Help Me With Jazz?
 

Hi

I'm kinda just getting into Jazz, and i'm looking for some recommendations... can anyone help?

I seem to be favouring the up-tempo stuff. Really like Buddy Rich's ''Big Swing Face'' for example.

Thanks in advance

You could always try out some of the classics
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - My Favourite Things
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk

While that thread is a good start there is only one mention of Charlie Parker. Armstrong's trumpet brought jazz to the masses, brought it to the next level and mainstreamed it. Parker's alto revolutionized it. There are many movements in jazz as there are in rock. Bebop is my favorite. Here are some essentials:
Yardbird Suite - A nice eclectic collection of Parker's works.
Dizzy's Diamond - Gillespie collection
Jazz at Massey Hall - Gillespie, Parker, Mingus, Powell and Roach live. Thought to be greatest recorded live jazz concert.
Milestones -Miles Davis
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool - Miles Davis
Blue Train - John Coltrane
Giant Step - John Coltrane
Saxophone Collosus - Sonny Rollins
Something Else - Cannonball Adderley
Any Louis Armstrong Greatest Hits collection.
I also have a fondness for Jazz at the Philharmonic 1949 (Parker w/ Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Lester Young, et al)


All of the above records are up tempo (well maybe not Kind of Blue which is modal jazz ).

I guess my advice would to pick up some of the stuff already mentioned (all classics, even though there's two or three I've yet to hear) as well as some stuff that isn't considered "Top Ten" material.

I figure that if you're fairly new to the music and all you buy/hear is Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme, etc then the distinct quality of those albums won't be as apparent when the only thing to compare and contrast them to is other albums of the same caliber. I'm not saying you should buy a Kenny G. album just as a reminder why John Coltrane was extraordinary, but it's good to branch out a little and get a feel for the differences between musicians. Think of Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" as The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper;" sure, everyone *says* it's the best, but that doesn't neccessarly mean it'll be your favorite...

As the poster above said, there's quite a bit of variation within the genre, so it's best to sample a bit from different eras to see which you like the best. I'm pretty fond of the early/mid 60's myself, although I like it all. One of the great things about jazz is that if you find an album you really love, all the people who played on it probably have their own unique careers as a leader. It's very easy to dive head first once you get started. Beware! :)

I think what the OP is looking for is more along the lines of hard bop, which is one of my favorite genres of jazz.

I recommend Art Blakey's work in that case, including A Night at Birdland (with Clifford Brown!) and his Night in Tunisia (with the Jazz Messengers).

It sounds like you're looking for a little big band swing. Since Count Basie always swung hardest, check him out first.

Other hard bop recommendations:

Sonny Rollins <i>Saxophone Colossus</i>
John Coltrane <i>Giant Steps</i>
Clifford Brown/Max Roach <i>Brown and Roach, Inc.</i>
Clifford Brown/Max Roach <i>Clifford Brown and Max Roach</i>

Hey guys... thanks a lot for the help!

I probably toot Clifford Brown's horn hardest on this forum (pun sadly intended). He's amazing and it's too bad he did not live to fully realize everything he wanted to do in his life.

What's funny is that I have all those albums already. :)