hype
Well-Known Member
This is exactly how I started listening to jazz too! I was studying for my masters and a lot of what I was doing was monotonous, so I just needed something in the background that I wouldn't get distracted by (so vocals were out of the picture) and I landed on jazz.
Im echoing what others are saying here but I recommend listening to a variety of albums and as soon as you find a particular element interesting you will then have an area to start down the rabbit hole. As an example, if Evan's solo on KOB stands out then maybe check out one of his albums as lead from the same era (e.g. "Portrait In Jazz" 1959). If you then find Scott LaFaro's bass playing to capture your attention then you could then look at other albums he appears on such as Ornette Colemans work. The great thing here is that theres endless options to delve down.
Personally, I remember hearing something with Lee Morgan and I was captivated by his playing, which led me down his albums as lead, and the Jazz Messengers (which opened up whole other set of rabbit holes in itself).
Just have fun, this is what music is all about. The adventure of hearing something that really captivates you. Who cares if its the "correct" technique, "correct" form, etc.
Yeah, that's a great idea especially considering i'm pretty big into Hip Hop as well so reading yours and @MikeH replies got me wanting to dissect Shades Of Blue since i'm already EXTREMELY familiar with pretty much anything Madlib so that can help connect some Jazz to something I already love.. That's exactly how I found out about the great Donald Byrd, by hearing him on Guru's Jazzmatazz and while exploring some of his other material I realized he was part of The Blackbyrds who I was already familiar with and liked so without even realizing it I had been enjoying Byrd's work for quite a few years haha.
Also, like @LeeVing mentions which I didn't think about until his reply.. I'm sure i'll find quite a bit through scores/soundtracks as well since i'm a bit of a Cinephile and enjoy going back to earlier cinema at times which obviously used Jazz much more often, it can kind of be like the Hip Hop effect I mention above where it connects it to something I already have a love for. Not to ramble on too much but this just reminded me a few years back when re-visiting Taxi Driver and truly hearing that masterful Score for the first time with a proper sound set-up.. I truthfully don't know too much other work Bernard Herrmann has done (Well damn, just looked him real quick and didn't know he was the one that did some of those iconic Hitchcock scores along with a few other very noticeable Movies) but his sax work especially was absolutely intoxicating. That's def. another rabbit hole opening up
I finally got a few days off so it's a perfect time as well and you know what? I've seen Evan's Portrait In Jazz cover a million and one times but i'm pretty sure i've never listened to it especially in full so i'll be changing that as well (I might even have a copy of it in storage that was a hand-me-down which I plan on bringing those boxes home soon and cleaning the good stuff which should also give me some new Jazz to give a chance as well).
Absolutely! Digging and finding new stuff is probably my favorite thing about this hobby so much so I often times neglect a lot of the stuff I truly love but nothing beats that feeling of going down a rabbit hole and finding new gems you end up loving!
Thanks again for all the replies guys.. I had completely forgotten (Or simply not even connected the dots tbh) about some of these Jazz connections I mentioned above on top of the other suggestions so I got a pretty, pretty, pretttty nice jumping off point to start with now.