The 10 best jazz CDs ever!

Started by mn dave, May 01, 2014, 08:50:13 AM

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Henk

#40
Only old stuff mentioned!  :o

So much good new jazz!!!!

Will come up with some favorites of mine some. Need to listen some (much) albums of my collection first..

Bogey

#41
   

Well, Ellington, Monk, Hancock and Holiday did not make the cut.  Could not leave out the Armstrong box set as it may be "the one" to have imo, though I could argue with the Miles.  Picking one Coltrane cd was very difficult.  I considered Blue Train, but that does not capture much of his later sound like this two cd set.  I get his earlier sound on Kind of Blue and this cd also scratches the Bill Evans itch.  The Vol. 2 of the Brubeck set really cranks.  It always makes my top three.  The Goodman captures the swing era about as well as any single cd I have.  Had to have Getz and this is as good as it getz.


There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

TheGSMoeller

This has always been my favorite Jazz album, even though it's a collection from other albums.



Mirror Image

Let's see if I can actually narrow down a 10 best jazz CDs list (in no particular order):

Bill Evans Trio - Waltz For Debby
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - The Big Beat
Clifford Brown/Max Roach - Study In Brown
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Stan Kenton - Sketches on Standards
Chet Baker - Chet
Coleman Hawkins - At Ease With Coleman Hawkins
Ben Webster - Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson


Henk

Wes Montgomery, Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Shaw will definitely be in my list.

No mention of these masters though in anyone's list so far.

John, interesting choices!

NorthNYMark

This is tough--I have a pretty decent jazz collection (at least several hundred albums), though it tends to be dominated by material from the late '50s through the '60s (with a fair number of more recent avant-garde selections). My favorites, then, will largely reflect that bias. Here's my attempt, in roughly chronological order:

Tina Brooks--True Blue
Miles Davis--Kind of Blue
John Coltrane--Ole
John Coltrane--A Love Supreme
Anthony Williams--Life Time
Andrew Hill--Point of Departure
Cecil Taylor--Conquistador
Miles Davis--Bitches Brew
William Parker Quartet with Leena Conquest--Raining on the Moon
David S. Ware Quartet--Freedom Suite

Cosi bel do

#46
This is kind of a challenge... Well, the 10 best CDs I don't know, I prefer to speak about albums (because otherwise I might nominate a CD only for a bonus track...) and to give my own 10 favourites, and not 10 hypothetical best ones...

I don't think I can really put them in an order though... other than chronological order...

- Charlie Parker: Jam Session (1952)
- Lester Young & Teddy Wilson: Pres and Teddy (1956)
- Thelonious Monk: Monk's Music (1957)
- Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Moanin' (1958)
- Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (1965)
- Jackie McLean: Right Now (1965)
- Miles Davis: In A Silent Way (1969)
- Freddie Hubbard: Red Clay (1970)
- Johnny Hammond: Breakout (1971)
- CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (1972)
- Keith Jarrett: Köln Concert (1975)

It's tough. I couldn't cite albums led by some of my favourite jazz musicians (Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Stanley Turrentine) and a few weird albums I really love (Tyrone Washington's Do Right, or some vocal jazz including the delightful Rose Murphy - no, seriously).

And I just realize I forgot Dolphy's At the Five Spot, one of the best live albums ever. No, really, I am going to think again before saying my top 10 is definitive.

Brian

#47
Bumping this 10-year-old thread because top 10 lists are fun!

Personal favorites 10 years after I wrote my original list...

A Jazz Message - Stitt, Tyner, Davis, Blakey
Alone in San Francisco - Thelonious Monk
Alone with Three Giants - Marcus Roberts
Bags & Trane - Jackson, Coltrane, etc.
Blues & Roots - Charles Mingus ensemble
Dedicated to Connie - Modern Jazz Quartet
Money Jungle - Ellington, Mingus, Roach
Out of the Forrest - Jimmy Forrest, Joe Zawinul, etc.
Plus - Cannonball Adderley Quintet
Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers - with Peterson, Pass, etc.

