# Top Ten Must Have Jazz CDs



## Centropolis (Jul 8, 2013)

What's your top 10 must-have jazz CDs? I am referring to the older jazz and not the Diana Krall type new jazz vocal stuff.

I will list 3 for now.

Coltrane - Blue Train
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

When I think of must-have I can only think of my favorites. I don't think that everybody has the same taste and to presume that Kind of blue (great album anyway) should please anyone is a wrong assumption.

So I would say something like this:
Andrew Hill - Judgment 
Andrew Hill - Andrew!!!
Herbie Nichols - Complete recordings
Sun ra - Atlantis (or Cymbals)
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
John Coltrane - Crescent
Paul Desmond - Pure Desmond
Booker Little - Out front
Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead
Mary Lou Williams - Nite life

and because of the limit of ten, I can't include:

Wayne Shorter - High life (this one is not so old actually)
Albert Ayler - Witches and Devils 
Pee Wee Russell - Jazz reunion
Charles Mingus - Black saint and the sinner lady
Red Norvo - Savoy sessions with Mingus and Tal Farlow
Lee Morgan's - The procastinator


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Miles Davis - difficult to pick one, but Witches Brew
Charles Mingus - Ah Um or perhaps Pithecanthropus Erectus
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century
Charlie Parker - The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve (bit of a cheat)
Thelonius Monk - Monk's Dream
Art Blackey & the Jazz Messengers - Moanin
Ella Fitgerald - Ella in Berlin
Dizzie Gillespie - Bird & Diz

That will do for now


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## BartokBela (Mar 12, 2013)

Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Eric Dolphy - Out to lunch
Hank Mobley - Soul Station
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods
Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Study in Brown


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## niv (Apr 9, 2013)

first I thought "I don't think there is something as a 'must have', it all depends on tastes", then OP mentions 3 records I own... I think what you people already said are good records, and I have to add Cannonball Adderley' Somethin Else and Mingus' Let My Children Hear Music... obvious choices, but I like them


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

*Duke Ellington*, _... and His Mother Called Him Bill_

*Duke Ellington*, _Blanton/Webster Early 40s recordings_

*John Coltrane*, _A Love Supreme_

*Andrew Hill*, _Point of Departure_

*Louis Armstrong*'s _Hot Five and Seven recordings_ (I'll just count this as one)

*Miles Davis*, _Miles Ahead_

*Charles Mingus*, _The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady_

*Herbie Hancock*, _Maiden Voyage_

*Wayne Shorter*, _Speak No Evil_

*Pat Metheny*, _Secret Story_


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Weather Report-Mysterious Traveller
Miles Davis Quintet-ESP
George Russell-Ezz-Thetics
Jackie McLean-Destination Out
Herbie Hancock-Inventions And Dimensions
Oliver Nelson-Straight Ahead
Keith Jarrett-Treasure Island
Marc Johnson-Bass Desires
John McLaughlin-Belo Horizonte
Pat Metheny Group-The First Circle


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)




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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

And how on earth did I forget:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Transcends all other jazz albums.


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

John Coltrane - Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings
Louis Armstrong - Complete Hot Fives & Sevens
Charlie Parker - Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes
Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band
Thelonious Monk - Alone in San Francisco
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
Sonny Rollins & Coleman Hawkins - Sonny Meets Hawk
Ornette Coleman - At the Golden Circle, Stockholm
Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Karyobin

Is it cheating to include 4 boxes?


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> View attachment 22840
> 
> 
> Transcends all other jazz albums.


I don't think so. I like it, a good jazz rock album but definitely not that good.


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## Bas (Jul 24, 2012)

Take five is my all time favourite Jazz track. It was my grandfathers favourite jazz album too (music on his funeral), he died before I was born, but it has a special place for both myself and especially my own father...


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Garlic said:


> Charlie Parker - Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes


 Shame on me for forgetting this!

It's interesting to me that there are so comparatively few ECM recordings on our lists. I'm an admirer of many of their artists (Jarrett in particular, but others like Dave Holland and Norma Winstone as well) but when it came to the top 10, well, they just weren't there.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

What everyone else said plus Herbie Hancock's Sextant. The only jazz fusion album I need.


