# Fav Jazz Artist?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Keith Jarrett. Esp for his solo improv shows.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Miles Davis, the genius 
Ella ( In the lady's section)


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## Disco (Mar 19, 2020)

Frank Sinatra and more


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Disco said:


> Frank Sinatra and more


That's not jazz dude.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Impossible to have one favorite. I have at least a thousand jazz records if not more.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Rogerx said:


> Miles Davis, the genius
> Ella ( In the lady's section)


Two good choices. But my choice of Miles is due in substantial part to the ensembles he worked with. 

Duke Ellington would be my runner up.


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## Machiavel (Apr 12, 2010)

Bill evans. a Hard life full of misery yet the music he wrote… amazing


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

I discovered jazz in college (& classical music shortly thereafter). In those days, my favorite jazz artists were Keith Jarrett, his solo albums such as the Köln, Bremen, & Lausanne concerts, & with his trio ("Treasure Island", "My Song", etc.), Benny Goodman, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, McCoy Tyner, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, & Herbie Hancock. I also listened to Joni Mitchell's jazz influenced albums, which came out about that time. 

While I saw Miles Davis in concert in the 1970s, during his late phase (& listened to John Coltrane LPs), surprisingly, I didn't discover Davis's early classic jazz albums, like "Kind of Blue" & "Sketches of Spain" until many years later (as my then growing, consuming passion for classical music took over & got in the way of my other listening). 

Below are the jazz & jazz fusion albums that I've most listened to over the past decade, so I'd have to say that I consider the following jazz musicians to be my current favorites. While it's difficult to rank them, I have tried to list them in order of how frequently I listen to each, which probably says something:

--Astrid & João Gilberto, with saxophonist Stan Getz, & Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano. I listen to both their classic Bossa nova-jazz album from 1963--"Gilberto/Getz", & the "20th Century Masters Millennium Collection" CD.


















Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto: 50th Anniversary - Amazon.com Music


Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto: 50th Anniversary - Amazon.com Music



www.amazon.com






https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B07L5RH377?ref=sr_1_1&s=music&keywords=gilberto+20th+century+masters+millenium+collection&crid=1NM8HS5Z4YJ9K&sprefix=gilberto+20th+century+msters+millenium+collection%2Cclassical%2C88&qid=1653154112&sr=1-1



--"Kind of Blue", Miles Davis, with an all star line up of other jazz greats: John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Wynton Kelly & Bill Evans on piano. I doubt there's a jazz lover out there that doesn't have this album on their short list of favorites.






--Bill Evans, with his trio, such as "Portrait in Jazz", from 1960: 



, & his solo sessions, too: 



.

--"The Art of Tea", Michael Franks, backed up by some fantastic jazz musicians! This is a very underrated jazz-R&B-rock fusion album from 1976. I hear it more as 70s jazz, but the music is eclectic, mellow, & unique:

Nightmoves

--Keith Jarrett, "The Bremen Concert", from 1975: Keith Jarrett Solo 1975 "The Bremen Concert" Complete & unedited.

--Chet Baker, "Lets get Lost" (his greatest hits): Chet Baker Greatest Hits Full Album -Chet Baker Legend Songs

--Herbie Hancock, "Maiden Voyage": Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage (Full Album)

--Benny Goodman & Paris: 

I Love Paris
April in Paris
Autumn Leaves

--The Dave Brubeck Quartet, their classic "Take Five" from the album, "Time Out": Dave Brubeck - Take Five


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

Too difficult to choose, but I'm fairly certain it wouldn't be anyone from the last 40 (or more) years


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

. . . .

--"Kind of Blue", Miles Davis, with an all star line up of other jazz greats: John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Wynton Kelly & Bill Evans on piano. I doubt there's a jazz lover out there that doesn't have this album on their short list of favorites.







[/QUOTE]

I've never seen KOB with those additional tracks (although, I'm pretty sure I have them all on other albums). Where did it come from?


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Bill Evans for me, because in his interviews he tells us what we need to do to play like him. 'Very insightful.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I always liked Phil Woods. He had such mastery of the saxophone that he could play anything he wanted.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Dave Brubeck, mostly with his original quartet including Paul Desmond, but I like practically all of his output.

Other groups that I like are the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), and some of Miles Davis' work, mostly his 55-59 quintet and sextet including Kind of Blue as well as his collaborations with Gil Evans. I don't like his 60s quintet and his "Bitches Brew" period, but again like some of his later 1980s work.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

jegreenwood writes, "I've never seen KOB [Kind of Blue] with those additional tracks (although, I'm pretty sure I have them all on other albums). Where did it come from?"

The extra tracks come from the group's earlier May 26, 1958 sessions, which were included on disc two of the 2008 "50th anniversary collector's edition" reissue (& elsewhere); with disc one being the classic 1959 KOB album. Here are the complete contents of the 50th anniversary reissue explained, 









Kind Of Blue Deluxe 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition


Miles Davis' 'Kind Of Blue Deluxe 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition' is an expansive and lavishly-designed 12-inch slip-case box set with a 60-page bound book that includes exclusive photographs, full discographical annotation, and critical essays written by Davis authorities Francis Davis...




www.milesdavis.com


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## prlj (10 mo ago)

Hard to pick an absolute favorite, so I'll go with my latest favorite - Shabaka Hutchings. Been totally digging his Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming projects. By association, this leads to Makaya McCraven, Joel Ross, Theon Cross, and so many more from this great new London jazz scene.


