Jazz- recommend me something sleepy

Cafe Society
1

NB: I know nothing about music, so go easy on me.

I was watching a TV drama recently and noticed that a lot of the incidental music was very pleasing to my ear. It was instrumental jazz, very sleepy and relaxing. Made me think of lying on a peaceful grassy riverbank in sunshine. I think it was probably quite old style, but my complete ignorance precludes any more definitive description!

I’m interested in buying some similar stuff to de-stress to, so: can anyone recommend me some jazz that fits the above bill? Spread the word on your favourites…

Thank you,

Lou

2

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Clark Terry, Color Changes

3

'Nuff said. Everyone should own this album anyway, but it sounds exactly like what you want.

4

Mrs. Plant bought me The Most Relaxing Jazz Music in the Universe in self defense. :slight_smile:
It’s on Denon.

5

Try some of Bill Evans’ piano trios. That would be piano, bass, drums, for you non-jazz types.

Sunday at the Village Vanguard is good.

So is Waltz for Debby.

Jimmy Guiffre would be good, too. Saxophone, guitar, bass. Try The Jimmy Guiffre Three (with Jim Hall).

6

Kind of Blue is a must have for anyone looking to get into Jazz. Nuff said.

Now if you want to add albums in that relaxed vein, I would recomend you look to Charlie Parker with Strings (my old jazz music prof also swears that it is the perfect “get lucky” soundtrack for a date) and the complete birth of the cool which is personally my favorite miles davis album. It’s also in that Cool Jazz style you seem to be looking for.

Really you can almost never go wrong with Miles Davis or Bird, great music all the time. And now I will leave the thread before I get tempted to convert you to hard bop. :smiley:

7

Harold Land: A Lazy Afternoon.

That’s the first CD to pop into my mind when I saw the title of the thread.

Others:

Paul Winter: Canyon
Stan Getz: Focus
Gerry Mulligan: Night Lights
George Shearing: anything he’s done

An old one that may be hard to find is Koto and Flute. Bud Shank on flute and Kimio Eto (or maybe Ito) on koto. Other such semi-jazz, semi-oriental things exist.

And there are many “environmentals” recordings of babbling streams, waterfalls, surf, even thunderstorms. My wife made a tape of The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm” that lead right into a 30-minute thunderstorm recording. We’d use that to go to sleep by until it got so predictable. I rarely heard the thunderstorm start up.

8

What? No Kenny G? :smiley:

9

Yo! I was gonna mention that sort of schlock, but the OP wanted to relax, not go into a coma! :smiley: :smiley:

10

I never miss a chance to plug this album by trumpeter Jon Hassell.

11

You might like the Chick Corea(piano)/Gary Burton(vibes) collaboration called Crystal Silence, it’s got that kind of ambient/atmospheric sound.

12

And is there a more relaxing song than So What?

13

Well, I was listening to Miles’s somnambulistic 1971 album In a Silent Way last night, and the first half is called “Shhhh – Peaceful.”

“Relaxing” isn’t the word. You’ll go into a coma.

14

So, this is sort of sacrilegious in a thread where people are suggesting legiimately amazing jazz, but if you’re just looking to relax and don’t care about objective musical awesomeness, you might consider the “Jazz for a _____ Day” series, particularly “Jazz for a Lazy Day” and “Jazz for a Rainy Day.”

15

Great album. Tenorist Scott Hamilton does some relaxing jazzy stuff. Modern Jazz Quartet, too.

Problem with Kinda Blue is that every Borders plays it in heavy, heavy rotation, as if that’s Miles’ only work.

BTW, nothing wrong with “Jazz for a ___ Day” compilations. If it’s the original artist, what’s the problem? It’s a “best of” CD.

16

I really don’t want to nitpick here but In A Silent Way was recorded (and to the best of my knowledge released) in 1969. This is important because these recordings preceded Bitches Brew either one of which started the fusion movement.

The following are some additions to the list addressing the OP’s request: [ul]
[li]Geri Allen “Maroon’s”[/li][li]Chet Baker “Chet Baker in New York” (or any of his now available Fantasy OJC CD’s)[/li][li]Marilyn Crispell “Overlapping Hands”[/li][li]Miles Davis “Davis & Evans Studio Recordings” (Porgy and Bess is a classic)[/li][li]Duke Ellington “Black, Brown & Biege” + “Ellington at Fargo, N.D.”[/li][li]Bill Evans any of his Fantasy OJC releases (Pre 1970)[/li][li]Errol Garner “Concert by the Sea” (this is a must)[/li][li]Dexter Gordon any of his Blue Note recordings[/li][li]Keith Jarrett any of his solo performances including “Koln Concert”[/li][li]Modern Jazz Quartet “Complete Last Concert”[/li][li]Gerry Mulligan “California Concerts”[/li][li]Oliver Nelson “More Blues and the Abstract Truth” [/li][li]Oscar Peterson “Exclusively for My Friends”[/li][li]Ben Webster “Ballads”[/li][li]Lester Young “Lester Young Story” (if still available - listening will remind you of why Billie Holiday fell in love with him)[/li][/ul]

I have tried to not include previously referenced recordings and many of the above artists were the height of “swing”, “cool jazz” and other late 50’s and 60’s jazz recordings.

17

Nina Simone - “Lilac Wine.” Not instrumental, but lovely.