TWENTY PLACES TO START
Louis Armstrong, The Hot Fives and Sevens, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, & Vol. 3
JSP 312, 313, 314 (3 CDs) 1925-1929
or Columbia 460821-2, 463052-2, 465189-2 (3 CDs)
The Hot Fives & Sevens (Box Set) (also includes Vol. 4)
The Hot Five and Seven recordings are the first great wave of jazz records,
setting a precedent for all the jazz that followed. Armstrong and his group
(including Kid Ory, Johnny Dodds and others) set the course. Here, catch
the master at his peak as innovator, improviser and arranger. These recordings
are the finest achievement of the Dixieland period. The JSP disks are supposedly
cleaner recordings, but the Columbia versions are easier to find.
Jelly Roll Morton, Jelly Roll Morton 1926-28
JSP CD 322 or Classics 612
The first great composer and arranger in jazz was a master of tone colors,
and arranging musicians. Morton's ragtime influenced syncopated New Orleans
piano style is brought to intense levels as he records with his group, the
Red Hot Peppers. Many Morton recordings are available on several different
labels. The ones you want to start with were made from 1926 to 1928.
Coleman Hawkins, 1929-1934 Classics 587
Check out the first great tenor sax player as he starts out with the Fletcher
Henderson Orchestra and follow him through five years in his early career.
Hawk influenced nearly every sax player after him and somehow this guy kept
going strong right on into the 1960s.
Earl Hines, 1932-34 Classics 514 CD
The trendsetting stride piano player of any time period. These recordings
feature him alongside his big band and include some of my favorite Hines
standards. There is no one I would rather hear bang on the keys.
Billie Holiday, The Quintessential Vol 3 & Vol 4 , Columbia 460820-2, 463333-2, 1936-37
In these 20 selections I only include one vocalist. Vaughn, Fitzgerald are
also cornerstones, but you have to begin with Ms. Holiday. Plus, on these
volumes, her pal Lester Young is present. Vols 3 & 4 are some of her
finest recordings at the peak of her career. There are 9 Volumes in this
Columbia set, but I say these above two volumes are the place to start.
Count Basie, The Original American Decca Recordings MCA GRP 36112, (3 CDs)
These recordings represent Basie at his cutting best, a group of great soloists,
led by a great bandleader, recorded when his band was the hottest on earth.
Duke Ellington, The Webster Blanton Years
Bluebird 13181, 3 CDs, 1940-1942
Although no Ellington record is a lemon (unless you accidentally pick up
some obscure, poorly recorded, live bootleg), I particularly recommend The Webster Blanton Years.
On every level, artistically, musically, historically, Ellington's big band
studio recordings from 1939 to about 1941 are unparalleled. The conundrum
is these recordings are a bitch to find! I got them on a compilation that
the Smithsonian put together some years ago. Apparently, all these classics
are available on the above CD, but I can't find the blasted thing anywhere!
In the meantime, try to find any studio recordings by the Duke during this
fiery period.
[UPDATE: It was re-released under a different name. Linked above.]
Charlie Parker, The Charlie Parker Story Savoy SV 0105, 1945
This recording was cut in one day, November 26, 1945. By this time the top
bop players had perfected their style. The definitive recordings of Koko
are on this session. And check out the personnel: Bud Powell, Max Roach,
Curley Russell, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. These may be the first couple
of years of solid bop, but these are the players who developed the form.
Dizzy Gillespie, Groovin' High Savoy SV-0152, 1945-46
Although most bop was played in small groups, Diz put together a big band
that delivers the fastest breakneck flash of fire ever. The version of "Things
to Come" on this disk will make your socks fly off your feet.
Thelonious Monk, The Genius of Modern Music Vol 1 & Vol 2 Blue Note 781510 and 781511,1947-52
Monk played with the bops, but his spare approach to playing piano notes,
and his experiments with melody and chords put him in a different ballgame
altogether. These two records show him in peak form, and present many of
his classic compositions for the first time.
Charles Mingus, Thirteen Pictures: The Charles Mingus Anthology Rhino R2 71402, 3 CDs 1952-67
Phenomenal anthology of Mingus. If you can afford it, get all the separate
albums that this compilation is made from, in this order (in my opinion):
Ah Um, Pithecanthropus Erectus, and Oh Yeah. Ah Um is fairly easy to find, and is a great place to dig in if you don't feel like springing for the three disk set.
Art Tatum, The Solo Masterpieces Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4, Vol 5 or Vol 6 Pablo 2405-432 to 438. 1953-55
Just pick one and go. This solo piano player had immense influence on the
bopsters and everyone after. Fast, furious and intense, you have to hear
this guy play to believe it.
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue Columbia 460603-2, 1959
Here's Miles at the cutting edge of all the jazz movements. I know several
characters who have only one jazz CD in their collection. And it's Kind of
Blue. A cool, modal, free, avant-garde and post-pop masterpiece of melody,
rhythm and improvisation.
Dave Brubeck,Take Five Columbia 460611-2 62068 1959
This is cool. Even tones, rondos, experiments with mixing a chamber quartet
into the stream of jazz. Immensely popular album among college students in
its day. Take Five still holds up strong.
Ornette Colman, Free Jazz Atlantic 781364-2 1960
This album was the shot heard round the world as far as Free Jazz goes. Immensely
influential and attractive due to it's rough qualities, this album is the
ambassador of Free Jazz albums.
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme MCA MCLD 19029, 1964
Coltrane fell out of the cool school where he was playing with Miles and
embarked on a series of recordings that deal with issues of spirituality
in musical terms. Structured pieces, yet full of free harmonic improvisation,
Coltrane's records are nearly religious. If your record store sold out of
this gem, try Giant Steps, Impressions, or Interstellar Space.
Sun Ra, Atlantis Evidence ECD 22067, 1967-69
Flipping the dial one day, I caught a radio station playing one side of this
album and I never forgot it. Ra's blend of funk, free jazz and science fiction
has to be heard and assimilated. Ra was doing P-Funk back in the 1950s (see
We Travel the Spaceways, recorded in the late 1950s) . If you can't dig up this undersea symphony, go for The Magic City, Outer Spaceways Incorporated, or Mayan Temples.
Miles Davis, Bitches Brew Columbia 460602, 1969
Free modal improvisation meets electronic freakout meets trumpet blast monstrosity.
This album is a paradox; Miles somehow made the most cutting edge experimental
album of it's time, yet cracked into the rock mainstream. To this day, I
have not heard anything that comes close to the bizzare tone colors Miles
was able to achieve on this album.
Herbie Hancock, Headhunters Columbia 471239, 1973
Most people these days know Hancock from his hideous "Rock it" period in
the early eighties, but jazz aficionados know this keyboard player as one
of the best from the sixties and seventies. Headhunters was his biggest achievement, the high point of mixing electronic music into jazz. Headhunters
was a critical success as well as a popular one, selling tremendous amounts
during the seventies when rock and jazz had a lot of crossover fans.
