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Any Traditional Jazz Fans Here? If you're out there, I need your help. I've always loved traditional jazz but I dont own very much of it. I want to start expanding my collection so I need some recommendations from you guys. I'm not talking that Smooth Jazz stuff. I'm interested in the traditional music (Duke, Dizzy and Miles influenced). I'm particularly looking for stuff from the 80's and 90's. You know, the type of music you would hear in a smoked-filled jazz club. Your recommendations will be much appreciated! "It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates | |
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What exactly is traditional jazz? Is it like Wynton Marsalis talking about Bebop, or is it ragtime, big band, swing, country jazz, latin jazz, free jazz, spiritual jazz, fusion, cool, soul jazz, jazz rock, funky jazz, etc.? You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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This might be a good start?
[img:$uid]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61EsaoAcXPL._SS500_.jpg[/img:$uid]
For me, this was the real introduction.... [img:$uid]http://www.selections.com/images/products/picture1zoom/BX292.jpg[/img:$uid] | |
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Oh Duke... | |
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Your question threw me for a second when you asked for "traditional jazz" but then specified the "80's and 90's" time period. "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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When I say traditional jazz, I'm speaking of the sound. Not Comtemporary Smooth Jazz like Najee or Kenny G. You know, like there is Traditional R&B (Chaka, Stevie) then there is Contemporary R&B (Usher, Beyonce). So I'm looking for Jazz with a traditional sound that was recorded in the 80's and 90s. [Edited 9/10/11 16:58pm] "It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates | |
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You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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Your way of using the word "traditional" in this way is correct. The style of jazz that musicians played in the 40s or 50s wasn't "traditional" just yet, it only became that when the "tradition" got carried on to successive decades.
To be honest, I haven't really cared too much about the artists of the 80s /90s and 00s that have tried to play in the old style. I don't think there's a shortage of them though. There's been plenty of that stuff done in conservatories and in other academic music circles. Don Byron's "Bug Music" was a good collection of old swing tunes, although it might resemble cartoon or circus music too much to some ears (in fact, many of the compositions were used in cartoons and during circus performances). I think it's a classic modern recording though:
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I'm still not sure if I totally understand the request. "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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Out of curiosity, why the focus on the 80's and 90's?
Thanks. These look like good selections. I choose the 80s and 90s as a starting point, particularly the 80s since that decade is my favorite for all other genres of music. I figured that would apply for jazz also. I'll tackle the 70's and 00's shortly. "It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates | |
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You've gotten great advice in this thread. I'll tell you the way it started with me. After spending a couple of days sampling my grandfather's extensive collection over 20 years ago, I realized that the jazz "canon" was simply too large and too deep to really dive headlong into. So here's what I did:
1. Start with the Known Classics and Compilations. There's no shame in simply starting with the famous records of the 50's and 60's, like Time Out, Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme. You'll hear 2 generations of jazz history in those records. Check out compilations and greatest hits collections from great artists, which are constantly being remastered and re-released. Here are two:
Genius of Modern Music -- Vol. 2 , Thelonious Monk [img:$uid]http://www.honestjons.com/doc_library/Originals/30517.jpg[/img:$uid]
The Blanton Webster Years (4 Discs), Duke Ellington [img:$uid]http://smartshopbuy.com/images/MP3/the-blanton-webster-band.jpg[/img:$uid]
2. Read Liner Notes of Your Initial Buys. Especially from greatest hits albums, so that way you can find out the supporting artists' names, and the albums from which the songs on the compilations came from. Once I knew who was playing on the tracks, I started purchasing the sidemen's albums. For example Kind of Blue, featured a sax player by the name of Cannonball Adderley and a pianist by the name of Bill Evans. That info led me to these purchases:
Jazz Round Midnight (Verve) -- Bill Evans [img:$uid]http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/images/local/250/00E923B9018F40B6B7691A7565D1ABC8.jpg=[/img:$uid]
Somethin' Else -- Cannonball Adderley [img:$uid]http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg300/g384/g38473eq0c9.jpg[/img:$uid]
3. Listen to Jazz Radio. The jazz radio stations left usually have very knowledgeable DJs who play a mix of old and new. I remember hearing "Summertime" by Art Blakey on the radio in my mid-twenties and I've been buying Blakey ever since. Over the years, I've heard newer artists like Marc Cary and Robert Glasper on jazz radio and bought albums from them as well. Examples of purchases made after listening to jazz radio:
A Jazz Message -- Art Blakey Quartet [img:$uid]http://i43.tower.com/images/mm106904704/a-jazz-message-art-blakey-quartet-cd-cover-art.jpg[/img:$uid]
Focus, Marc Cary [/img]http://jazztimes.com/images/content/albums/0001/1392/cary_span3.jpg?1234932800[/img]
4. Know Thyself. There are so many genres and subgenres of jazz to explore, and I'd encourage you to do that. But know what you like, and roll with it. I discovered pretty early on that I favored the bebop, "hard bop" and postbop eras (up to the late 60's). So I dug deeper and found these albums/comps.
Horace Silver Trio, Vol. I , Horace Silver [img:$uid]http://hardbop.tripod.com/silvergifs/trio.gif[/img:$uid]
Mingus Dynasty, Charles Mingus [img:$uid]http://www.whatrecords.co.uk/live/pics/15417.jpg[/img:$uid]
Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter [img:$uid]http://hardbop.tripod.com/images/speakno.gif[/img:$uid]
Know what style you like and go with it.
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder | |
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Clifford Brown & Max Roach - "Stompin At the Savoy"
Dave Brubeck - "You Go to My Head", The Time Out LP, "Let's Fall In Love", "Rotterdam Blues"
Lionel Hampton - "Dark Eyes", "Cute", "That Old Black Magic"
Cannonball Adderley - "The Fat Man", "A Little Taste", "I Don't Care", "Clouds", "Hi-Fly"
McCoy Tyner - "Lil' Darlin" "Solitude"
John Coltrane "All of You" "Little Melonae" "Trane's Blues"
Ahmad Jamal - "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed", "Darn that Dream"
Dexter Gordon - "Jodi", "Dextivity"
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