring. Has anyone mentioned Lee Konitz?

Lesser Known Tenors: David Murray. Check out Like a Kiss That Never Ends. Tina Brooks. I love Back to The Tracks. If you like Jimmy Smith, you'll hear Tina on The Sermon. I don't think many would say Hank Mobley is lesser known or underrated. I personally put him right behind Coltrane and Rollins.

Lesser Known Piano: +1 to whoever mentioned Lennie Tristano. The New Tristano is a wonderful solo piano record.

+1 to all these great recommendations, with a few more go-to titles:

Sonny Criss Sonny's Dream 1968

Freddie Redd Quartet with Jackie McLean Music From The Connection 1960

The Lee Konitz Duets 1968

David Murray Body and Soul 1993

Tina Brooks True Blue 1960

Other pianists in the bebop/hard bop vein:
Red Garland, Elmo Hope, Tete Montoliu, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard

 

[qdrone]

Check out
Grachon Moncur III / Evolution
Lou Donaldson / Blues Walk
Paul Desmond
Red Mitchell
Andrew Hill
Bobby Hutchenson
Pee Wee Russell
Shirley Scott
Leo Parker

 

[Zeego]

What some of the essential Woody Shaw Albums?

 

[qdrone]

What some of the essential Woody Shaw Albums?

Rosewood is an essential Shaw recording.

 

[poppachubby]

What some of the essential Woody Shaw Albums?

The simple answer to your question is... all of his albums are essential. He simply wasn't around long enough and didn't make one dud during his time.

That said, his career had several artistic peaks, but in my mind none are more important than the Woody Shaw quintet. If you zero in on 1975 - 1981, you will find his greatest contributions to jazz. The group had a few rotating members, but it was generally the same core of approx. ten players which made the quintet.

Quite simply, they pushed the boundaries of melodicism in bop to places it hasn't been since. These guys are STILL the future sound of jazz. In my mind, nobody has come close to Shaw's accomplishments during this time. The best recordings are the live albums because it wasn't just WHAT they were playing, but also HOW. Stepping Stones is my favorite album of his - the level of musicanship & interaction approaches the realm of the psychic.

It takes repeated listening, but if you end up "hearing" the truth in his music, I suggest you branch out into the rest of his discography, including his side work.

 

[poppachubby]

Rosewood is an essential Shaw recording.

:yes:

 

[CKDC]

In Mobley, Fuller and Morgan, you mentioned some of my favorites. But then I have a lot of favorites. They are hardly secondary artists,IMO. One of my teachers posited this question about artists: Are they major minor figures or minor major figures?

I am not into collecting vinyl.

I do however, maintain a list of musicians on the notepad in the laptop I use to stream music. (this list started on paper some time ago ;-) If I am having a mental block or feel the need to explore, I consult that list before going to Tidal to find that music.

I do occasionally search for things like "top 100 jazz musicians" or top 200 jazz albums and add names or albums to that list.

If I was interested in buying an album or cd, I would listen to it that way before making a purchase.

Also since there is so much collaboration in jazz, you have a whole lot of names right at your finger tips on the album covers you own. A lot sidemen are often leaders on their own albums.

HAVE FUN!

 

[poppachubby]

Also since there is so much collaboration in jazz, you have a whole lot of names right at your finger tips on the album covers you own. A lot sidemen are often leaders on their own albums.

HAVE FUN!

This is the best way to branch out...