Intro to Jazz?? - Page 2

Gatsby: You'll be very pleased. And, I'll bet you'll say "Hey. I've heard that somewhere." When the two main guys in Steely Dan were asked what their favorite album was, they didn't hesitate - Kind of Blue. Buster: If you read some of our posts, you'll notice a lot of us recommended Miles, et al.

Gatsby, I'm not sure if it's still in print but if you can get yourself copies of the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz (there were two put out; the second updates the first) it'll walk you right through the canon, Jelly Roll Morton to the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Dakota: Thanks a lot for the link. I put it in my favorites. I have several on the first couple pages I looked at. I'm gonna take a look at the Sage of Tippo. I have several Mose Allison. In fact, I had one that is now out of print. The LP called Retrospective (I think). It was a great one. Problem is that I recorded it on tape. And sold the LP. Notusually a problem, but the tape was Memorex. Lousy tape. It stopped working long ago and I can't find the cd version anywhere. Maybe the sage will replace it.

I would recomend McCoy Tyner since he was part of the "classic" Coltrane quartet, he's still alive and he travels to Japan.

There was a good article on Sonny Rollins in the New Yorker not too long ago.  There are also some good jazz stations on the internet, here is a site for KKJZ that has a listener voted top 88 jazz songs that covers a pretty good mix of material. kkjz

To grasp the greater landscape of important jazz works, artists, and more importantly WHY they were/are important, I think you need a good sampling from each era. Some of the other posts have put you on to the '60's and contemporary music better than I probably could, but you shouldn't forget the jazz age musicians, because thats where it all started (if you want a lesson on how to craft a pop hit, you wouldn't skip the Beatles, would you?). I would start with a direct comparison of Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong, try Armstrong's Hot 5 and Hot 7 recordings, as well as volume 2 of the Bix Recordings (this encompasses most of the stuff from 1927-1929, before he joined Whiteman's Orchestra). I would also recommend Count Basie's Decca Recordings for a sampling of the original Kansas City Sound of the '30s, as well as Benny Goodman's Original Small Group Recordings, with Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and Lionel Hampton. These musicians have no peers. Listen to some of Hampton's contributions to the Goodman small group and you will no longer why they kept wheeling this old guy up on stage at the bluenote well into his nineties.