Recommend Some Jazz for Me

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan]

I just started really getting into Jazz about a couple of months and im really digging it. I like Miles, Coltrane, Charlie Parker and the Jazz Messangers, Chick Corea and Weather Report. Since I dont have a palette for it yet, I was wondering if you guys could give me some suggestion. Anything from the 50s and 60s and some jazz fusion would be cool/

[Giuseppe Zangara]

Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream

 

And have you gotten into much of Miles Davis's fusion stuff? If not, start with In a Silent Way and proceed chronologically from there. You may or may not hit a bump once you reach On the Corner, depending on your taste. (Side note: I happen to dislike a lot of fusion, but—given that you at least like the Weather Report—you'd very likely get something out of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.)

[Annabelle]

tony willams lifetime - turn it over

eric dolphy - out to lunch

dexter gordon - go

dave brubeck - time out

 

and for the season:

 

vince guaraldi trio - charlie brown christmas

 

when you're reading up on jazz. start with the big names like mingus, coltrane, miles, monk, brubeck ect. then start taking the side road & look into their sidemen. there's a plethora of untapped classics from so many of these guys.

[C Dubya 04]

eric dolphy - out to lunch

 

I love this album.

 

 

My recommendation would be Pat Methany and Lyle Mays "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls".

 

And if you like fast guitar arpegios in your jazz, a lot of Al Di Meola or John McGlaughlin are great. Or Scofield for your fusion.

[Coffin Surfer]

Ornette Coleman-Shape of Jazz to Come

 

Spontaneous and crazy but also very soulful. It is essentially proto-free jazz but it also still swings. Coltrane fan would probably dig it. "Lonely Woman" is an all time classic.

[Toshiaki Koala]

Corey, now's your chance to recommend Dillinger Escape Plan! If you like them, that is.

[Giuseppe Zangara]

Toshiaki Koala got the joke wrong.

[snuffbox]

Lake Trout.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

My favorite jazz stuff so far is everything Coltrane did from A Love Supreme up until his death. The most wildly expressive music I've ever heard. Completely overwhelming.

 

While I'm mentioning free jazz, I must indeed recommend Peter Brotzmann (who I finally tracked down). Either Fuck de Boere or Nipples.

[Annabelle]

i also love max roach with eric dolphy on perscussion bitter sweat. drummers as band leaders are usually quite regretable, but this one is tops.

 

like gene loves free jazz, i'd say i love the step right before it. the early - mid 60's where they got more adventurous but still maintained a certain melodious framework. the pot is bubbling, the jazz is cooking, and ready to explode into chaos. miles's filles de kilamanjero is an example of beautiful restraint. a sense of adventurism yet with one foot still in the grave of traditional jazz.

[Toshiaki Koala]

Toshiaki Koala got the joke wrong.

 

Well, the 'lypse aren't exactly jazz-informed, now, are they?

 

Find the song "Koko" by Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie. I don't know shit about jazz but I know that this is awesome.

[Guest Felonies!]

A little Buddy Rich can't hurt. Track down Big Swing Face.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Hey, thread starter, since you mentioned Weather Report and all, Jaco Pastorious' self-titled is a requirement.

[Giuseppe Zangara]

Gene, I think you and I have discussed this before, but I don't see what you get out of Jaco. I assume, being a bass player yourself, you appreciate him from a technical standpoint; however, so much of what I've heard of him—which I admit isn't very much—sounds like so much smooth contemporary twaddle. Local on the 8's.

[Annabelle]

any & all weather report is so boring. so is most fusion quite frankly. even miles left that shit behind after jack johnnson. get up with it & on the corner are beyond fusion, really.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Gene, I think you and I have discussed this before, but I don't see what you get out of Jaco. I assume, being a bass player yourself, you appreciate him from a technical standpoint; however, so much of what I've heard of him—which I admit isn't very much—sounds like so much smooth contemporary twaddle. Local on the 8's.

 

You pretty much summed it up. I have little to no use for him as a band leader, but when playing other people's music or just soloing and being his technically talented self he's in the pantheon of his instrument. I stop with side A of the self titled and about 3 or 4 songs off of Word of Mouth. Considering ol' boy up there likes Weather Report, he'd probably get more out of Jaco.

 

From his debut, there are about 4 or 5 solo tracks that are just ungodly good. Miles' "Donna Lee" as the opener takes about three seconds for the listener to go "Whoa, this guy can play," and although the title escapes me, there's another song on there where he plays a standard rhythm line and a melody completely with harmonics, all at the same time. That's some wowzers-type shit. He uses vocal and hornlike phrasing on a bass which did stuff for the instrument that reaches beyond fusion jazz and the weather channel.

 

You are absolutely correct though stating that he's full of really boring caribbean flavored smooth contemporary jazz.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. ill be sure to check these guys out.

 

What do you guys think of jazzmen like Wynton and Branford Marsalisis. Miles Davis seemed to hate on Wynton before his death. Ive heard some of Wyntons stuff and some of Branford's (courtesy of the Do the Right Thing and Mo Better Blues soundtracks, albeit it a VERY small sampling of his work). Are these guys worth looking into further?