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

Probably Charles Mingus for me because I like his music from virtually throughout the whole of his career. I have more albums by Miles Davis than I have of anyone else but I can't say I was bowled over by what he did after his mid-late 70s hiatus. I haven't heard enough of Ornette Coleman's post-Atlantic output to rate him properly, but his Atlantic period is without doubt one of my favourite collections of work.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

An impossible question to answer for most Jazz fans. There are simply too many great artists out there. The few that come to mind at the moment are Miles, Mingus, Braxton, Coleman, Ulmer, Holdsworth .... it's an endless list.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

might be obvious and predictable but two musicians who have made a significant and appreciable difference to my life for approx 40 years.......

Pat Metheny and Keith Jarrett

others that have contributed include John Taylor, Marcin Wasilewski and ( clearly ) Miles Davis......

but both Jarrett and Metheny......'something else man!'


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Josquin13 said:


> jegreenwood writes, "I've never seen KOB [Kind of Blue] with those additional tracks (although, I'm pretty sure I have them all on other albums). Where did it come from?"
> 
> The extra tracks come from the group's earlier May 26, 1958 sessions, which were included on disc two of the 2008 "50th anniversary collector's edition" reissue (& elsewhere); with disc one being the classic 1959 KOB album. Here are the complete contents of the 50th anniversary reissue explained,
> 
> ...


From the milesdavis.com page you referenced:

In every way, Kind of Blue (recorded and released on Columbia in 1959), starring Miles’ “first great quintet” – Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley (1928-1975, alto saxophone), John Coltrane (1926-1967, tenor saxophone), Bill Evans (1929-1980, piano) or Wynton Kelly (1931-1971, piano), Paul Chambers (1935-1969, bass), and Jimmy Cobb (b. 1929, drums, the only surviving member)

Bit of a counting problem here -


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## sAmUiLc (9 mo ago)

Dude: Stan Getz
Gal: Billie Holiday


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

well it's normally whoever I'm listening to at the time. Today it's this lady and one of the best renditions of this beautiful song I know......


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

There are too many subgenres of jazz, and too many eras, all with brilliant musicians, to get even close to naming only 1 favorite.

I listen to:
Post bop, fusion, chamber jazz*, avant-garde, M-Base, all of which have their list of genius level musicians. None of which I could put at a level above any other.

*Post bop* - Miles, Coltrane, Herbie, Mingus, Wayne Shorter, McCoy, Evans, and more.
*Fusion*: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Weather Report, Allan Holdsworth, Metheny, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brecker Brothers, and more.
*Chamber Jazz*: Ralph Towner, Oregon, Eberhard Weber, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Solstice, Michael Formenak, etc (the ECM label is loaded with artists I classify as chamber jazz).
*Avant-garde:* The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Pharaoh Sanders, Ornette, Andrew Hill, etc.
*M-Base:* Steve Coleman, Jonathan Finlayson, Ravi Coltrane, Greg Osby, Andre Milne, David Gilmore, etc.

There are also a whole bunch more, in various of the above subgenres, that are very close to the best.
Tim Berne, Alex Machacek, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Hiromi, Craig Taborn, etc

I also listen to jazz-metal, but as great as it is, I don't quite put it at the same level as above. Bands like: Panzerballett, Counter-Work Experience, Liquid Tension Experiment, Intronaut, Planet X, etc.

*while I define chamber jazz similarly as Wiki does, their examples, for the most part, don't quite work for me.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Ornette is cool.


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

Simon Moon said:


> *M-Base:* Steve Coleman, Jonathan Finlayson, Ravi Coltrane, Greg Osby, Andre Milne, David Gilmore, etc.


...and altoist Steve Lehman.


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## Fritzb43 (Mar 29, 2020)

Milt Jackson, John Coltrane, Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Ella.

Get this: in the late 50's I decided as a teen that I wanted to know what jazz was. I had enough money from my paper route to buy 2 LP's (mono, of course). With no idea what I was doing I picked "Time Out" by Brubeck and "Kind Of Blue" by Miles, probably because I liked the album covers. I mean, what are the odds that I'd pick what have become timeless masterpieces?


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## Floeddie (8 mo ago)

*Stuff in My Library:

Big Band* - Ellington, Kenton, & Buddy Rich
*BeBop* - Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme' was scatin' & Ella Fitzgerald is an icon.
*Bop & Post Bop* - Too many to list, I grew up on trio, quartet, and quintet groups. Many artists of that genre covered standards from the '30's & '40's into the '50's and '60's to include music from stage and screen. That music came from Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, later from Henry Mancini. Joe Morello of the Dave Brubeck Quartet was an idol, and still is. Chet Baker on trumpet, early Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson was an easy listen, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Tom Jobim, etc... they're all good!
*Blues Jazz?* In the '60s, Black singers like Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, & Lou Rawls were well received at our house. I listened to a Mose Allison album on Spotify recently. It was a nice trip down memory lane.
*Classic Fusion - *Or what carried the label at the time, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Chick Corea were and are still regulars.
*Smooth Jazz - *Tom Scott, Fourplay (and it's members individually) & Spyro Gyra who has progressed nicely over time, of whom I saw recently.
*Modern Fusion* - Bill Bruford, Steve Gadd Band, Yellowjackets are all welcome around here.

That's about it, I'm spending time following Pianozach's thread "Classical Music for Beginners" to fill in some of the gaps I missed early on. There is always more music to be discovered.


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## CatchARisingStar (7 mo ago)

When I first Al DiMeola many moons hence, I nearly soiled my underpants. How the hell could playing like that be real, I thought? Even if I lived to 100, I still wouldn't be able to shred like Al, Paco De Lucia or John McLaughlin.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I can never decide between Coltrane and Rollins. Davis is up there too.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Love Sco.


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