# Sad Jazz



## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

If I was to ask for jazz recommendations that would be described as _sad_, what would you come up with?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

A lot of the blues is sad in a cathartic way. It's kind of the genre. But here are some sad/depressing songs:
Louis Armstrong, Why Am I So Black and Blue? 
Billie Holliday, Strange Fruit 
Billie Holliday, Gloomy Sunday


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I suspect you mean "sad jazz" as music which prompts melancholic emotions rather than badly written or performed jazz, which we might term "sad jazz".

I've long been fascinated by the concept of music having an ability to provoke certain emotions, almost universally agreed upon. Certain pieces make us feel like dancing with joy, certain pieces can bring tears of sadness to one's eyes. How is that possible? I do not know.

I prefer the term "melancholy" to "sad" in reference to music. But some pieces reach deeper recesses than either word can define. 

I thought immediately of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit". That's a "sad jazz" number, but it goes much deeper to provoke anger and frustration, at least with me. Of course, much of the emotional response derives from the lyrics. But even in pure musical form the song has a "sad" edge. As does Monk's "Round Midnight".

Mike Nock has a wonderful album titled _Ondas_ which offers what I might suggest is "sad jazz", especially the opening number, "Forgotten Love." The title tune, "Ondas", also touches the melancholic nerves. But this music is so competently written and played that it cannot rate as the _other kind_ of "sad jazz".


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Try these classics...


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

I think of these as sad tunes (played by anyone)

Willow Weep for Me
Lush Life
I Loves You Porgy
Dont Explain
Time Was
Lover Man
Angel Eyes
Autumn in New York
Goodbye Porkpie Hat

...there's more but that should get you sufficiently sad for now


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the input. Yes, melancholy would have been a better adjective. I will start by listening to the mentioned Mike Nock album.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

"Sad" and "jazzy" are two words that don't go together, but there is a whole vast "cool jazz" world that might have some Venn diagram overlap with "melancholy."

Come to think of it (listening to Mike Nock now), a lot of the ECM catalog touches on melancholy too. Whaddya get when you cross a cantelope with a Sheltie?


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

NoCoPilot said:


> "Sad" and "jazzy" are two words that don't go together, but there is a whole vast "cool jazz" world that might have some Venn diagram overlap with "melancholy."
> 
> Come to think of it (listening to Mike Nock now), a lot of the ECM catalog touches on melancholy too. Whaddya get when you cross a cantelope with a Sheltie?


Oh really? Interesting, I've never thought of jazz as inherently upbeat (or happy or whatever the best word is for the opposite of sad or melancholy). I've listened to Paul Bley's Fragments a few times this week and I would describe it as "sad" - but after feedback here, I think better descriptions may be _contemplative_, _slow_, or _melancholy_. I think I'm looking for more records like this. '80s ECM may be where I need to turn.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Selby said:


> '80s ECM may be where I need to turn.


Yep.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)




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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Hey hey Starthrower, it's great to see you are still around here. Thanks for the Miles, Ill listen to it.


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Bill wrote this after his wife's suicide


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Several record companies have released compilations of ballads by various artists. My first choice would be Dexter Gordon. Ben Webster is another. Ike Quebec. Many more. Even Coltrane has a ballads album.

This is sort of a sampler. I used it to identify artists.


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)




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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

For sad, melancholy, & lonely, I'd most recommend Chet Baker, either playing his trumpet or singing,


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## DBLee (Jan 8, 2018)

I'll add another Bill Evans track.






Adding to the sadness is the knowledge that this is the last time Bill would ever play with his legendary bassist Scott LaFaro.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Left Alone, written by Billy Holiday and Mal Waldron, who was the last regular accompanist of Holiday, came to mind first. You Don't Know What Love Is (Don Raue, Gene de Paul) is also a contemplative, slow and melancholic song many jazz musicians recorded.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

DBLee said:


> I'll add another Bill Evans track.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


excellent. Another version of this classic here, equally as amazing....






And then there is this, another sad classic....


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

tortkis said:


> . . . .
> 
> You Don't Know What Love Is (Don Raue, Gene de Paul) is also a contemplative, slow and melancholic song many jazz musicians recorded.
> 
> . . . .


My favorite version (of those I know).