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## niv (Apr 9, 2013)

I forgot sextant! I would also add head hunters.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Oreb said:


> Shame on me for forgetting this!
> 
> It's interesting to me that there are so comparatively few ECM recordings on our lists. I'm an admirer of many of their artists (Jarrett in particular, but others like Dave Holland and Norma Winstone as well) but when it came to the top 10, well, they just weren't there.


personally I have some problem with ECM. There's some good stuff (I like Winstone, Holland and Jarrett), but I have some problem with their aesthetic. You know, that elegant, bloodless, aseptic sound well represented by their grey, elegant and interchangeable cover arts. When I put up an ECM album often I have the need to listen some Albert Ayler, Booker Ervin, Cannonball, Mingus, something like that.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Not too big into Jazz. But I like some Jazz Fusion. Holdsworth and Al Di Meola are a couple of my favorites.
Allan Holdsworth- I.O.U.
Al Di Meola- Elegant Gypsy


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

No ordered list, just some I love. Miller and Kenton are compilations, obviously.

Albert Ayler - _Spiritual Unity_
Eric Dolphy - _Out to Lunch_
John Coltrane - _Ascension_
Glenn Miller - _The Star Collection_
Peter Brötzmann - _Machine Gun_
Pharoah Sanders - _Thembi_
Ornette Coleman - _The Shape of Jazz to Come_
Stan Kenton - _Capitol Studio Recordings 1943-1947_
Louis Armstrong - _Satchmo Serenades_
Dexter Gordon - _Go_
Sam Rivers - _Crystals_


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

norman bates said:


> I don't think so. I like it, a good jazz rock album but definitely not that good.


It's not jazz rock. That came a year later when Lenny White and Bill Connors joined the band.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

norman bates said:


> personally I have some problem with ECM. There's some good stuff (I like Winstone, Holland and Jarrett), but I have some problem with their aesthetic. You know, that elegant, bloodless, aseptic sound well represented by their grey, elegant and interchangeable cover arts. When I put up an ECM album often I have the need to listen some Albert Ayler, Booker Ervin, Cannonball, Mingus, something like that.


This ECM sound thing is a stereotype that just isn't true when you consider the huge catalog of music produced over 40 + years.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Crudblud said:


> Sam Rivers - _Crystals_


Heavy album! Tranquility is a favorite. Love the cover too!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Many fine selections here. My dilemma with producing a list like this is what album to choose by certain artists - I'd have real problems with Ellington, Davis, Mingus, Monk and Coleman because I like whole bodies of their work rather than having a favourite album in particular. This is different to rock music where I would find it much easier to choose just one album from different acts.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

starthrower said:


> It's not jazz rock.


oh sorry, it's fusion. Big difference.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

starthrower said:


> This ECM sound thing is a stereotype that just isn't true when you consider the huge catalog of music produced over 40 + years.


yes, it's a stereotype (and as I've said there are albums that I like) but as many stereotypes there's a lot of truth. You know, this kind of sound:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

norman bates said:


> oh sorry, it's fusion. Big difference.


Well, you can be smug about it, but if you listen to the music, it's obviously jazz. I don't consider it a fusion of jazz and rock because there are virtually no rock elements in the music. Unless you consider a Rhodes piano sound to be rock? But I don't hear Corea or anybody else in the band playing any rock vocabulary on that record.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

As far as Garbarek is concerned, I've never been a fan.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

*Sonny Rollins *Saxophone Colussus

The atomic *Mr Basie

Barbara Thompson's Paraphanalia *Live

*Keshavan Maslak *Romance in the big city
*
Brand X *Masques

*Miles Davis *Porgy and Bess

*Jelly Roll Morton *<take your pick>

*Emily Remler *<ditto>

*Jacques Loussier *Play Bach No. 1

*Roland Kirk * I talk with the spirits


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## Magico (Aug 28, 2013)

I'm a long-time jazz aficionado who joined here to expand my knowledge of classical music. I'll add 10 dates that don't overlap with what's already been mentioned. I have to say there have already been a lot of great recordings posted by people in this thread.

Keith Jarrett- Survivors' Suite
Cecil Taylor- 3 Phasis
London Jazz Composers' Orchestra- Theoria 
Duke Ellington- Far East Suite
Miles Davis- Complete Plugged Nickel
Horace Tapscott- The Dark Tree
Wayne Shorter- Speak No Evil
Don Pullen- Evidence of Things Unseen
Dave Burrell- Windward Passages (solo on hat Art)
Jackie McLean- One Step Beyond


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## Magico (Aug 28, 2013)

Artists not previously mentioned who I love but have trouble picking a single favorite include Woody Shaw, Steve Lacy, Joe Henderson, Evan Parker, Irene Schweizer, Mike Osborne, and Grant Green.