EDIT:
and the next 10

Cross-Country Tour - Ahmad Jamal Trio
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
In San Francisco - Cannonball Adderley Quintet
It's Monk's Time - Thelonious Monk Quartet
Keystone 3 - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (lineup with the Marsalis brothers)
Kind of Blue - Davis, Coltrane, Adderley, Evans, Kelly, Chambers, Jones
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Nina Simone Sings the Blues
Runnin' Wild - Teddy Wilson, Dave Shepherd, etc.
ONE OF - Cookin' / Workin' / Relaxin' / Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet

San Antone

Quote from: San Antone on May 01, 2014, 11:05:04 AMI can live with this list

Andrew Hill ~ Point of Departure
Joe Henderson ~ Mode for Joe
Miles Davis ~ Nefertiti
Bill Evans ~ Sunday Night at the Village Vanguard (the original, single LP)
Lee Morgan ~ The Sidewinder
John Coltrane ~ Crescent
Sonny Rollins ~ Freedom Suite
Gary McFarland ~ America the Beautiful
Wayne Shorter ~ Speak No Evil
Ornette Coleman ~ Shape of Jazz to Come

Still accurate, but Kind of Blue needs to be mentioned.

vers la flamme

Crescent, an interesting choice for Coltrane; I have not heard that one.

San Antone

Quote from: vers la flamme on December 27, 2023, 04:10:11 PMCrescent, an interesting choice for Coltrane; I have not heard that one.

For me it is the peak of his classic quartet but before the music began to breakdown into the free, violent, late period.

ando

Look, there are too damned many great single discs and compilations to narrow it down to ten. And who digs these lists but the authors? But oh well, these are the top ten that I've spun the most in the last few years (something from all these gems turns up in daily shuffles/favorites), in no special order:

The Complete Capitol Recordings Of The Nat King Cole Trio Nat Cole Trio (1991, Mosaic)
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 (Remastered) Billie Holiday (2013, Sony)
At Mister Kelly's, Sarah Vaughan (1957, EmArcy)
Live At The Village Vanguard Wynton Marsalis Septet (1999, Columbia)
Places Brad Mehldau (2000, Warner Bros.)
My Favorite Things John Coltrane (1961, Atlantic)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (1957, Verve)
Abbey Sings Abbey Abbey Lincoln (2007, Verve)
My Favourite Songs: The Last Great Concert Chet Baker (1988, Enja)
GO! Dexter Gordon (1962, Blue Note)

runner up:
The Classic Early Recordings In Chronological Order Django Reinhardt (2000, JSP)

ando

Re: my list
The great thing about the big sets (Ella, Billie, Nat, Django) are the variety and large numbers of superb musicians playing on them. In fact, the ensembles have made listening those (now ancient) dates a source of great joy over the years. 8)

San Antone

Quote from: ando on December 28, 2023, 07:45:01 AMElla Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (1957, Verve)

I've been listening to this all week.  Great one.

ando

And I forgot Brownie (see what I mean :-\ )?!! The Complete EmArcy Recordings is one of my cherished sets. I tried to do the list without recourse to my shelves but this had to get an honorable mention.


Artem

#55
Recent top 10


Chet Baker - Candy
John Coltrane - Live at Birdland
Jim Hall / Ron Carter - Alone Together
Shirley Horn with Strings - Here's to Life
Gerry Mulligan - Night Lights


Gene Bertoncini - With Bill Charlap & Sean Smith
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Walt Dickerson - To My Queen
Stan Getz - What the World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays Bacharach and David
Duke Jordan - Flight to Denmark

San Antone

Quote from: Artem on January 01, 2024, 06:31:12 AMJim Hall / Ron Carter - Alone Together
Stan Getz - What the World Needs Now
: Stan Getz Plays Bacharach and David

Both of these are among my favorites.

springrite

#57
I don't really have that much jazz, nor do I know that much about jazz. so... reluctantly, I will list some of my favorites:

Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Absolute Truth
Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music
Bill Evans: Conversations with Myself
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Gerry Mulligan Final Session
Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter: 1+1
Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch
Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto
Sonny Meets Hawk!
Charles Mingus & Co. Tijuana Moods
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

ando

Quote from: Artem on January 01, 2024, 06:31:12 AMRecent top 10


Chet Baker - Candy
John Coltrane - Live at Birdland
Jim Hall / Ron Carter - Alone Together
Shirley Horn with Strings - Here's to Life
Gerry Mulligan - Night Lights


Gene Bertoncini - With Bill Charlap & Sean Smith
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Walt Dickerson - To My Queen
Stan Getz - What the World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays Bacharach and David
Duke Jordan - Flight to Denmark
Love the Shirley Horn lp. Funny how albums from female vocalists are rarely included in these top ten lists. Don't know the Coltrane Live at Birdland release. Need to check that out. Thanks.