On the Road Again – Jazz Hits to Listen to on the Road Copyright Wnts
If you ask any serious jazz fan or musician to tell yous what the all-time jazz albums of all time are, you'll probably receive either a very short answer ("impossible!") or a long one, which is bailiwick to change depending on the day of the week
With so many thousands of amazing records in the history of jazz, maybe a definitive listing of 'all-time albums' is not feasible.
There are, though, a cadre collection of releases that have come to be seen equally essential jazz records: ones that every jazz fan knows – or should know. Music that has stood the test of fourth dimension, influencing other musicians and receiving critical acclaim over the years.
We started out with the goal of highlighting the x best albums of all time, but there were only besides many amazing records missing.
So, as a result, here's our updated selection of l essential – or dare we say it – all-time jazz albums ever, from some of the greatest musicians of all time.
50. Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
Legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was i of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, providing many of the definitive versions of classic jazz songs.
Many of these came from her 'Songbook' series, a collection of 8 albums released betwixt 1956 & 1964 which saw her team up with songwriting greats of the day.
Whilst each of these (plus a bonus 9th, released in 1981) deserves conscientious listening, her collaboration with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra is perhaps the highlight.
'The First Lady of Jazz' (every bit she was known), works through standards including Accept The 'A' Train, Perdido & Satin Doll, with the anthology also existence notable as the only one in the Song Volume series where the composer is also featured as a performer.
49. Jaco Pastorius : Jaco Pastorius
Every facet of electric bass player Jaco Pastorius's ability is on kaleidoscopic display in this wildly ambitious debut album.
Pastorius starts off with a jaw-dropping version of Miles Davis's "Donna Lee" (all via a unmarried bass function accompanied by congas!) and goes on to showcase a collection of jazz fusion royalty, from Lenny White and Herbie Hancock to the Brecker brothers and Wayne Shorter.
Classy strings and Latin rhythms share infinite with catchy funk and boisterous bebop.
More importantly, the anthology fabricated clear that Pastorius had a musical heed as brilliant as his playing ability.
The whole dazzling package launched his proper noun as a forcefulness to be reckoned with in the music world.
48. Charlie Christian: Solo Flight, The Genius of Charlie Christian
Dissimilar almost every other musician on this list, jazz guitarist Christian barely recorded as a bandleader.
He was, though, one of the most influential early musicians on his instrument and deserves a place in every jazz fan'due south drove.
This compilation is an excellent choice, as it brings together some of his most notable piece of work with Benny Goodman (including some with Count Basie at the piano) likewise every bit some quintet tracks under Christian's own proper name.
47. Louis Armstrong: Satchmo at Symphony Hall
It's difficult to talk about the history of jazz without noting the original superstar of the music, Louis Armstrong.
He might be known by the wider earth equally a gravely voiced entertainer, but "Satchmo", or "Pops", every bit he was sometimes known, was first and foremost a virtuoso jazz trumpeter.
This 1947 live recording sees him render to a classic Dixieland small ring setting, alongside an all-star frontline of Barney Bigard on clarinet and Jack Teagarden on Trombone.
Two decades afterwards his emergence, he showcases that aforementioned jaw-dropping improvisational, technical and rhythmic prowess that made him a star.
46. Wes Montgomery: Smokin' at the One-half Notation
A jazz guitar favourite, Wes Montgomery developed an unconventional playing style with a frequent utilise of octaves, producing a highly distinctive audio that was always joyous, soulful and swinging.
This 1965 recording, recorded live at the One-half Note jazz social club in New York, sees Wes accompanied by Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb.
Backed by three hard-swinging musicians from the 1959-63 Miles Davis band, the incredible jazz guitarist displays the powerful and inventive soloing which kickoff endeared him to fans effectually the world.
45. Dizzy Gillespie: Afro
Many of the best jazz albums in history transcend music and actually document the evolution of the genre.
This is certainly the example with this 1954 big band album from trumpeter Giddy Gillespie, which showcases the major function he played in bringing Afro-Cuban music into the jazz arena.
Legendary arranger Chico O'Farrill provided the charts for the session which sees mostly American horn players accompanied by a Cuban rhythm section.
This fusion with bebop was known for a time as "Cubop", although the term never really stuck.
The penultimate track is Gillespie's beautiful "Con Alma" which is nevertheless played regularly by jazz musicians today.
44. McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy
Described past producer Alfred Lion every bit "a pure jazz session", this 1967 album was recorded after the pianist's departure from the John Coltrane quartet.
It does, however, retain much of the ability, enlisting bandmates Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones alongside tenor sax player Joe Henderson.