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## Magico (Aug 28, 2013)

norman bates said:


> personally I have some problem with ECM. There's some good stuff (I like Winstone, Holland and Jarrett), but I have some problem with their aesthetic. You know, that elegant, bloodless, aseptic sound well represented by their grey, elegant and interchangeable cover arts. When I put up an ECM album often I have the need to listen some Albert Ayler, Booker Ervin, Cannonball, Mingus, something like that.


I hope you have Kenny Wheeler- Music for Large and Small Ensembles, with beautiful singing by Norma Winstone.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

In alphabetic order:

Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley _Things are Getting Better_
Gene Ammons _The Gene Ammons Story: Gentle Jug_
John Coltrane _Africa/Brass_, _Meditations_ or _First Meditations_ (tied)
Miles Davis _Bitches Brew_
Duke Ellington _Indigos_ or _Small Bands: Intimacy of the Blues_ (tied)
Ella Fitzgerald _Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook_ (or better, all of the songbooks)
Billie Holiday _The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vols. 1-9_
Thelonious Monk _Brilliant Corners_ or _Monk's Dream_ (tied)
Sun Ra _Blue Delight_ or _Lanquidity_ (tied)
Fats Waller _A Handful of Keys_ (Proper 4CD boxed set)

Notable Mentions:

Rabih Abou-Khalil _Arabian Waltz_
Mose Allison _Sings_
Louis Armstrong _Plays Fats_
Cab Calloway _Best of the Big Bands_
Django Reinhardt _Swing de Paris_ (Proper 4CD boxed set)


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## Centropolis (Jul 8, 2013)

So lots of suggestions here. Will look into these for sure.

What do you guys think of these two boxes? Are they really that essential? The reviews are like 4.5 and 5 stars across the board and people writes that it's like a must-buy. I already have 3 or 4 out of the 50 CDs between the two sets but not enough to sway me away if they are that good of a collection.

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Jazz-...rdings/dp/B003IY49S4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Jazz-Collection-Various-Artists/dp/B004Q9SO0O/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_y


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## Centropolis (Jul 8, 2013)

Oreb said:


> *Duke Ellington*, _... and His Mother Called Him Bill_
> 
> *Duke Ellington*, _Blanton/Webster Early 40s recordings_
> 
> ...


For some reason, I really love Blue Train but I cannot get into A Love Supreme as much. Maybe it's one of those that will grow on me.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Centropolis said:


> What do you guys think of these two boxes? Are they really that essential?


As with classical music, I feel that it is better to spend a few $€£¥ to buy a few really fine albums by the greatest of the greats. While a very basic classical collection can be from about 100-250 albums, as it spans centuries and many different types of music (vocal, solo, chamber, orchestral), jazz requires only about 50 albums to get a pretty fine basic collection together, as it is less than a century of music. Everyone's idea of a basic collection of select albums will be different, of course, but there are certain artists and albums that are mentioned by many.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Chick Corea and Return to Forever--*Romantic Warrior
*John Coltrane--*Coltrane Plays the Blues and Coltrane
*Jackie McLean--*Let Freedom Ring* 
Cannonball Adderley Quintet--*Live at the San Francisco Jazz Workshop and Live at the Village Vanguard

*


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## Magico (Aug 28, 2013)

Centropolis said:


> So lots of suggestions here. Will look into these for sure.
> 
> What do you guys think of these two boxes? Are they really that essential? The reviews are like 4.5 and 5 stars across the board and people writes that it's like a must-buy. I already have 3 or 4 out of the 50 CDs between the two sets but not enough to sway me away if they are that good of a collection.
> 
> ...