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## ronsoccer (Mar 22, 2020)

John Klemmer - Touch


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Maybe September (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, Percy Faith) - Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

ronsoccer said:


> John Klemmer - Touch


I never thought of Klemmer's Touch as sad, but on hearing it again, I do get a strong sense of melancholy thinking back on those days.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Jobim is a master of the emotion-provoking song, and one of my favorites (if not my single favorite Jobim song) remains a work that prompts a tear each time I hear it. The song is titled in English "Looks Like December", with these lyrics:

It looks like I'm saying
I love you, Maria
In the photograph here
We're looking so happy

I call you, I'm loco
And I confess my love to the machine
How funny if there is
A new love in the scene

I see you beside me
I love you, remember
It looks like December
A long golden lost year

It's like a bolero
Te quiero, te quiero
To say that I long for
Your kisses never more
Tus besos nunca mas

Forget you, Maria
In this photograph here I love you forever
I call you and breathless
I leave all my confusion in the machine
Oh, how disconcerting would be
To see my love again

I see you through wet eyes
Insane eyes, December
But then I remember
The long golden lost years

I still sing te quiero
Bolero, our rhymes are so banal
But how I still long for
Tus besos never more
Tus besos nunca mas
https://lyricstranslate.com


"Looks Like December"


Too, let us not overlook Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" from his classic _The Shape of Jazz To Come_: "Lonely Woman".


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## Farah (6 mo ago)

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for the sheet music (pdf) of Jingo by Christopher Norton. Could you please share with that if you have. Thanks in advance.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Farah said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I am looking for the sheet music (pdf) of Jingo by Christopher Norton. Could you please share with that if you have. Thanks in advance.


It's here for £3.99. It's not exactly 'sad jazz'.

Christopher Norton: Prelude III (Jingo) (from Rock Preludes)

You can see it here on YT


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Art Pepper - Lost life
Stan Tracey - Starless and bible black
Abbey Lincoln - Straight ahead
Lee Morgan - A waltz for Fran
Duke Ellington - Blue Serge
Hot Lips Page - I won't be here long
Mary Lou Williams & Ben Webster - Cancer
John Coltrane - Lonnie's lament
Booker Little - Man of words
Jack Teagarden - Don't smoke in bed
Hoagy Carmichael - Winter moon
Jimmie Rowles & Stan Getz - The peacocks
Roland Hanna - Perugia
Duke Ellington - Blood count
Ben Webster & Teddy Wilson - Old folks
Jackie Mclean - Poor Eric
Matt Munisteri - A june of long ago


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## RandallPeterListens (Feb 9, 2012)

I would certainly second Mingus' "Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat" and a lot of Billie Holiday. I would include include "Nature Boy" as well, which has been covered by many jazz performers. The latter is interesting in that the lyrics are essentially positive but the melody rather melancholy.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Sad jazz?
I just listened to Lee Morgan (from the album _Search for the New Land_) perform "Melancholee". This is not an upbeat number by any means, but it might not draw tears either. But it _is_ melancholy in tone and style, with some fine playing from Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Grant Green (guitar), Herbie Hancock (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums).

Sticking with trumpeters ... Jim Rotondi, who leads a quintet on a _Live At Smalls_ album (SL-0009) churns through some melancholic modes on track 4, titled "Where Are You", an Adamson/McHugh composition. Again, some fine playing from the quintet. (But nearly every _...Smalls_ recording is excellently played and recorded!)

Still, Miles Davis reigns over the kingdom of trumpeter poignancy and melancholy with his rendition of "It Never Entered My Mind", previously mentioned by starthrower.

But two contemporary trumpeters are providing rivaling territory to that Miles classic in their own recordings. I speak of Enrico Rava and Tomasz Stanko. Give the Manfred Eicher produced _The Third Man_ (featuring Rava with pianist Stefano Bollani) a spin. Or check out the same two performers with Paul Motion on drums playing "The Man I Love" on _Tati_, another great ECM release. Or the title song from Ravi's Quintet album _The Words and the Days_.

Stanko won me over immediately with his album _Suspended Night_, another ECM gem. Full of melancholy. But I smile broadly while listening, 'cause the musicianship is so accomplished. Stanko's quartet features trumpet, piano, double bass, and drums, and everyone plays in top form.

There's a lot of "sadness" out there in the jazz performance world, but if you're like me, you'll find a lot to smile about, nonetheless.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I think your statement about listening to 80's ECM is a good place to start. Except I certainly would not leave out any of the contemporary ECM releases. There is plenty of fresh ground to explore.

There's an entire subgenre known as 'dark jazz' or 'doom jazz' that may be of interest. 

For my tastes, most of what I've heard tends to be a bit too ambient. Not that it is ambient music, but it is definitely not energetic enough for my tastes. Also, some of it may be thought of as errie, not so much melancholy.

Artists such as:
Joel Fausto & Illusion Orchestra
Detour Doom Project 
Parov Stelar
Trigg & Gusset 
The Sarto Klyn V 
R Beny

Some more traditional examples:

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Fujiyama
Brad Mehldau - Waltz for J.B. 
Wayne Shorter - Infant Eyes 
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - The City is Crying 
Angelo Badalamenti - Don't Do Anything (I Wouldn't Do)


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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)




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## Andante Largo (Apr 23, 2020)




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