After a quick trip to the mall yesterday, I left with two new CD’s, my first ever Jazz purchases. Thankfully, I am more than happy with the both of them, so I would appreciate some reccomendations for other artists to check out.
The two I picked up, were:
Duke Ellington Meets Count Basie (which I really, really like)
and a Best of Tommy Dorsey CD.
I like the both of them, and already really like the Duke Ellington/Count Basie one. What I wanted to know, is what are some other CD’s to keep a look out for?
I’ve also been finding myself quite fond of a lot of the female Jazz vocalists, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone ( ), Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, etc…
Any other suggestions?
I only wish I had discovered this Genre of music earlier, although at 20, I figure I managed to discover it fairly quick.
If you like the old stuff, check out Django Reinhardt (guitar) and Stephane Grapelli (fiddle) – very cool.
Another classic – Ella Fitzgerald sings the Gershwin Songbook. (All her Songbooks – there’s also Cole Porter, Jerome Kern – maybe a couple others – are good, but I’m particularly fond of Gershwin.)
Now’s as good a time to start educating yourself about the different flavors of jazz, modro, so you don’t feel put off when you finally come up against something that doesn’t do it for you. I got discouraged (briefly, thank goodness) early on in my appreciation of jazz because I was turned off by Dixieland. Can’t stand it. I’m talking would-rather-listen-to-Billy-Ray-Cyrus level can’t stand it, here. But fortunately, I discovered, Dixieland is a relatively tiny part of jazz.
Here’s a good road map with links to representative composers and artists. For me, I’m hopelessly lost in that delightful range defined by swing at one end and cool at the other, with no desire to leave.
Plug: www.emusic.com has an outstanding selection of Jazz mp3s, ideal if you’re casting around and seeing what you like. You’re discovering standards and Bebop, but you might benefit from hearing some Acid Jazz and Latin influences for comparison’s sake.
In addition to all albums previously mentioned, have you heard R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders? Or his French Musette band, Les Primitifs du Futur? I swear, the guy plays better than he draws!
KneadToKnow, thanks for the heads up. I noticed that there was some stuff that I absolutely hated, then I figured that Jazz is gonna be the same as any other genre, some stuff I really like, some stuff I kinda like, and some stuff I hate. Thanks for the link, I will check it out and see exactly what range it is that I am developing a taste for.
As KneadToKnow quoth, there’s a large pile of different jazzisms out there … and the chances are that a doyenne o’ Dixieland will not be hip to fusion. Or summat. Man.
So, I’ll throw a modern jazz hat into the ring.
I’m on a mostly-Norway kick at the moment, sampling stuff from the Jazzland and Runegrammofon labels. The former deals mostly with stuff that could be Bitches Brew for the new millenium, though there are exceptions (e.g., Wibutee). Mostly funky, chunky and ‘about’ sounds as much tunes. Check out:
Bugge Wesseltoft, ‘New Conception of Jazz’
Audun Kleive, ‘Generator X’
Eivind Aarset, ‘Light Extracts’
Nils Petter Molvaer, ‘Khmer’ / ‘Solid Ether’ / ‘np3’ (on ECM, not Jazzland).
A non-Norway shout out to Lob’s ‘Geography’, too. Good stuff, in a similar vein.
Runegrammofon’s catalog balances on the teetery edge of jazz-avantgarde. However, Alog, Supersilent and Archetti & Wiget all keep half a foot in jazz. Probably not somewhere to start though! Likewise, Iain Ballamy is another bloke to have a listen to once you’ve got your jazz ears tuned.
And never forget … Billy Jenkins, UK-Jazz’s answer to a question no-one can even pronounce.
Hopping back into the ‘classics’, plastic conspiracy lists some good stuff. Of these older bunch of chaps, 'owzabout:
Ahmad Jamal, ‘The Awakening’
Philip Catherine, ‘Transparence’
Larry Coryell & Emily Remler, ‘Together’
Count Basie, ‘Complete Atomic Basie’
John McLaughlin, ‘Extrapolation’
etc etc.
I’m also a fan of female jazz vocalists. Some choices:
), Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, etc…