I think it would be better to immerse yourself in these boxes: second quintet Miles, Impulse Coltrane, Complete Columbia Monk, Atlantic Mingus box and the Village Vanguard Bill Evans (two discs- Waltz for Debby and Sunday Night at the Village Vanguard).
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Albums-Collection-Thelonious-Monk/dp/B007Y2W4BA/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377688381&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=tehlonious+monk
http://www.amazon.com/Coltrane-Classic-Quartet-Complete-Recordings/dp/B00000DHZ9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377688762&sr=8-1&keywords=john+coltrane+impulse+box+set
http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Davis-Quintet-1965-1968/dp/B0002199HM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1377688822&sr=8-11&keywords=miles+davis+box+set+columbia
http://www.amazon.com/Passions-Man-Complete-Recordings-1956-1961/dp/B000003446/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377688873&sr=8-2&keywords=mingus+box+set
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Village-Vanguard-Recordings-1961/dp/B000AMJEKA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377688949&sr=8-2&keywords=bill+evans+box+set


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Centropolis said:


> So lots of suggestions here. Will look into these for sure.
> 
> What do you guys think of these two boxes? Are they really that essential? The reviews are like 4.5 and 5 stars across the board and people writes that it's like a must-buy. I already have 3 or 4 out of the 50 CDs between the two sets but not enough to sway me away if they are that good of a collection.
> 
> ...


If you can afford the individual CDs, skip these cheesy collections. The discs come in flimsy cardboard sleeves with illegible micro-print.


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## niv (Apr 9, 2013)

Centropolis said:


> For some reason, I really love Blue Train but I cannot get into A Love Supreme as much. Maybe it's one of those that will grow on me.


I think I've given many tries to A Love Supreme over the years. Never got it.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

niv said:


> I think I've given many tries to A Love Supreme over the years. Never got it.


Same here; for me, the album just doesn't flow; for *my taste,* it is simply too abstractedly religious and self-indulgent, noodling off into nowhere.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Some of my favorite "older" Jazz albums (I'm also including vocal Jazz):

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Elvin Jones & Richard Davis - Heavy Sounds
Johnny Hartman - I Just Dropped By To Say Hello
Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight
Getz/Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
Ben Webster - The Warm Moods
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers - Moanin'
Ella & Louis - Ella & Louis
Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'
Sarah Vaughan - Vaughan & Violins
Bobby Darin - From Hello Dolly To Goodbye Charlie
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Vince Guaraldi Trio (and all "The Peanuts/Charlie Brown" Soundtracks)


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Some fine choices
Many I'm going to have to listen too
I'm sure there'll be plenty of new additions to my collection from here
Great thread


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way (So many I could pick but trying to limit myself to one per artist/leader)
Pharoah Sanders - Thembi
Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles
Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin (although I'd include the Complete Columbia Recordings if I could!)
Anita O'Day - Anita Sings the Most
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'
Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda
Ella Fitzgerald - I'd count all the Songbooks, but if I had to pick one, it would be the Gershwin
JJ Johnson - The Eminent (as a trombonist I had to have both volumes in there!)

Great thread by the way. Always looking to bolster my jazz collection


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

- Davis, Kind of Blue
- Ellington, The Blanton-Webster Band
- Parker, Complete Savoy and Dial
- Fiztgerald, Song Books
- Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come
- Hancock, Head Hunters
- Davis, B-'s Brew
- Brubeck, Time Out
- Getz/Gilberto
- Coltrane, A Love Supreme

Some that really ought to be on there:

- Armstrong - Hot Fives and Sevens
- Jelly Roll Morton - Birth of the Hot
- Goodman 1938
- Ellington at Newport
- Davis, On the Corner
- Davis, Birth of the Cool


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Left off but personal favorites: 

- Silver - Cape Verdean Blues
- Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
- Davis - Sketches of Spain
- Hubbard - Red Clay
- Green - Idle Moments
- Burrell - Midnight Blue
- Davis - My Funny Valentine
- Jarrett - The Koln Concert
- Ellington Uptown
- Ellington, Jackson - Black, Brown, and Beige
- Lee - Black Coffee


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus 
Sonny Rollins- Live at the village vanguard
Sonny Rollins - Way out west
Sonny Rollins - live in Europe(trio recording) 

But I'm a bit biased


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Before getting to hard bop, some earlier stuff..........


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## sonnenuntergangstunde (Apr 20, 2013)

I like this a lot


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

sonnenuntergangstunde said:


> View attachment 24328
> 
> 
> I like this a lot


Zeitlin is an amazing pianist and the compilation Mosaic select: Columbia studio trio sessions (where there's also the album you've mentioned above) is fantastic. And he's very underrated: advanced harmonies, swing worth of Bud Powell, wonderful technique but never used just to show his chops, and he experimented a lot with extended forms, electric and electronic sounds, free jazz, even minimalism. It suffices to say that both Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk admired him.
I dare to say that I prefer Zeitlin to Evans.


