ESSENTIAL JAZZ RECORDINGS – PART ONE
This list column is the result of two separate inspirations. First, I’ve had a few people ask me for a basic guide to which jazz musicians are the best of the best, and which recordings should be a part of any reasonable collection. Second, I’m not feeling al that great and I want to do an easy column.
It goes without saying that the following is only my opinion, and you may not agree with all of my choices, but what follows are the musicians and the albums that I feel everyone should hear. There isn’t a single recording on the list that I feel less than 100 per cent confident in recommending. It’s largely based on a list I used to keep in my pocket when I was travelling around Europe, in case I happened on a record store with a decent jazz section. I own most of these records, I have listened to each of them more than once, and I sincerely believe that they represent the best that recorded jazz has to offer a new listener or an intermediate collector. I’ve tried to limit myself to two recordings per artist. If you’d like more recommendations for anyone in particular, please feel free to contact me using the link at the bottom of this page.
THE LIST
Cannonball Adderley (Alto Sax) – Something Else
Louis Armstrong (Trumpet and Vocals) – Hot Fives & Sevens; Plays W.C. Handy
Chet Baker (Trumpet) – The Best of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet With Chet Baker
Count Basie (Big Band) – The Atomic Mr. Basie
Sidney Bechet (Soprano Sax) – (I’d recommend starting with a collection like the Ken Burns’ Jazz disc).
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (Small Group, Blakey plays Drums) – With Thelonious Monk; A Night in Tunisia
Clifford Brown (Trumpet) – Alone Together (with Max Roach)
Benny Carter (Alto Sax) – Jazz Giant; A Gentleman and His Music
Nat “King” Cole (Piano and Vocals) – Jazz Encounters
Ornette Coleman (Alto Sax, etc.) – The Shape of Jazz to Come
John Coltrane (Tenor and Soprano Sax) – Giant Steps; A Love Supreme
Miles Davis (Trumpet) – Kind of Blue; Milestones
Eric Dolphy (Bass Clarinet, etc.) – Out To Lunch
Roy Eldridge (Trumpet) – Roy and Diz
Duke Ellington (Big Band, Piano) – The Blanton/Webster Band; At Newport 1956
Bill Evans (Piano) – Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for Debby
Art Farmer (Trumpet) – Blame It On My Youth
Ella Fitzgerald (Vocals) – The George & Ira Gershwin Songbook; Ella And Duke at the Cote D’Azur
Bill Frisell (Guitar) – Have A Little Faith
Erroll Garner (Piano) – Concert By The Sea
Stan Getz (Tenor Sax) – Best Of The West Coast Sessions; Getz/Gilberto
Dizzy Gillespie (Trumpet) – Birks Works
Benny Goodman (Clarinet) – B.G. In Hi-Fi
Stephane Grappelli (Violin) – Verve Jazz Masters 11 (A great collection).
Scott Hamilton (Tenor Sax) – Plays Ballads
Roy Hargrove (Trumpet) – With the Tenors of Our Time
Coleman Hawkins (Tenor Sax) – Body And Soul
Woody Herman (Clarinet) – Blowin’ Up A Storm
Earl Hines (Piano) – Plays Duke Ellington
Johnny Hodges (Alto Sax) – Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges
Billie Holiday (Vocals) – Any of her recordings with Lester Young on Tenor Sax
Mathan and Jeffrey have the most creative pimps on the site. I have the least.
Please Join me on The Forums to discuss your Essential Recordings, and to yell at me for leaving out Lionel Hampton and Dave Brubek.
