| Bill Fitzpatrick |
I've got a fairly good collection of jazz from the 50's, 60's and early 70's and love each and every one of them.
After viewing the Ken Burns "Jazz" series I decided to expand and figure I'll begin with the early end; late 30's and the 40's. I sort of gave up past '75 - seems like jazz started going downhill about then.
I like Lester Young a lot so I guess I should be looking at Basie (before Billy Holiday joined, thank you, as I'm not particularly keen on vocals).
Can't forget Coleman Hawkins.
Louis Armstrong of course.
Maybe some Chick Webb, before Ella please.
And something featuring Mary Lou Williams.
And?
I'd really appreciate some good, solid recommendations from all you knowledgeable cats out there. |
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| SY |
My ideas of musical perfection from that era (aside from what you've mentionbed):
The small Benny Goodman groups (Charlie Christian!).
Art Tatum.
The Ellington bands with Blanton. I'd rate Duke the finest composer of the 20th century.
Don Byas.
Sidney Bechet.
And, of course, Diz with Bird. The birth of bop was momentous. |
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| Bill Fitzpatrick |
SY
I agree with your additions.
Seems I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I'm looking for recommendations of specific recordings - artist and title of the album would suffice - label and # if one is so inclined. |
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| andy_c |
I'm not very knowledgeable about the music from this era, I guess mostly because I haven't found a lot of stuff in this time frame I can relate to. But I've always been a fan of Fats Waller. One song I love is "Honeysuckle Rose A la Bach-Beethoven-Brahms-Waller" which is a brilliant fusion of classical and jazz. Another fun listen is Louis Jordan of "Saturday Night Fish Fry" fame http://www.heptune.com/ljsaturd.html BTW, at the bottom of that page, they got the pronunciation of "sandwiches" wrong. It's actually pronounced "sammiches" in the song :)
Like you, I'm a '50s-'60s-'70s jazz kind of guy, so I'd be interested in whatever you find too. |
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| SY |
Gracing my living room these past few evenings:
Benny Goodman Sextet with Count Basie, Columbia G-30779
Don Byas with Slam Stewart, Atlantic SD-310
Bud Powell Trio, Roost 2224
Duke Ellington with Jimmy Blanton, RCA LPM 1364 |
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| benny |
| quote: | | The small Benny Goodman groups (Charlie Christian!) |
get anything you can!!! charlie was an amazing player. i recently posted in greatest guitar solo's ever thread and said a solo charlie played with this group. find any recording with 'solo flight' on it! there are a few different recordings around of this song, all with a slightly different solo on them... i've heard 3, and none dissapointed me... and any of their other stuff too, but solo flight is pretty much not only one of the best guitar solo's i've ever heard, but pretty much one of the best jazz solo's i've heard too.
another highly recomended jazz guitarist is django reinhardt. he arived a bit earlier in the jazz scene than the late thirties, but he is still amazing, and in my opinion he is one of the true pioneers of the style and it's harmonic development. i don't think you can get specific recordings of his now, but you can buy boxed sets... i have a 3CD set... if anything, get something with 'nuages' on it. this is one of his most famous tunes, and for a good reason... it is such a beautiful song.
i don't want to recomend specific recordings... i think the best way to start is to buy compilation CD's of these artists, and see what you like best, and from there, look at the date of recording, and chase up stuff from the era you like. also, find out the people they were playing with, as this can make a huge difference. like Sy said about smaller benny goodman groups, and then mentioned charlie christian...
he also recomended duke ellington... for example, when duke played with a singer/trumpeter/violinist/whateverist (a very talented man in other words) called Ray Nance, he did some amazing recordings.
a good one is 'duke ellington plays standards' - ColumbiaCK-65056
this has a broad range of his works from about the mid 30's until the mid 60's.
for goodman, a good compilation is '16 most requested songs'... this is of goodman with his bigger bands, but also has a couple of tracks from his sextet from the charlie christian era. it has all the goodman favourites on it... sing sing sing, why don't you do right, and so on... you've probably heard of all the songs on there at sometime before, but it's still good.