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## sonnenuntergangstunde (Apr 20, 2013)

norman bates said:


> Zeitlin is an amazing pianist and the compilation Mosaic select: Columbia studio trio sessions (where there's also the album you've mentioned above) is fantastic. And he's very underrated: advanced harmonies, swing worth of Bud Powell, wonderful technique but never used just to show his chops, and he experimented a lot with extended forms, electric and electronic sounds, free jazz, even minimalism. It suffices to say that both Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk admired him.
> I dare to say that I prefer Zeitlin to Evans.


Thanks, I'm going to check out that record!


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

sonnenuntergangstunde said:


> Thanks, I'm going to check out that record!


It's not an album, it's the reissue of three albums where he plays in trio: zeitgeist, carnival and the one you've posted, cathexis. Great stuff 

http://www.dustygroove.com/item/668394


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## sonnenuntergangstunde (Apr 20, 2013)

norman bates said:


> It's not an album, it's the reissue of three albums where he plays in trio: zeitgeist, carnival and the one you've posted, cathexis. Great stuff
> 
> http://www.dustygroove.com/item/668394


Ah I see, a boxset. Thanks, I'm going to try and find it!


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## Sudonim (Feb 28, 2013)

Oliver Nelson, _The Blues and the Abstract Truth_
Evan Parker, _50th Birthday Concert_ and _At the Vortex_
David S. Ware, _Godspelized_ (but good luck finding it)
Anthony Braxton, _Quartet (Dortmund) 1976_ (ditto)
George Lewis, _Homage to Charles Parker_
Lee Konitz, _Motion_
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, _Free for All_
Joseph Holbrooke Trio, _The Moat Recordings_
Gianluigi Trovesi, _Around Small Fairy Tales_
Mark Dresser Trio, _Aquifer_
Thelonious Monk, _Monk's Music_
Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra, _Ashcan Rantings_
Tony Oxley Quintet, _The Baptised Traveller_
Tord Gustavsen Trio, _Changing Places_ and _Being There_
_Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra_
Atomic, _The Bikini Tapes_
Tomasz Stańko, _Leosia_ and _Litania_ and _From the Green Hill_ and _Lontano_
Tony Bevan / Orphy Robinson / John Edwards / Ashley Wales / Mark Sanders, _Bruised_
Joe Maneri, _Coming Down the Mountain_ and _The Trio Concerts_
The Modern Jazz Society, _A Concert of Contemporary Music_ (early John Lewis/Stan Getz)
Cecil Taylor, _Conquistador!_
Stan Tracey, _Under Milk Wood_
Trygve Seim, _Different Rivers_
Julius Hemphill, _Dogon A.D._
Jimmy Giuffre 3, _1961_
Herbie Hancock, _Maiden Voyage_ and _Empyrean Isles_
Archie Shepp, _Four for Trane_
Paul Dunmall / John Adams / Mark Sanders, _Ghostly Thoughts_

To name just a few (in addition to some of the others already mentioned, such as _Kind of Blue,_ _Out to Lunch,_ _Point of Departure,_ _Saxophone Colossus,_ et al.) - a little something there for everyone ...


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## imallearz (Sep 6, 2013)

A few of my significant favorites. Yes, I'll tell on myself that it is an odd, eclectic mixture:

The Modern Jazz Quartet with Laurindo Almeida: Collaboration.
Thelonius Monk: Live at Carnegie Hall.
Dave Brubeck: Time out.
Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain
Oscar Peterson: Night Train
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life
Joe Sample: Old Places Old Faces
Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley

It is obvious I prefer piano music....


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

Love for Ornette Coleman!
Just got this low-priced set a couple of weeks ago. Always loved his later stuff but his 58-61 stuff is an all-nite party.
Includes
Something Else!!! (1958)
Tomorrow Is the Question! (1959)
The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959)
Change of the Century (1959)
This Is Our Music (1960)
Free Jazz (1961)


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## Gilberto (Sep 12, 2013)

For fun I picked ten recordings that are not typical of the artist's normal body of work but exceptional and "must have".


#1 Jimmy Ponder - To Reach A Dream - as much as I like Ponder's style, most of his recordings have suffered from over-arranged production. Not this one; nearly flawless. Ponder on guitar, Lonnie Smith on organ plus drums and percussion. Out of print and if you find a copy, you'll pay dearly. Finding a download is a true blessing. I've dropped a sendspace to a few friends who have commented with stuff like "jaw dropping" and "face melting". It is that good.

