Jazz for beginners! - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

More Great Jazz:

Benson, George-Breezin'
Blakey, Art-Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk
Blakey, Art & The Jazz Messengers-Mosaic
Blakey, Art & The Jazz Messengers-Free For All
Carter, Betty-The Audience With Betty Carter
Clark, Sonny-Cool Struttin'
Coleman Double Quartet, Ornette-Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation By
Coleman, Ornette-At The Golden Circle, Volume Two
Coltrane Quartet, John-Ballads
Coltrane, John-Live At The Village Vanguard-The Master Takes
Davis Quintet, Miles-Relaxin' With Miles
Davis Quintet, Miles-Steamin' With The Miles Davis Quintet
Davis Quintet, Miles-Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet
Davis, Miles-In Person, Saturday Night Volume 2
Ellington, Duke-Uptown
Ellington, Duke & John Coltrane-Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Ellington, Duke & Johnny Hodges-Side By Side
Ellington. Duke -Money Jungle
Evans Orchestra, The Gil-Out Of The Cool
Evans Trio, Bill-Explorations
Fitzgerald, Ella-Ella In Rome: The Birthday Concert
Fitzgerald, Ella & Louis Armstrong-Ella & Louis
Getz, Stan & J.J. Johnson-Getz & J.J. Johnson At The Opera House
Gilberto, Joao-Amoroso/Brasil
Gillespie, Dizzy; Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins-Sonny Side Up
Gordon, Dexter-Our Man In Paris
Griffin, Johnny-A Blowin' Session
Hancock, Herbie-Empyrean Isles
Haynes Quartet, Roy-Out Of The Afternoon
Henderson, Joe-Inner Urge
Henderson, Joe-Mode For Joe
Hubbard, Freddie-Hub-Tones
Jackson, Milt/Wes Montgomery-Bags Meets Wes!
Kirk, Roland-Rip Rig & Panic & Now Please Don’t You Cry Beautiful Edith
McRae, Carmen-The Great American Songbook
Mingus, Charles-Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Monk Orchestra, Thelonious-At Town Hall
Monk, Thelonious-Thelonious Himself
Peterson Trio, The Oscar-Night Train
Puente, Tito-Top Percussion
Rollins, Sonny-The Bridge
Shorter, Wayne-Adam's Apple
Taylor Quartet, The Cecil-Looking Ahead!
Taylor. Cecil-Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come
Tyner, McCoy-The Real McCoy
Young, Lester & Teddy Wilson Quartet-Pres & Teddy
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bc1991

It looks more like a copy/paste list to me.
There are several albums there that I don't consider to be jazz, and several that are jazz but I wouldn't put near the top 500.
Have you listened to all the albums listed RFNaples?

RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

Yes I have listened to and own all the albums mentioned. They are all jazz unless I made a mistake in cataloging them. Give me an example of one or two that you don't think are jazz.

They are among the best ever albums in jazz. But like most jazz albums they don't appear on many greatest albums of all time lists since they usually contain mostly Anglo Rock.
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joannajewsom

Location: Philadelphia

Do you really have Kenny G on there? And why would you just throw out almost 100 albums in a Jazz for Beginner's thread? The O.P. was looking for a starting point.

bc1991

RFNAPLES wrote:

Yes I have listened to and own all the albums mentioned. They are all jazz unless I made a mistake in cataloging them. Give me an example of one or two that you don't think are jazz.

They are among the best ever albums in jazz. But like most jazz albums they don't appear on many greatest albums of all time lists since they usually contain mostly Anglo Rock.

There's a big influence of jazz on all of these musicians, although I wouldn't call them jazz:

norah jones (pop music)
kenny g (pop music)
joni mitchell (pop-rock)
buena vista social club (latin)
nina simone (for the specific record you are mentioning, because she actually has a few jazz albums).

I would lie to you if I say there aren't a lot gems in there, because there are. The problem is that the list looks pretty irregular in quality to me, because at one side you have listed some excellent records from Duke Ellington and on the other side plenty of Chick Corea, Kenny G and Pat Metheny.

I also will second what joannajewsom said.

It has nothing to do with with the greatest albums lists that includes mainly rock albums.

RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

Yes Kenny G is on the list. He started in jazz copying Grover Washington Jr and was on his high school jazz band. He plays what is called smooth jazz. He has been a commercial success and while some purists hate him, others love him. His current label is Concord Jazz.

Jazz is such a large field. Each of the musicians and their publishers think their jazz is good. Everybody's tastes vary. Amazon.com currently lists 173,256 jazz music CDs. So my two lists pare that number down for the novice to choose from. No information was provided regarding the inquirer’s likes or dislikes; instrumental or vocal; solo, small group or large group; style or genre; time period or country of origin; studio or live; etc. It would be like going to a pharmacist and asking for something good.
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RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

Come Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Although genre classification has been disputed, Jones' mellow style and playing on Come Away with Me is recognized as contemporary jazz. Feels Like Home is the second album by jazz songwriter Norah Jones, released in 2004. It includes the song "Don't Miss You at All" (Duke Ellington, Jones).

Mingus is the tenth studio album by Joni Mitchell, and a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus. It was Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him. The album is quite experimental, featuring minimalist jazz. Personnel: Joni Mitchell - guitar, vocals; Jaco Pastorius - bass, horn arrangement on "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines"; Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone; Herbie Hancock - electric piano; Peter Erskine – drums; Don Alias – congas; Emil Richards – percussion.

Buena Vista Social Club is a studio album by Cuban bandleader and musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder with traditional Cuban musicians, released September 16, 1997 on World Circuit Records. I consider it a fine example of Latin Jazz while others may call it World, son cubano, bolero, guajira.

High Priestess of Soul is a studio album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003). While the album contains popular songs and Church-African-Folk-related songs delivered in a jazz vein, it also includes songs by Duke Ellington/Irving Mills ("The Gal from Joe's") and Nat Adderley/Oscar Brown, Jr. ("Work Song").

I have already commented on Kenny G.
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bc1991

Ok, here's a question for you. What is jazz?
Or better, how would you make a difference between say a group like Morphine (which has no use of guitars but sax), and Miles Davis of the 70s (Bitches Brew, On The Corner...)? Why do you think one is considered jazz while the other is not?

Since the 70's, Blue Note is no more an exclusive label for jazz releases only.

There are hundreds of albums with a jazz vein (The Doors, Fun House, Trout Mask Replica, In the Court of The crimson King....) but are still not jazz.

Smooth Jazz is not considered as a subgenre of jazz for the majority of critics.

RFNAPLES
Level 8

Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA

Jazz is hard to define. The word jazz began as a West Coast slang term of uncertain derivation and was first used to refer to music in Chicago about 1915.

Jazz was primarily an American musical art form which originated in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. It uses blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and shuffle notes. As jazz spread around the world it drew on local national and regional musical cultures and adapted to its varied environments and gave rise to many distinctive styles.

Jazz has a variety of subgenres, from New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock fusion from the 1970s and late 1980s developments such as acid jazz, which blended jazz influences into funk and hip-hop. Smooth jazz is a sub-genre of jazz beginning in the early 1970s which is influenced stylistically by R&B, funk and pop.

Jazz: I know it when I hear it.
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bc1991

RFNAPLES wrote:

It uses blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and shuffle notes.

None of those artists I mentioned cover almost any of those descriptions you gave, specially the improvisation which is almost none.

Quote:

Smooth jazz is a sub-genre of jazz beginning in the early 1970s which is influenced stylistically by R&B, funk and pop.

Same here, smooth jazz lacks of improvisation, that's why it is discarded from jazz.