| quote: | | I sort of gave up past '75 - seems like jazz started going downhill about then. |
yes, i agree, and in general, it sunk pretty low in the 80's i think. You should hear some of the recordings i have form the 80's from people such as herbie hancock.
more recently however, jazz has started going up hill again, and the level of creativity of artists has shot up too. I realised this especially seeing as recently we had the melbourne international jazz festival, and there was many new and amazing artists there. Any canadians around heard of Quincin Narchoff??? I saw him and was very impressed.
I am only young, but am absolute freak for jazz, so much so that about 80% of the times i use my fake ID is so i can get into jazz clubs (yeah, i'm bad, but it's for a good reason i use it most of the time)... so in my opinion, your heart is in the right place as far as music goes.
cheers |
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| Bill Fitzpatrick |
| Anyone else care to suggest? |
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| SY |
Bill, one thing I don't have, but maybe you can dig up, is some recordings of Fletcher Henderson's big band during the time when Sonny Blount was doing his arrangements. This would have been in the late '30s.
Blount later had a makeover and became Sun Ra, one of my all-time favorite musicians, but I'd love to explore his roots a bit more. |
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| Bill Fitzpatrick |
| Thanks to everyone who have made suggestions. It's hard to believe though that there are so few early jazz fans on this forum willing to provide input. |
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| PMA |
| quote: | Originally posted by SY
Gracing my living room these past few evenings:
Benny Goodman Sextet with Count Basie, Columbia G-30779
Don Byas with Slam Stewart, Atlantic SD-310
Bud Powell Trio, Roost 2224
Duke Ellington with Jimmy Blanton, RCA LPM 1364 |
This is a nice thread. No feedback cricket fights ;)
I will add 2 of mine:
The Popular Duke Ellington, RCA LPM-3576, 1966
Ella Fitzgerald - Whisper Not, Verve V-4071, about 1966.
I bought them when I was in the US for the 1st time and they still remain one of my best - both music and very natural sound ... |
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| Bill Fitzpatrick |
PMA
Although your input is appreciated, you are about 20 years off the mark. I'm looking for late 30's and the 40's. |
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| tsmith1315 |
Bill Fitzpatrick wrote:
| quote: | | Thanks to everyone who have made suggestions. It's hard to believe though that there are so few early jazz fans on this forum willing to provide input. |
I share your curiousity, Bill. Given the size of the membership, this looks like a small response.
Although very influential, maybe interest in early jazz is dwindling. After all, we're 70 years past 1934. My jazz interests are strong, but at 38 yrs old, vintage jazz is 50's and 60's to me. That's only because my father played it constantly...
BTW, another unsolicited early 60's suggestion is "The Most Happy Piano" by Erroll Garner. IIRC, it's a 2 microphone stereo recording from Columbia. Recorded in one sitting, the trio had never played together before. Just walked in and made a great album. Now that's music to me.
Tim |
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| benny |
you said:| quote: | | the trio had never played together before. Just walked in and made a great album. Now that's music to me. |
i said:| quote: | | Any canadians around heard of Quincin Narchoff??? I saw him and was very impressed. |
you shoulda heard this guy when he came out here the night i heard him... he'd been in melbourne for literally less than 24 hours (and didn't he let everyone know it... always complaining about how hard it is, and the jet lag...), but he met up with the musos he was playing with that night for the first time ever that night, and they played amazingly... so there's some more real music for you.
cheers |
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| phowell1 |
Hi Bill, nice thread.
It seems everybody on here is more knowledgeable than I am, but I have a great recommendation for you-
Freddie Hubbard and the Oscar Peterson Quartet on a recording named "Face to Face."
It has an absolutely stunning version of Miles' "All Blues" |
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| phowell1 |
Oh yeah, Bill,
as an aside, what made me think of that album is that it is one of my favourites from the '80s. (It was made in '82). If your're not averse to picking something up from that era, I highly recommend it.