#2 Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin - One of the best female vocalists near the end of her life, laying out the beautiful torch ballads over a backdrop of strings. Haunting.

#3 Charlie Parker - With Strings - String backed standards with Charlie keeping it to the point. My favorite by him.

#4 Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - Trouble In Mind & Goin' Home - Two voices of the avant-garde hard-bop mode settle down with a collection of blues and spirituals in very simplistic duets highlighting their unique voices.

#5 Pharoah Sanders - Welcome To Love - The tenor that Coltrane chose to pair with him in his free jazz period pays tribute to Coltrane by playing ballads and standards that John covered in his early Impulse period. Straight ahead Pharoah and he pulls out the soprano on a couple numbers.

#6 Jimmy Smith - It's Necessary - instead of long extended tracks in a "blowing session" that are typical on most JS albums, this is recorded live with short arrangements at Jimmy's Supper Club. With a few saxes, flute and trumpet, the solos are kept tight and interesting. 

#7 John McLaughlin - Time Remembered - acoustic John accompanied by a quintet of acoustic guitars playing the music of Bill Evans. 

#8 Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now - Joni presents a cycle of standards backed with wonderful orchestration and Hancock, Shorter and Erksine. 

#9 Keith Jarrett - The Melody At Night With You - a solo Keith playing standards? Yep, and not much improvising either. Tunes stripped bare and laid-back.

#10 Eddie Harris - Sings The Blues - Eddie's albums have always been sort of uneven but I love his "voice". One of his most consistent albums and some true gems here. There is a youtube of "A Child Is Born" from the album to sample the lyrical nature of this album. A great rendition of Giant Steps included here.


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## Fritzb43 (Mar 29, 2020)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> View attachment 22840
> 
> 
> Transcends all other jazz albums.


Hardly.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Fritzb43 said:


> Hardly.


We all have our favourites and perhaps after so many years posters thinking different now.


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)

Shorty Rogers - Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (1954)
Al Caiola - Serenade in Blue (1955)
Erroll Garner - Erroll Garner Plays Misty (1955)
Marty Paich - I Get a Boot Out of You (1959)
Henry Mancini - Music from Mr. Lucky (1960)
Henry Mancini - The Blues and the Beat (1960)
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (1962)
Paul Desmond - Late Lament (1962)
Sam "The Man" Taylor - Mist of the Orient (1962)
Don Ellis - Soaring (1973)
Tom Scott - Flashpoint (1988)
Franco Ambrosetti - Music for Symphony and Jazz Band (1991)
Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski - Made in Poland (1995)
Jan Garbarek - Visible World (1996)
Charlie Mariano - Not Quite A Ballad (2004)
Contemporary Noise Sextet - Unaffected Thought Flow (2008)
Dimitris Kalantzis Quintet & Athens Camerata - Jazz Tribute To Manos Hadjidakis (2011)
Bill Frisell - Guitar in the Space Age! (2014)
Eddie Higgins Quintet - A Handful of Stars (2014)
Gerardo Frisina - Movement (2014)
Niechęć - Niechęć (2016)


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

My favourite jazz albums, in no particular order are:

1. Grachan Moncur III - Evolution
2. Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
3. Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch
4. Bill Evans - At The Village Vanguard
4. Tony Williams - Lifetime
5. Andrew Hill - Judgement
6. Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz to Come
7. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
8. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
9. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
10. Jackie McLean - Destination out

I only just managed to get down to 10 - I hade to leave out another 20 at least that could easily qualify as my favourite 'must have' jazz albums


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Nice to see some choices outside the mainstream. I'll continue the theme:
1. K + JJ - Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson (1955) - two trombones make the smoothest smallest big band you'll ever hear
2. Introducing The Mastersounds (1957) - Wes's brother Buddy Montgomery led a quartet with the same instrumentation as the MJQ, but with a harder, more-bop edge
3. Music for Brass - Gunther Schuller (1957) - the founder of Third Stream music, neither jazz nor classical, but a "third stream"
4. Flute 'n Oboe - Bob Cooper & Bud Shank (1957) - more music riding the wonderful knife edge between jazz and and the tone poems of Ravel or Debussy
5. Piece for Clarinet and String Orchestra - Jimmy Giuffre (1960) - more delicious Third Stream music
6. Dorothy Ashby (1962) - jazz harp is rare but wonderful, and Ashby actually plays (rather than merely strumming like Alice Coltrane)
7. Jeru by Gerry Mulligan (1962) - the bari has never sounded so sweet
8. Timepiece - Gerry Niewood (1977) - woodwinds and vibes make such a sweet joyful combination
9. The John Payne-Louis Levin Band (1977) - synthesizers + jazz, what's not to like?
10. Faces by John Clark (1981) - jazz French Horn? Well it's on ECM so it's more moody than jazzy...


