# 1959 - A Great Year in Jazz



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

One of the best years to be a fan of jazz!

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

And really the late 50s to early 60s produced some truly amazing music!


----------



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

Charles Mingus recorded no less than four albums in 1959 as I recall, all top-draw. OK, two of them weren't released until the following year but it certainly proved that 1959 was a fruitful year for him especially. But I agree that 1959 does seem like a banner year for jazz - other great years for me are 1966 for pop singles and 1978 for post-punk albums.

Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland (United Artists)
Blues & Roots (Atlantic)
Mingus Ah Um (Columbia)
Mingus Dynasty (Columbia)


----------



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

I was going by release date not recorded date. Coltrane also recorded Giant Steps in '59 but it wasn't release till '60.

Blues & Roots is another great Mingus record!


----------



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Sun Ra was also getting things going then.

1956	Jazz by Sun Ra (aka Sun Song)	Sun Ra and his Arkestra	Transition
1956	Super-Sonic Jazz	Le Sun Ra and his Arkestra	El Saturn
1956	Sound of Joy	Sun Ra and the Arkestra	Delmark Records
1956-58	Visits Planet Earth	Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra	El Saturn
1958-59	The Nubians of Plutonia (aka The Lady with the Golden Stockings)	Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn
1959	Jazz in Silhouette	Sun Ra and his Arkestra	El Saturn
1959	Sound Sun Pleasure!!	Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra	El Saturn
1959-60	Interstellar Low Ways (aka Rocket Number Nine)	Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra	El Saturn


----------



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Miles Davis' _Sketches of Spain_ was partly recorded in 1959, too (released in '60)
_Love_ that album!


----------



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Sun Ra - Interstellar Low Ways 1959-1960


----------



## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

CDs said:


> One of the best years to be a fan of jazz!


Yes you are bang on the 50s is when I got involved in jazz so I could be a bit biased it was in the middle of a jazz revival in the UK.


----------



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

One thing I noticed about Sun Ra recently. He has some works that are extremely innovative and enjoyable to many which would do well being orchestrated or at least arranged by other players. He then has some other works that have a certain "kookiness" to them that have a limited audience. There are really two bodies of work going on and I think he gets overlooked because the latter works gradually push listeners away from the former.


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Bill Evans (w/ LaFaro and Motion) - _Portrait in Jazz_ recorded December 1959.


----------



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

jegreenwood said:


> Bill Evans (w/ LaFaro and Motion) - _Portrait in Jazz_ recorded December 1959.


I just bought the SACD version of this album a week or so ago. I got it for a really good price too!


----------



## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Change of the Century was also recorded 1959.

Sun Ra was incredibly versatile and innovative, with the most variable catalog in jazz. He also pioneered the spaceways for all the doowoppers who mutated - Lee Perry, George Clinton, even Frank Zappa... When it all came together it could be truly blissful.


----------



## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

Ellington - _Anatomy of A Murder_


----------