All the best. |
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| jazzgal |
| I don't know if your into anything current, but if you are check out Marilyn Scott. She's a smooth jazz artist and just came out with a new album called "Handpicked". It's a good retrospective of her career. |
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| dice45 |
Bill,
hint: Bix Beiderbecke and company. Late 20ies, early 30ies.
Fist shoot then ask. Musical crown jewels, all tunes from Bix. |
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| phowell1 |
The Dice is right. Bix is awesome.
cheers! |
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| jackinnj |
| of course, here in NY we have a 24 hour 7 day-a-week jazz station, wbgo -- their website is www.wbgo.org |
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| pred |
I really like the Miled Davis period from 50s with Coltrane. Walkin', Relaxin', Cookin' and ??? (I forgot the fourth) are real jems. Round About Midnight is also from the same period. The recordings are wonderfull (all are on Prestige label I think , Midnight is on Columbia) and are recorded by Rudy Van Geler, hope the spelling is correct. I am onto trumpet players obviously so worth of checking is also Lee Morgans Cornbread and Search for the new land, and Blue Mitchells Down with it all RVG editions on Blue Note.
Next my favourites are Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Dexter Gordon. All diferent but all very very good. Maybe for all jazz fans this is nothing new but for me it is since I started to explore these great times just receantly... In last 2-3 years I almoust stopped to listen to rock and alternative music. For me all these guys are new and as fresh as it was recorded yesterday. :D |
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| jmateus |
Yes, God save WBGO....
The greatest radio station on earth! |
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| SY |
| Well, if you're into trumpet players from that era, don't neglect the brilliant but (sadly) short careers of Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro. Dizzy was past his creative peak by then but still playing insanely great stuff. |
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| jacco vermeulen |
| quote: | Originally posted by pred
The recordings are wonderfull (all are on Prestige label I think , Midnight is on Columbia) and are recorded by Rudy Van Geler, hope the spelling is correct. |
Rudy van Gelder. |
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| dice45 |
Pred,
i am used to answering the question as asked .... ;)
otherwise i would have mentioned Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and the like.
Clifford Brown particularly, all his recordings on Mercury are worth owning, even for lovers of traditional jazz. Nevertheless, they are hard-bop, not traditional. And Coltrane, well, he neverever played one traditional note :) .... i should know, i own all his records except 3. And i know the 3 too.
Bill,
i second the recommendation for Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman Sextet.
I recommend John Coltrane playing whatever jazz ballad.
Another hint: vocalist Maxine Sullivan with the John Kirby band.
And for the case nooene mentioned Duke Ellington ... i do it right here. I rarely remember to have heard a bad performance of him.... i got warnings concerning his recordings on the "reprise"-label but the one i own ("Afro Bossa") is obviously an exception: strongly recommended! It was recorded in the early 60ies .... but the Bossa Nova influence is faint and the Ellington influence is strong. Pure dope ... as is the older Ellington stuff. |
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| renfrow |
This is the period of Jazz in which I have been most interested,
and have the most music. However, I like vocals, small groups,
and big bands. I'm not a fan of bop so you won't find many of
the afore mentioned artists in my collection, however, here
is a selection from among my favorite albums. First, THE top
five albums:
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington
The Great Summit - The Master
Miles Davis
Sketches of Spain
Kind of Blue
Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
Blue Rose
Dave Brubeck
Take Five
Vince Guaraldi
Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus
Ok, so maybe there's six :-)
Oh, and these are mostly albums I have gotten from online music sales
(emusic.com, allofmp3.com, etc.). I haven't really ripped a lot of
the albums that I own(besides the above six :-), I really ought to
get off my duff...