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

John Scofield: Time In My Hands 
Joe Lovano: Universal Language 
Archie Shepp: Four For Trane 
Return To Forever: s/t 
Kenny Wheeler: Deer Wan 
Eberhard Weber: The Colours of Chloe 
Jan Garbarek: Afric Pepperbird 
Sonny Rollins: Way Out West 
Bill Frisell: Live 
Randy Weston: African Cookbook


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Any takers?

"If you don' like this, you don't like jazz!"


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

I heard it. I wasn't impressed. Tuba Skinny plays the same kind of New Orleans jazz, but _MUCH_ better.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

NoCoPilot said:


> I heard it. I wasn't impressed. Tuba Skinny plays the same kind of New Orleans jazz, but _MUCH_ better.


And your point is?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

_*Jazz at the Pawnshop*_ is not a "must have" CD for me. I don't like it... and I DO like jazz. That's all.

YMMV


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

As with all lists of this sort, ask me on a different day, and part of this list may be different.

Since I am a fan of: post-bop, fusion, M-Base, chamber-jazz, and avant-garde, it is tough for me to pick just a few from each, since I place them at the same artistic and/or intellectual levels.

I could also easily replace some of these choices by these musicians, with others from their catalog. 

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Bruford - One of a Kind
Zao - Kawana
Pharaoh Sanders - Africa
Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance - Synovial Joints
Oregon - Out of the Woods
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Urban Bushmen

Quite a few could make the list:

Brand X, Iceberg, Keith Jarrett, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Anthony Davis, Hiromi, Cecil Taylor, Weather Report, Andrew Hill, and more...


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## Floeddie (8 mo ago)

starthrower said:


> If you can afford the individual CDs, skip these cheesy collections. The discs come in flimsy cardboard sleeves with illegible micro-print.


There's another way. Subscribe to a premium streaming service with a solid database of music of all kinds. Pay the small monthly fee. That works on a retirement income. <nods>


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## Dulova Harps On (Nov 2, 2018)

A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
Breakfast Dance And Barbeque - Count Basie
Art - Art Farmer
Complete In A Silent Way Sessions - Miles Davis
Live At The Lighthouse - Lee Morgan
Blues For The Fisherman - Art Pepper
The Music Master Boxset - Benny Carter
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Petersen
Anything with Louis Armstrong


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## Floeddie (8 mo ago)

Al DiMeola - Elegant Gypsy (1977)
Astrud Gilberto - Jazz 'Round Midnight (1996)
Brubeck Brothers Quartet - TimeLine (2018)
Chick Corea - Friends (1978)
Chuck Lamb - North By Northeast (2016)
Duke Ellington - The Ellington Suites (2013)
Fourplay - Journey (2004)
Jean-Luc Ponty - The Atacama Experience (2007)
Tom Scott - Keep This Love Alive (1991)
Weather Report - Mr. Gone (1978)


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

NoCoPilot said:


> _*Jazz at the Pawnshop*_ is not a "must have" CD for me. I don't like it... and I DO like jazz. That's all.
> 
> YMMV


it's a quote. never mind


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

In no particular order:

Louis Armstrong - The Hot Fives & Hot Seven Recordings (particularly the former)
Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band
Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy Recordings
Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come
Bill Evans - Sunday At the Village Vanguard
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Art Ensemble of Chicago - People In Sorrow


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Miles Davis/Gil Evans - Sketches of Spain
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Domnérus/Erstrand et al - Jazz at the Pawnshop
Modern Jazz Quartet - Dedicated to Connie
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things

P.S. I forgot to include"Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra" in the list. If I had to restrict the list to only ten recordings, I would include the Hodges/Strayhorn album and drop Coltrane's.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

HenryPenfold said:


> Any takers?
> 
> "If you don' like this, you don't like jazz!"
> 
> ...