'Passion Dance' is a modal jazz archetype, and McCoy Tyner'southward solo is a masterclass in approaching static harmony, employing techniques such every bit inside-outside playing.
43. Kurt Rosenwinkel: The Next Step
Perhaps due to the increasing affordability of recording music in the latter part of the 20th Century, the choice of jazz records became exponentially bigger.
Few, nevertheless, had the impact of the Kurt Rosenwinkel album, The Next Pace, released in 2001.
Developed over the grade of a long residency at New York jazz club Smalls, Rosenwinkel brings together Berklee alumni saxophonist Marking Turner, bassist Ben Street and drummer Jeff Ballard for a set of tunes that have become something of modern jazz standards for a whole generation of students.
Listen out, in item, for his melody 'Zhivago', a existent anthem of early noughties contemporary jazz.
42. Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
Herbie Hancock may be better known every bit a pioneering fusion musician, experimenting with electro, funk, and pop sounds.
But the pianist first appeared on the scene in the early 1960s as a hugely exciting talent in acoustic jazz, before helping redefine the role of the rhythm department with Miles Davis' 2nd Bully Quintet.
His 1964 album Maiden Voyage is a classic concept record, with a nautical, oceanic theme.
The static modal harmony of the championship rails suggests open waters, whilst 'The Centre of the Hurricane', an up-tempo blues, features blistering solo work from Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and George Coleman on tenor saxophone.
'Dolphin Trip the light fantastic toe', a medium swinger and one of Hancock's virtually celebrated compositions, contains a archetype jazz solo from the pianist.
41. Art Tatum: Piano Starts Here
Well-nigh of Art Tatum's classic piece of work was recorded before the LP era, only it didn't seem fair to exclude the piano legend from this listing of the greatest jazz albums just because of that.
The Piano Starts Here compilation, released in 1968, includes classic 1933 solo takes like 'Tea For Two', 'Sophisticated Lady' and the famous 'Tiger Rag', every bit well as some live tracks from 1949.
Fresh, swinging and hugely impressive technically, this is essential listening for every jazz pianist out in that location, equally well as jazz fans in general.
40. Count Basie: The Diminutive Mr. Basie
For many, the swing era of the 1940s and 50s epitomises the excitement and power of jazz music.
Count Basie was responsible for many classics during this time and this 1958 album features the Second Testament edition of the Count Basie Orchestra playing compositions and arrangements of Neal Hefti.
Whilst sure players in the band would have success as solo instrumentalists, it is less an all-star group and more an incredibly swinging unit of measurement working their way through some of the archetype big ring charts of the solar day.
39. John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
By 1963, saxophonist John Coltrane had already established himself as a jazz pioneer, having toured extensively with Miles Davis and released albums including Giant Steps, Blueish Railroad train & My Favorite Things.
Fans may have been surprised, then, by the determination to record with romantic singer Johnny Hartman.
Any the circumstances, the session resulted in 1 of the archetype jazz ballad albums of all time, showcasing even so another attribute of Coltrane's emotional range on the sax.
Listen out, in detail, for the beautiful treatment of the jazz song 'My One and Only Love'.
38. Lee Konitz : Move
This 1961 album from alto saxophonist Lee Konitz is unique on this list in that the band barely play the melodies of whatsoever of the v jazz standards it includes.
Instead, the frontman launches into pure, inspired improvisation on what many consider to be his finest album ever.
The choice of rhythm department on this record is also fascinating: the drum chair is held by powerful drummer Elvin Jones (near famous for his part in John Coltrane'south firey, spiritual quartet) and bassist Sonny Dallas, a student of absurd jazz icon Lennie Tristano.
Regardless of how this match-up might look on newspaper, it provides the setting for one of the dandy improvised albums of all time.
37. Ahmad Jamal: At the Pershing: But Not For Me
Ahmad Jamal'south highly distinctive arroyo and concept famously influenced Miles Davis and is an essential addition to any jazz collection.
In the late 1950s, Jamal'south trio had a residency at Chicago'due south Pershing Hotel which, equally with several others on this list, allowed him to pull together various sets of music into a live album.
This is a truthful 'grouping' album, rather than a star soloist; intricate arrangements highlight his sidemen State of israel Crosby (bass) and Vernel Fournier (drums), with the latter'south groove on the tune 'Poinciana'proving peculiarly influential for subsequent drummers.
The success of this 1958 live recording allowed Jamal to open his own jazz social club, The Alhambra, in Chicago.
