As I’ve gotten older (especially recently), my musical tastes have expanded to include more big band type music and jazz. If I want to hear more about either, where do I start?
I know with big band that I’m enjoying the original recordings from the 30s and 40s, as opposed to more recent recordings. That should probably be easy enough to find, but I’m always open to suggestions.
Where do I start with jazz? There are so many recordings and so many types of jazz - is there a good place to go to maybe find different types, so I can listen and decide what I like and don’t like?
Like you I know nothing about jazz, but I have been watching some of the Ken Burns series on its history.
It looks squarely aimed at the enthusiastically ignorant like us. Enough information to understand who was popular / important / influential and why and some overall social context and historical narrative. Enough actual music to let me say that I’d like to listen to this rather than that.
As with all Ken Burns’s work, if you suffer a reaction to slow pans over black and white photos you may want to seek medical advice first.
When I want to explore a new type of music, I create a Pandora station for that genre and make note of the artists I like. Then, I create stations for those artists and keep refining what I like.
I always recommend West Coast jazz for those starting out. It’s a mellower sound and easier on the ears. Try Art Pepper, Paul Desmond (and The Brubeck Quartet), Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Stan Getz. Also, early Miles Davis (Birth of the Cool and Kinda Blue are classics). Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker for some bebop.