Preferably some upbeat stuff. I know that's a very open request, since there is so much Jazz out there in so many different styles, so to narrow it down a bit, I could point to Wynton Marsalis' recent quartet release, The Magic Hour: trumpet, piano, bass, drums, with a little bit of vocals tossed in here and there. I'd prefer recommendations closer to that than say Miles. But that's just me. If others want to take this thread another direction, that's cool too.

I guess I'll start off by recommending, obviously, The Magic Hour. And although they don't exactly fit my request parameters, sitting on my desk at work I see Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' Porgy and Bess, and Ella & Duke at The Cote D'Azur on the shelf, and they all kick ass.

das

Check out De Phazz. Excellent stuff, not all of it is jazz, but the Daily Lama album has a lot of upbeat jazz on it.

I don't know a lot about jazz, but the only jazz album I have, A Love Supreme is great.

I only care about so-called 'modern jazz', i.e., bebop and later. Dixieland doesn't interest me. That said, some recommendations:

Charlie Parker's Dial recordings. These are available from a number of sources, some more reputable than others. I have most on vinyl, so I'm not up to date with CD releases. Key individual recordings would include "Yardbird Suite", "Klacto-veed-sed-stene", "Ornithology", "Relaxin' At Camarillo", "Night in Tunisia", and "Moose the Mooch".

Sonny Rollins' recordings for Blue Note. Look for the one with Thelonius Monk's "Misterioso".

The Max Roach/Clifford Brown Quintet featuring Sonny Rollins recordings. These are now collected as a box set.

The Miles Davis Quintet - "Workin'"
The Miles Davis Quintet - "Steamin''"

The Miles Davis Quintet of the late '50s was the greatest jazz small combo ever:

Miles Davis - Trumpet
John Coltrane - Tenor Saxophone
Red Garland - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
"Philly" Joe Jones - Drums

Dexter Gordon - "Our Man in Paris"
John Coltrane - "Giant Steps"

The above should get you from 1945 to 1960. Let me know if you want more.

I want more.

das

Seriously, thanks for the suggestions. I have a few of those (on CD), but will check into the rest. Thanks.

das

Milt Jackson is one of my favorites. Very cool "lounge" music featuring the vibraphone.

'Bags' is great, but I hate the vibes, so I deliberately left off any Modern Jazz Quartet albums from my list. Call me biased.

Excellent choice!
I also recommend My Favorite Things and Blue Train, also by John Coltrane.

hey wendersfan, are you familiar with the albums of Terence Blanchard's - I love his score for the Spike Lee's film 25th Hour

Actually, I've never heard much of his solo stuff. I'm familiar with the soundtracks he's done for Spike Lee, and the stuff he did with Art Blakey's band. I have to be honest and say that, except for Miles and Clifford Brown, I'm not much of a trumpet guy. The tenor sax is my favorite, so I'm most partial to players like Coltrane, Rollins, Gordon, etc.

Really? Man, I dig those vibes...they are very "bachelor pad" to me.

I'm no jazz expert either. I've got records by some of the big names: Bird, Diz, Miles, Coltrane. I'd recommend Paquito D'Rivero & Joshua Redman.

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

there are two "jazz" albums i could not live without. first is definitely jazz and is bill evans sunday at the village vanguard. second is a classical album by a widely renowned jazz pianist and is keith jarrett's koln concert.

Pick this up, you will not be dissapointed. One of my favorite Jazz albums. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music
Great mix of classic Armstrong's vocals and trumpet and the minimalist piano of Ellington.

I like Coltrane's Giant Steps...

EDIT: I didn't see, wendersfan already suggested that.

Well my jazz collection consists of Giant Steps and My Favourite Things, so I'm out!

(I'll probably get some of the stuff suggested here too...)

My only disappointment is that you assumed I didn't own it. I'll echo your remarks, though ... it's an excellent recording.

das

I knew there was a reason I liked you...excellent tastes!

das, I'd love to recommend some jazzy sounds to you but I fear my tastes in "jazz" are still narrow and quite "left-of-center" E.G. 9 Lazy 9, Soft Machine, Lounge Lizards, Haceinda, Diferenz and their ilk. However, I wish you good luck in your searching.

-Gunshy

I'd recomend two Don Cherry albums Eternal Rythym & Brown Rice. As well as two Sun Ra albums Lanquidity and Atlantis.

Try Dave Brubeck - Jazz Collection. It seems to fit your parameters.

I'd recommend a little known jazz band by the name of Soulive.

They are fantastic.

"Turn it out" is my favorite disc from them.

The Verve Unmixed series is great. I heartily recommend them:


Now as far as recent/modern albums, you can't go wrong with some of Soulive's stuff, especially their debut.



Don Byron's A Fine Line is ridiculously good and the clarinet is a beautiful instrument. Here he basically handles anything from Puccini to Roy Orbison to Motown. Some have vocals, some don't, all are great.

If you like pianists, I recommend Ahmad Jahmal and Keith Jarrett. Also, trumpet man Clifford Brown has done some great work. I really like his sessions with Max Roach and anything he did with Art Blakey.

That's it for now.

My top 5 jazz albums of all time:

1. Miles Davis-In A Silent Way
2. Charles Mingus-The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
3. Miles Davis-Sketches of Spain
4. John Coltrane-Blue Train
5. Miles Davis-Bitches Brew

Basically, Miles Davis is the greatest artist ever!