36. Michael Brecker: Tales From The Hudson
Whilst so much acclamation rightly goes to those bandleaders in the 1950s and 1960s who established jazz equally a pop genre, 1 saxophonist, in particular, stands out as carrying that torch on throughout the latter part of the 20th Century towards what we'd now phone call modern jazz.
Michael Brecker was an astonishingly versatile musician, whose career included work with pioneering jazz-rock and fusion bands, sideman appearances with older jazz masters, all-encompassing session work with some the biggest popular and rock acts in the earth, and acclaimed, accolade-winning albums under his ain name.
I of his most memorable – Tales From The Hudson – was released in 1996 and won the Grammy Accolade for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.
The album features a 'who's who' of the mid 90s jazz scene (both quondam and new) with Pat Metheny on guitar, Joey Calderazzo & McCoy Tyner sharing piano duties, Dave Holland on double bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and percussionist Don Alias.
35. Joe Henderson: Inner Urge
Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson may have beginning institute widespread fame for his solo on Horace Silverish's Song For My Male parent, but it's his 1966 Blue Note release which really cemented his place in jazz history.
The title track itself, 'Inner Urge', has become a jazz standard and has provided countless jazz students a catchy technical workout.
[jazz teaching note: beginning with a locrian audio, each post-obit Lydian chord is held for four bars, before a faster-moving sequence of major seventh chords towards the end…]
Another standout track, 'El Barrio', is a brooding, Spanish-tinged piece that uses two scales.
The anthology finishes with a reharmonised version of the Cole Porter archetype 'Dark and Day'.
34. Charlie Parker: Charlie Parker With Strings
Bebop pioneer Charlie Parker took a deep interest in classical music, with Stravinsky, Brahms and Bartok amongst his favourites, and it was a long-held appetite of his to tape with an orchestral ensemble.
This dream was realised in 1949 when he made Charlie Parker with Strings, accompanied past a string section including harp, plus oboist Mitch Miller and a standard jazz rhythm section.
As the featured soloist, 'Bird' soars above the ensemble on a selection of standards arranged past Jimmy Carroll.
After this vivid Charlie Parker album constitute commercial success, a second recording – also included on this Master Takes edition – was made the post-obit twelvemonth.
The double time-filled alto solo on the opening track "Just Friends" is a item highlight, and continues to be transcribed by awe-struck students learning jazz today.
33. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong : Ella and Louis
In 1956, Armstrong teamed up with Ella Fitzgerald, 'The First Lady of Song' and one of the greatest jazz singers e'er.
Every bit vocalists, the pair are almost opposites: Armstrong's voice is deep and bawdy, while Fitzgerald's is clean and light, almost girlish.
They complement each other perfectly though, their sunny personalities shining brightly, and this is a gloriously accessible classic jazz record.
It's the perfect gateway drug for newcomers to the genre, but these are artists with enough timeless quality that it as well bears repeated listens for seasoned jazz fans.
This was Armstrong'south first production for Norman Granz'due south Verve Records.
Following the success of this first effort, he and Fitzgerald would soon record Ella and Louis Again and Porgy and Bess, a selection of songs from George Gershwin'southward opera.
32. Bill Evans: Waltz for Debby
Equally a sideman, Bill Evans' introspective and thoughtful playing was heard on some of the greatest recordings of the 20th Century.
As a bandleader, he favoured the piano trio format and helped redefine the lineup equally an interactive, democratic unit.
Perhaps near famous iteration featured Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, which is the lin upwardly on the jazz archetype Flit For Debbie.
Recorded live at The Village Vanguard in New York, information technology is based on more standard harmonic material than other releases from that catamenia and is perhaps most notable every bit the concluding recording from this line up; Scott LaFaro died in a car crash less than 2 weeks later.
31. Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness
This 1971 recording was Alice Coltrane's 5th solo album, with the bandleader playing harp, organ and contributing string arrangements.
The mystical and highly spiritual jazz combines elements of modal, free improvisation and more than structured composition.
An essay on "100 Records That Set The World On Burn down" in The Wire states that Universal Consciousness "clearly connects to other bitchy jazz traditions – the organ trio, the soloists with strings – yet volleys them into outer infinite, ancient Arab republic of egypt, the Ganges, the great beyond."
30. Horace Silver: Song For My Father
American jazz pianist Horace Silver was one of the leading components of the hard bop motion and the title track from this Blue Note album is perhaps his most well-known contribution to the world of jazz.
Whilst Song for my Father has gone on to become a true jazz standard, the album contains nine other gems, including the latin-influenced Que Pasa? and punchy, upwards-tempo number The Kicker.