I will bite. One of my favorites, and I did include it in my top 10 list together with many more "conventional" choices which I just posted before even noticing the discussion of this specific album in the thread. I know jazz purists may scoff, and I remember somebody in an online posting dismissing it as "Swedes playing Dixie", but the players are clearly having great fun, and the mostly upbeat music is infectious. I am also a sucker for vibes in most jazz reccordings. The superb recording quality is only a very superficial icing on the cake, I would enjoy it just as much if it was much more poorly recorded.

I would take it over most of John Coltrane's output any day (My Favorite Things excepted) ............ Ducks for cover.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

haziz said:


> I will bite. One of my favorites, and I did include it in my top 10 list together with many more "conventional" choices which I just posted before even noticing the discussion of this specific album in the thread. I know jazz purists may scoff, and I remember somebody in an online posting dismissing it as "Swedes playing Dixie", but the players are clearly having great fun, and the mostly upbeat music is infectious. I am also a sucker for vibes in most jazz reccordings. The superb recording quality is only a very superficial icing on the cake, I would enjoy it just as much if it was much more poorly recorded.
> 
> I would take it over most of John Coltrane's output any day (My Favorite Things excepted) any day ............ Ducks for cover.


Lol! Heretic!!!
Yes, the playing from these guys is better than most Americans, but that don't fit the narrative!


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Can't limit it to ten, and must have box sets to make up a decent Jazz collection. But here's a good start, IMO -

Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - any of the compilations from the 1920s
Sidney Bechet - The Essential
Duke Ellington - Never No Lament
Duke Ellington - Carnegie Hall Concerts, Jan. 1943
Louis Armstrong - Hot Five & Seven collection
Louis Armstrong and HIs All Stars - Columbia & RCA Victor Live Recordings
Bix Beiderbecke - Columbia collections
Count Basie - Complete Decca Recordings
Count Basie/Lester Young - The Columbia, Okeh & Vocalian Sessions
Lester Young - The 'Kansas City" Sessions
Lester Young - The Complete Aladdin Recordings
Lester Young - The Complete Savoy Recordings
Roy Eldridge - The Complete Verve Studio Sessions
Charlie Christian - The Genius of the Electric Guitar
Thelonious Monk - Complete Riverside Recordings
Nat King Cole - The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio
Charlie Parker - Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes
John Coltrane - Side Steps
John Coltrane - Interplay
John Coltrane - Fearless Leader
John Coltrane - Heavyweight Champion
John Coltrane - The Classic Quartet Impulse! Studio Recordings
Miles Davis - Complete Prestige: 1951-1956
Miles Davis - Complete with John Coltrane: 1955-1961
Miles Davis - Complete Miles Davis & Gil Evans: 1957-1968
Miles Davis - Complete Seven Steps: 1963-1964
Miles Davis - Complete Second Quintet: 1965-1968
Miles Davis - Complete Silent Way: 1968-1969
Miles Davis - Complete Bitches Brew: 1969-1970
Miles Davis - Complete Jack Johnson: 1969-1970
Miles Davis - Complete On The Corner: 1972-1975
Sonny Rollins - Complete Prestige Recordings


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Ten in my current collection, and albums I would not want to be without, as these are the jazz albums I've played most over the years and shall continue spinning on my turntable or in the CD deck:

Miles Davis - _Kind of Blue_
Getz/Gilberto - _Getz/Gilberto_
Dave Brubeck Quartet - _Time Out_
David Benoit - _Letter To Evan_
Joe Henderson - _Canyon Lady_
Grover Washington, Jr. - _Reed Seed_
Various Artists - _The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook - Wave_
Toots Thielemans - _The Brasil Project_
Kenny Burrell - _Handcrafted

and _... that 10th one is a "toughie": so, here are several possibilities ....

Al Jarreau - _Look to the Rainbow_
Freddie Hubbard -_ Red Clay_
Bill Evans Trio - _Waltz For Debby_
The Nathan Davis Sextet - _Makatuka_
Gene Bertoncini -_ Jobim_
Larry Carlton - _Collection_
Keith Jarrett / Jan Garbarek / Palle Danielsson / Jon Christensen - _My Song_
Bob James - _Touchdown_
Roscoe Mitchell -_ Nonaah_
Shadowfax - _Folksongs For A Nuclear Village_
Ahmad Jamal -_ Saturday Morning_
...

I'd hate to have to name an eleventh album. That list could go on for ... several dozen pages.


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