Jazz

TheAcademy said:
I’m trying to decide between these Tone Poets... anyone have a recommendation?

Duke Pearson - Phantom
Donald Byrd - Byrd in Flight
Art Blakey - Roots & Herbs
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The one I am looking forward to most is The Phantom. A right turn, but a fine one. Neither the Blakey or the Byrd are their best, but both are good records.
 
duke86fan said:
What's your ultimate list of "how to get into jazz"

Whether based on influence, genres they already like, or just perfect in your mind
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As in which albums to chose?

I would just choose a few of the big hitters (Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue, John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Dave Brubeck - Time Out, Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come, Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um, Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, Stan Getz And João Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto, Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage, Duke Ellington - Ellington At Newport) which you can find on any 'top jazz list' and listen to them. Then pick out which of those you prefer and see what sub-genre they are a part of (cool jazz, hard bop, bebop, swing, big band, Latin Jazz/ Bossa Nova).

From there you can then stretch out a bit more, and if there's an album you particularly like then see who appears on it and dig into their catalog - so if you like the piano in Kind Of Blue then check out the Bill Evan's led albums.

I have deep dived into quite a lot of different genres over the years but I find jazz to be the most fun to explore regardless of how much I actually enjoy the music, there's just so many different avenues to explore.
 
Selaws said:
As in which albums to chose?

I would just choose a few of the big hitters (Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue, John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Dave Brubeck - Time Out, Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come, Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um, Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, Stan Getz And João Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto, Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage, Duke Ellington - Ellington At Newport) which you can find on any 'top jazz list' and listen to them. Then pick out which of those you prefer and see what sub-genre they are a part of (cool jazz, hard bop, bebop, swing, big band, Latin Jazz/ Bossa Nova).

From there you can then stretch out a bit more, and if there's an album you particularly like then see who appears on it and dig into their catalog - so if you like the piano in Kind Of Blue then check out the Bill Evan's led albums.

I have deep dived into quite a lot of different genres over the years but I find jazz to be the most fun to explore regardless of how much I actually enjoy the music, there's just so many different avenues to explore.
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@duke86fan I would add that, in my experience, it can take quite a bit of listening to adapt to what you're hearing where jazz is concerned. Some of the basic stuff, where a horn player (like Stan Getz) is working with the melody of a song you may be familiar with, for example, is (again, in my experience) easier to "understand" than something like Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come, which heads in the direction of a more "free" form of jazz. I'd put Kind of Blue somewhere in the middle between those two, and Brubeck's Time Out leaning closer to Getz. I agree with Selaws' suggestion that you select a few titles from big hitters and listen to them. I'm suggesting you may have to listen to them multiple times to begin to get a feel for what's going on. I feel like I've been "working at" listening to jazz for about 5 years now and I'm still very much a novice, though I have become more accustomed to what I'm hearing when I listen. I also just ordered a book that was recommended here, The History of Jazz, by Ted Gioia. I'm hoping that will help (because I really do think the evolution of jazz is an important part of appreciating the music).

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Russ I said:
I also just ordered a book that was recommended here, The History of Jazz, by Ted Gioia. I'm hoping that will help (because I really do think the evolution of jazz is an important part of appreciating the music).
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Love Ted Gioia. I haven't read that one yet, but I read "How to Listen to Jazz" and that was monumentally helpful in charting my path into jazz, especially when combined with recommendations from all the great folks here.
 
TCell said:
I like this Blue Note flow chart, which starts with Blue Train:
View attachment 70491
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Very cool. Thanks for sharing that.

EDIT: Knowing such visual representations are out there, just found this, which I'm going to have to study for a while. Could be really helpful trying to place the records I have in terms of how they relate to each other and to the growth of jazz. (Tried to post a higher-resolution image but that didn't seem to make it any more readable within the post.)
JazzHisoryTreeSmall.jpg
 
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Russ I said:
Very cool. Thanks for sharing that.

EDIT: Knowing such visual representations are out there, just found this, which I'm going to have to study for a while. Could be really helpful trying to place the records I have in terms of how they relate to each other and to the growth of jazz. (Tried to post a higher-resolution image but that didn't seem to make it any more readable within the post.)
View attachment 70503
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That’s it, we’re officially nerds
 
RRGEMS will reissue Brahja self titled album. It has been out of stock for a while and I was surprised to see so many copies being added for sale on Discogs in the last couple of weeks. Well, this reissue may explain why :) Anyway, here is the link.

www.rrgemsrecords.com

BRAHJA - RRGEMS06 - Edition #2

Woodblock printing album artwork by RYOCK. Her woodcuts are extrapolated from front and back cover photography by Isaac Rosenthal, from front cover...
www.rrgemsrecords.com www.rrgemsrecords.com
 
Russ I said:
@duke86fan I would add that, in my experience, it can take quite a bit of listening to adapt to what you're hearing where jazz is concerned. Some of the basic stuff, where a horn player (like Stan Getz) is working with the melody of a song you may be familiar with, for example, is (again, in my experience) easier to "understand" than something like Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come, which heads in the direction of a more "free" form of jazz. I'd put Kind of Blue somewhere in the middle between those two, and Brubeck's Time Out leaning closer to Getz. I agree with Selaws' suggestion that you select a few titles from big hitters and listen to them. I'm suggesting you may have to listen to them multiple times to begin to get a feel for what's going on. I feel like I've been "working at" listening to jazz for about 5 years now and I'm still very much a novice, though I have become more accustomed to what I'm hearing when I listen. I also just ordered a book that was recommended here, The History of Jazz, by Ted Gioia. I'm hoping that will help (because I really do think the evolution of jazz is an important part of appreciating the music).

​

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trickyseven said:
Love Ted Gioia. I haven't read that one yet, but I read "How to Listen to Jazz" and that was monumentally helpful in charting my path into jazz, especially when combined with recommendations from all the great folks here.
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I have The History Of Jazz and its a fantastic read. Not sure I would recommend it to someone that's new to the genre, its quite heavy and helps to have a basic understanding of the genre and key players before reading. Fantastic book though, really well written especially when you consider how much there is to cover.
 
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