29. Chick Corea: Now He Sings, At present He Sobs
Recorded in 1968, At present He Sings, Now He Sobs was Chick Corea'southward second anthology every bit a bandleader and perhaps his most famous.
It features the musician in a classic jazz piano trio lineup with Miroslav Vitouš on bass and drummer Roy Haynes, who had previously featured on classic bebop recordings with Bud Powell and Charlie Parker.
It mixes Corea's originals, the Monk tune 'Pannonica', the standard jazz ballad 'My One and But Honey' and passages of free improvisation.
The line-upwardly changes at diverse points on the anthology, but features trumpeters Carmell Jones & Blueish Mitchell, tenor saxophonists Joe Henderson & Inferior Melt, bassists Teddy Smith & Cistron Taylor and drummers Roger Humphries & Roy Brooks.
28. Charles Mingus: Changes One & Two
Afterwards encountering health issues in the mid 1960s, bassist Charles Mingus had to step back and even take a break from playing for some fourth dimension.
It wasn't until 1974 that he started a new quintet with his longtime collaborator Dannie Richmond on drums, Don Pullen on piano, George Adams on tenor sax and Jack Wallrath on trumpet.
They released ii albums, "Changes One" & "Changes Two" for Atlantic Records in 1975 that were praised by the critics and marked his successful comeback.
Now available every bit a double album, nosotros took the liberty of including both in the same entry.
His famous ballad "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" was Mingus' obituary to his longtime idol who passed away shortly before. The song contains literal quotations of Ellington'south tunes "Lush Life", "Blues in Black, Brown and Beige" and "Take the A-Train".
Sue's Changes is dedicated to his last wife Susan Graham (at present Sue Mingus).
"Call back Rockefeller at Attica" is another political title such as "Fables of Faubus" which is quoted. It refers to a prison riot in New York in 1971 where Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered to storm the prison, which lead to 39 dead people.
Devil Blues is co-written with saxophonist George Adams and has, once over again, its roots in Gospel & Dejection music, with Adams taking in the role of a traditional Blues 'shouter'.
27. Bud Powell: The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1
Bebop pioneer Bud Powell was famously described as 'the Charlie Parker of pianoforte' for his part in the emergence of this way of jazz.
First released past Blueish Note in 1952, the album is centred around his usual piano trio setting, but includes tracks with the addition of Fats Navarro and a very young Sonny Rollins on trumpet and tenor saxophone respectively.
Ane track in particular – 'Un Poco Loco' – is considered particularly significant as an early case of Afro-Cuban music'due south consolidation as role of jazz music.
Other well-known number Bud Powell compositions are heard as well, including 'Dance of the Infidels', 'Bouncing with Bud', 'Wail', and 'Parisian Thoroughfare'.
26. Fine art Pepper : Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section
This 1957 session sees alto saxophone great Art Pepper accompanied past Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.
As members of Miles Davis' quintet at the time, they are mayhap the antithesis of the West Coast style that Art Pepper was known for which may, in function, make this album such a fascinating listen.
Described past All Music as "a classic east meets west, cool plus hot only never lukewarm combination" the playing is raw and exciting.
Standout track "Y'all'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" in particular showcases Fine art Pepper at his inventive all-time.
25. Frank Sinatra: Sinatra at the Sands
His pic-star career and off-stage antics may lead some hardcore jazz fans to consider Sintra more of a pop star, just this 1966 live anthology, from the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, sees him at his captivating best.
Accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, with bright arrangements past Quincy Jones, it's hard non to tap your foot as Sinatra delivers definitive versions of songs that he's come to be known for.
Performances of 'Come up Wing with Me', 'I've Got You Under My Skin' and 'Fly Me To The Moon' in forepart of 1 of the best big bands of all time makes this an essential jazz album for every fan of the swing era.
24. Hank Mobley: Soul Station
Soul Station may not exist a game-changer in the manner some albums on this list charted the journey of jazz itself, only it features some of the most seriously swinging, grooving bop versions of jazz standards that you'll ever hear.
Hank Mobley was i of the well-nigh swinging tenor saxophonists of the hard bop era and this outing – aslope Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) & Art Blakey (drums) – is indisputably his almost famous album.
23. Chet Baker : Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen To Yous
Whilst Chet Bakery rose to prominence equally a lyrical and swinging trumpeter, it was his decision to brainstorm singing in the mid-1950s which really put him on the map.
His light, frail voice did not really sound like whatever other singers of the time and divided opinion in the jazz globe, just they proved a commercial success and take stood the exam of fourth dimension.
Our choice of the all-time album from the Chet Baker catalogue is the 1958 session Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen To You lot which sees him singing and swinging on a corking pick of standards, as well as taking short but wonderfully melodic trumpet solos.
The title runway, every bit well equally 'Everything Happens to Me', in particular, have go defining performances of the artist and is an essential jazz anthology for anyone who wants to amend empathise the fine art of phrasing.
22. Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock rose to prominence as a function of Miles Davis' ring, joining what came to exist known as his Second Corking Quintet in 1963.
But aslope masterpieces such as East.S.P and Miles Smiles, he found time to record extensively for the Blue Note record label throughout the 1960s and can be heard on dozens of records both as a sideman and a leader.
His biggest hitting, all the same, which put him on the musical map with music fans of all styles, came in 1973 when he formed the group Caput Hunters.
Their eponymous anthology sold over a meg copies and features Hancock extensively on synthesisers, fusing elements of funk, groove and R&B.
The deep, bawdy sound resonated with the public and i track in detail – Watermelon Man – is 1 of those rare jazz songs which seem to exist known by anybody, regardless of musical sense of taste.
21. Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard
It takes a special sort of musical talent to release a live album that stands upwards to the best studio sessions of the 24-hour interval.
That'due south exactly what nosotros find with Sonny Rollins' 1957 recording A Night At The Village Vanguard, though.
Rollins chose to document his first live recorded performance as bandleader with a saxophone trio, fellow musicians here existence Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones.
He didn't accept a regular group at the time and was constantly altering his ensembles.
The playing is raw and exciting and perfectly sums upwards the seemingly countless rhythmic inventiveness of the tenor man.
20. Lennie Tristano : Line Up
Pianist Lennie Tristano was much more than than a musician; he took on the function of educator for a whole generation of cool jazz musicians who followed.
His 1956 album 'Line Up' is undoubtedly one of the most influential records, and was groundbreaking for more than than simply the playing.
The pianist's improvisation on the onetime standard 'All of Me' is full of breathtakingly complex rhythmic trickery and odd phrase lengths.
However, it was apparently recorded at half speed and an octave lower, separately from the bass and drums, before being sped upward to the tempo and pitch that we hear, which accounts for the recording'south other-worldly audio quality.
The slice 'Turkish Mambo' as well utilises multi-tracked recording.
These recording techniques were almost unheard of in the mid-1950s, and some people considered Tristano's use of them tantamount to cheating.
The second half of this album is a more standard quartet matter, featuring Konitz and a great rhythm department of Art Taylor and Gene Ramey.
nineteen. Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder
As with several albums on this list, the championship track of The Sidewinder has entrenched itself as a classic jazz standard, chosen at jam sessions and pickup gigs the world over fifty-fifty today!
Merely the big hit aside, it's an addictive album whose 5 songs ooze blues, soul and groove, with plenty of complexity just underneath the surface.
Jazz trumpet neat Lee Morgan is joined by legendary saxophonist Joe Henderson on tenor, Barry Harris on pianoforte, Bob Cranshaw on bass & Billy Higgins on drums.
18. Oscar Peterson: Night Train
Widely considered to be one of the swell pianists in the history of jazz, Oscar Peterson'south long and decorated career saw him release over 200 recordings, scoop up seven Grammys and perform thousands of concerts worldwide over a menstruation of nearly vii decades.
This 1963 release on Verve is his most famous, featuring the classic Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen rhythm department which served him so well throughout his career.
Equally you'd expect from Peterson, Night Train is highly swinging and accessible.
Its fairly brusk track lengths (allegedly planned to make it more appealing to commercial radio stations) makes it a especially practiced introduction for newcomers: an essential jazz album for every collection!
17. Miles Davis : The Birth of The Cool
Ever the innovator, Miles Davis was a central effigy in the emergence of Cool jazz, as this collaboration with the influential arranger Gil Evans attests.
The nine-piece ring on this celebrated recording is lent a sleeping room-jazz audio by the unusual inclusion of tuba and French horn.
With his iconic trumpet tone and hit sense of visual style, Miles was the perfect frontman for a band that included some of the most forward-thinking soloists of the day.
Nascency of the Cool must have sounded hugely futuristic when it was recorded in 1949. With its contrapuntal arrangements and a harmonic palette informed past impressionistic classical music, the band's audio was foreshadowed by Evans' writing for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra.
Davis would interact with the orchestrator once more on later archetype jazz albums like Miles Ahead, Sketches of Kingdom of spain and Porgy and Bess.
xvi. Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else
Countless jazz fans around the globe have been drawn to the genre for its soulful, feel-good qualities and, as such, no 'all-time of' list would exist complete with alto saxophone great Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley.
His ebullient playing is perhaps virtually well-known as a sideman on Miles Davis records, but this 1958 release showcases Cannonball as bandleader and ringleader.
Along with Hank Jones (piano), Sam Jones (bass) and Fine art Blakey (drums), the album is memorable for featuring a rare appearance from Miles himself as a sideman.
Information technology'southward the trumpet player who, at the end of the song "One for Daddy-O", can be heard uttering the now-famous line to the producer:
"Is that what you wanted Alfred?"
15. John Coltrane: Behemothic Steps
John Coltrane was deeply involved in the modal jazz revolution that took place in the late 1950s, joining Miles Davis in moving away from traditional chord functions towards a more static harmonic landscape.
Simply alongside that, the tenor and soprano saxophonist was plotting his own contrasting harmonic upheaval.
This development is heard, fully formed, on the 1959 Atlantic release Giant Steps album, memorable for its rapidly changing tonalities and use of his 'Coltrane Changes' sequence.
The title rails remains a tune that'southward studied by jazz musicians around the world – almost a rite of passage for students – but is also a thrilling listen for jazz fans.
Listen out in particular for the cute carol 'Naima', reportedly Coltrane'southward favourite of his own compositions, and a tender dedication to his start wife.
xiv. Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert
Perhaps no musician meliorate bridged the gap betwixt the legendary musicians of the 50s and 60s with the 21st Century than Keith Jarrett.
His 1975 album The Köln Concert for ECM Records sold more than than three.five million copies, easily making it the best selling solo-piano anthology in jazz history.
Whilst information technology could technically be described as a kind of gratuitous jazz (it is, after all, a completely improvised solo pianoforte concert), it'south a million miles away from the sometimes-dissonant conception of avant-gardists like Ornette Coleman.
Jarrett, seemingly overflowing with ideas, demonstrates his audio which ranges from from sensitive dazzler to hypnotic grooving vamps.
thirteen. Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington's career was not at a high betoken in 1956: many of the classic big bands had folded and Duke'due south Orchestra did not fifty-fifty have a tape deal.
Withal, a legendary operation at that year's Newport Jazz Festival, thankfully recorded for posterity, helped revive his flagging career.
The highlight of the set, and a famed moment in jazz history, is Paul Gonsalves'due south inspired 27-chorus tenor solo on 'Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue'.
Other highlights from this essential jazz album include alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges' features on ' I Got It Bad (And That Own't Good)' and 'Jeep'south Dejection', and Ray Nance's vocal turn on 'Tulip or Turnip'.
The excitable crowd tin be heard clearly on the recording, and manifestly gave Ellington and the Orchestra 1 of the biggest ovations in Newport Jazz Festival's history.
12. Eric Dolphy: Out To Dejeuner
When you retrieve of 1960s Blue Note, you probably don't immediately imagine free jazz.
But that's exactly what was presented in 1964, with the iconic and forrad-thinking Eric Dolphy album Out To Lunch.
All of the musicians on the record had serious jazz pedigree – especially trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who is maybe thought of every bit more of a hard bop player – and the combination of Dolphy's bass clarinet with Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone is a highly distinctive sound.
Incredibly, drummer Tony Williams had only just turned xviii when he made this record. Although, as a fully fledged fellow member of Miles Davis' 'second groovy quintet' he was past no means a surprise…
11. Miles Davis: Bitches Mash
Inspired in the tardily 1960's by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown, and fuelled by the want to e'er explore new artistic directions, Miles Davis is rightly credited as 1 of the most of import figures in the birth of jazz fusion.
Bitches Brew, released in 1970 and featuring fellow fusion greats such as Joe Zawinul & John McLaughlin, is arguably his most influential, continuing his experimentation with electrical instruments started a year earlier with the release of In a Silent Manner.
The distorted guitars, heavy-rock influenced arrangements and abrasive in-your-face playing marking Bitches Mash equally one of the most of import early examples of jazz-rock.
Top x Best Jazz Albums
A piffling note before nosotros go on onto our pick of the ten greatest jazz albums of all time…
Of course, there tin be no definitive pick for something as subjective and emotional as music.
These records, though, don't stand out simply for the music independent on them; their popularity is enduring (both commercially and critically) and they each highlight not just some of the best playing of all time, but capture definitive moments in jazz history.
In fact, in listening to these x iconic albums, y'all can most hear the evolution or emergence of various styles of jazz nosotros've come up to know any honey.
x. Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modernistic Music: Book i
A conversation about the most influential figures in jazz history isn't complete without the one and only Thelonious Monk and this album is our top pick from his extensive discography.
Compiling tracks recorded in 1947 for the iconic Blue Note label, the music must have sounded shockingly modern when it was first released.
Reissues of this disc take presented different rail-listings with alternate takes, only the big hits are all in that location.
It includes a number of favourite Monk tunes, including 'In Walked Bud' (a dedication to Bud Powell), 'Epistrophy', 'I Mean You' and 'Round Midnight', his virtually famous limerick.
As with all albums in this pinnacle 10, the music is not just a jazz fan-favourite, merely has woven its style into the consciousness of millions of other listeners around the world.
nine. Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto
This Brazilian-American collaboration is credited with kick-starting the Bossa Nova craze that took the U.s. past storm in the 1960s.
Antonio Carlos Jobim was the primary composer of this new fusion of samba and jazz, and he is heard here on piano, along with fellow Brazilian Joao Gilberto, whose languid, rhythmically dextrous guitar playing and singing fits perfectly with Stan Getz's sweet tenor sound.
During the 1963 recording session, it was suggested that they record an English linguistic communication version of Jobim'southward 'The Girl From Ipanema' and, equally the simply Brazilian present who could speak English, Astrud Gilberto, Joao'south wife, sang the song.
Despite the fact that she had never sung professionally, Astrud's soft vocal approach suited the composition and the band perfectly, and the piece has gone on to go ane of the most famous songs in the history of jazz.
A number of Jobim'south bossa nova classics are present, like 'Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Serenity Stars)' and ' Desafinado', with Stan Getz following up each vocal chorus with a brusque, perfectly formed saxophone solo.
Getz/Gilberto wasn't just a watershed moment in the history of jazz; it was also a disquisitional and commercial nail hit, winning multiple Grammy Awards.
8. Billie Holiday: Lady In Satin
By 1958 years of habit had taken their price upon Billie Holiday's distinctive voice, and she had lost the top of her song range.
But whilst, from a technical perspective, Lady in Satin may non incorporate her strongest singing, Holiday's functioning is filled with an incredible intensity of feeling, no doubt inspired past her own complicated life.
Newly signed to Columbia Records, this was her most expensively produced album, with a 40-slice orchestra arranged past Ray Ellis, who was initially considered something of a left-field choice.
While some listeners prefer her classic 1930s recordings with the likes of Teddy Wilson and Lester Young, this moving program of American Songbook ballads offers a whole other level of emotional power and depth.
Perhaps combined with the cognition that she would die the post-obit year, aged just 44, Lady In Satin is a must-accept for every jazz enthusiast.
seven. Fine art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Moanin'
This difficult bop masterpiece from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers is an absolute archetype and can exist plant in the record collection of jazz fans of all persuasions.
The band itself reads as something of a who'south who of the hard bop scene at the time: Fine art Blakey is joined by Lee Morgan (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano) and Jymie Merritt (bass).
The drummer-bandleader was central in the emergence of this jazz style and this album – and in particular the standout track Moanin' – became synonymous with the bluesy, keen, soulful music coming out of the East Declension of America.
Add together to that some of the about memorable solos from the era (that Lee Morgan trumpet break just before the 1 minute mark on Moanin' or Benny Golson's trademark singing, melodic lines on Come Rain or Come Shine) and you've got yourself a classic…
6. Dave Brubeck: Time Out
Dave Brubeck, a classically influenced pianist, was hugely pop on the college circuit playing for enthusiastic immature students, and he would go just the second jazz musician, after Louis Armstrong, to feature on the cover of Time magazine.
His 1959 Columbia release Time Out was ground-breaking at the time for its extensive use of unusual time signatures and achieved massive commercial success.
Information technology peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, was the start jazz album to sell over one one thousand thousand copies, and its enduring popularity saw it inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
The album features six compositions by pianist Brubeck, and one (the biggest selling jazz single ever, 'Have Five') by saxophonist Paul Desmond whose sound was described by the bandleader every bit "similar a dry Martini".
Brubeck'due south compositions describe inspiration from a wide range of musical backgrounds.
'Blue Rondo à la Turk' is inspired by a Turkish folk song in nine/8 fourth dimension while 'Choice Upwards Sticks' is in 6/4.
Brubeck'south defining Cool masterpiece is both sophisticated and attainable: a must-have in any jazz tape collection.
v. Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins laid out his claim to be considered one of the most inventive improvisers in music beyond a option of the best jazz records of the mid-belatedly 1950s – The Sound of Sonny, Manner Out West, Tenor Madness, Newk's Time and Freedom Suite are all bright – but Saxophone Colossus, from 1956, is probably his nearly famous album.
The calypso 'St. Thomas' is his about recognisable song, although it is actually derived from a Caribbean nursery rhyme that his female parent sang to him every bit a child.
'St. Thomas' and 'Blueish 7', a blues with an off-the-cuff melody that Rollins came upward with in the studio, are particularly adept examples of the clever, highly rhythmic thematic development that characterises his improvisational vocalism.
This essential jazz album also contains a powerful rendition of the standard ballad 'Yous Don't Know What Beloved Is' and some other wonderful solo on Kurt Weil'due south 'Moritat' (AKA 'Mack The Knife').
4. Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come
Another revolutionary album from 1959, The Shape of Jazz To Come isn't only a great anthology, it signalled a whole new direction in jazz, as musicians sought to break complimentary from conventional structures like chord sequences and compositional forms.
Ornette Coleman'due south quartet, fronted with his long-standing collaborator Don Blood-red on trumpet, would play one of Ornette's memorable themes equally the 'head in' at the beginning, and the 'head out' at the end, just equally a standard jazz band would.
Yet, the improvised solos in between these melodies dispensed with chord changes and form, in a technique known every bit 'fourth dimension, no changes'.
The Shape of Jazz to Come includes some of Ornette Coleman's most memorable compositions , including 'Peace' and 'Lone Woman', and, despite its radicalism, is steeped in infectious, bluesy swing.
Discover albums similar to this in our round upward of the all-time complimentary jazz & avant garde albums in jazz history…
3. Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um
Bassist, bandleader & composer Charles Mingus was a notoriously fiery character and a truthful musical original.
There was something Ellingtonian in his approach: leading bands of devoted disciples, his music was highly thematic, deliberately written to evoke a particular person or mood.
Perhaps the album that best sums up the spirit of his writing, his playing and his influence equally a bandleader is Mingus Ah Um.
Another archetype jazz album from the legendary year of 1959, Mingus Ah Um was his first for Columbia Records and contains a number of musical tributes.
'Cheerio Pork Pie Hat' is a mournful elegy for the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who died two months before this recording was made. 'Jelly Ringlet' refers to the New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton and 'Open Letter to Duke' is an Ellington homage.
'Better Git It In Your Soul' brings to mind devotional church music and preaching, while 'Fables of Faubus' is a protest directed at Arkansas Govenor Orval E. Faubus, an opponent of racial integration.
two. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
This 1964 classic takes the form of a 4-part suite: 'Acknowledgement', 'Resolution', 'Pursuance' and 'Psalm'.
As suggested past the rail titles, the saxophonist was heading in an increasingly spiritual management that would characterise much of his later on work, and the music tin be interpreted every bit an expression of gratitude to a higher power.
Coltrane himself chants verbally on the opening track, hypnotically repeating the words that make up the anthology championship.
Accompanied by his classic rhythm department of McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (double bass) and Elvin Jones (drums), Coltrane wrings every melodic possibility out of this intense modal jazz .
1. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Kind of Bluish (1959) is the top jazz album on near 'best-of' lists and is cited as jazz's biggest-seller.
The Miles Davis classic has reached the kind of mainstream popularity that sees it included in the tape collections of non-jazz fans as their token jazz record.
Just its legendary condition is very much warranted: Kind of Blue is surely some of the greatest, near atmospheric and influential music every recorded.
'And then What' – the album's about famous track – continues the experiments with modal music that Davis had had begun on Milestones, with Jimmy Cobb's famous cymbal fill setting up the bandleader's cool, spacious solo.
Pianist Bill Evans provides an introspective, impressionistic touch to the gorgeous ballad ' Blue In Green ', whilst John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley contribute some contrasting fire on tenor and alto saxophones respectively.
Another highlight is Wynton Kelly's difficult-swinging solo on 'Freddie Freeloader': Kelly replaced Evans on the piano chair in Davis' working band, and is heard on just one runway here.
Davis was a relentless innovator who refused to stand still: his music would modify drastically over the following years, taking in freer forms and jazz fusion, but Kind of Blueish, for many, remains his definitive creative argument and certainly a great starting betoken when information technology comes to jazz for beginners.
Thanks for joining u.s. on this trip through our pick of 50 of the most essential jazz albums of all time – we promise you discovered at least a few new albums to check out!
If you're interested to dive deeper into this genre, check out our guide to the different types & styles of jazz.
Happy listening!
Matt Fripp
International jazz booking agent, managing director and host of Jazzfuel.
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