The rest of these are just albums I like, in alphabetical order
(NOTE, this is pruned WAY down, I have more albums from
most of these, and many of them I've got on cd but not ripped):
Antonio Carlos Jobim:
Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars
Artie Shaw:
Artie And The Singers
Benny Goodman:
Benny Goodman All The Cats Join In (Disc 4)
Benny Goodman And The Singers
Benny Goodman Sing, Sing Sing (Disc 2)
Benny Goodman The Instrumental Hits (Disc 1)
Benny Goodman The Small Groups (Disc 3)
Bing Crosby:
Cocktail Hour
My Favorite Love Songs
The Immortal
You And The Night And The Music
Cab Calloway:
The Early Years 1930 1934 Volum
Chet Atkins:
Chet Atkins C.G.P
Neck and Neck
Read My Licks
Sails
Chet Baker:
Chet Baker In New York
Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner Loewe
Chet Baker Sings Plays
Chet Baker & Strings
Danny Kaye:
Entertainer Extraordinary
Diana Krall:
Love Scenes
The Look of Love
Diane Schuur:
Diane Schuur And The Count Basie Orchestra
Duke Ellington:
Anatomy of a Murder
Ellington Indigos
Ellington Suites
Far East Suite
Nutcracker Suite
The Intimate Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald:
Ella Fitzgerald_ Evergreens 1936-1950 (Disc 4)
Ella Fitzgerald_ Jazz Lady 1936-1950 (Disc 3)
Ella Fitzgerald_ The Hits 1936-1950 (Disc 2)
Ella Fitzgerald_ With Friends 1936-1950 (Disc 1)
Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby:
Bing Crosby With Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald And Duke Ellington:
Ella At Dukes Place
Fats Waller:
A Career Perspective 1922-1943
Frank Sinatra:
Greatest Hits Cd1
Greatest Hits Cd2
Fred Astaire:
A Portrait Of Fred Astaire
Gene Krupa:
Drummer Man
Glenn Miller:
Moonlight Serenade
My Blue Heaven
Rhapsody In Blue
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass:
Greatest Hits
Hoagy Carmichael:
The Old Master
Hubert Laws:
The Best Of Hubert Laws
Ink Spots:
The Ink Spots
Johnny Mercer:
My Huckleberry Friend
Too Marvelous For Words
Jo Stafford:
Too Marvellous For Words
Judy Garland:
Judy Duets Disc One
Judy Duets Disc Two
Leana Horne:
Stormy Weather
Louis Armstrong:
Hello Dolly
Mack The Knife
Satch Plays Fats- The Music of Fats Waller
Louis Jordan:
Five Guys Named Moe
Louis Prima:
Ultra-lounge - Wild, Cool & Swingin' - Artist Series Vol 1 (CD2)
Mel Torme:
Luck Be A Lady
Reunion
Smooth As Velvet
Velvet Brass
Mills Brothers:
The 1930's Recordings Volume 1
The 1930's Recordings Volume 2
Nat King Cole:
A Portrait Of The Nat King Cole Trio
Tell Me All About Yourself
The Trouble With Me Is You
Paul Desmond:
The Paul Desmond Quartet Quintet
Peggy Lee:
Sings For You
Perry Como:
The Man Who Invented Casual
Sammy Davis, Jr:
That Old Black Magic [MCA]
Sarah Vaughan:
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin (Disc 1)
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin (Disc 2)
Shelly Manne:
My Fair Lady
Shelly Manne And His Men Play Peter Gunn
Susannah McCorkle:
Ballad Essentials
Teddy Edwards:
Ladies Man
Terence Blanchard:
Jazz in Film
Tommy Emmanuel & Chet Atkins:
The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World
Vince Guaraldi:
A Boy Named Charlie Brown Soundtrack
Jazz Impressions
Zoot Sims:
Best Of Zoot Sims
Tom Kimpton. |
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| fcel |
The Great Summit, I can see (hear) that it's a great CD.
Sketches of Spain? What did you like about it? Really. Myself, once in a blue moon, I took out the CD & played it and then put it back for another couple of years. The thing I remembered about that CD is that it sounds so "sharp". |
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| renfrow |
| quote: | Originally posted by fcel
Sketches of Spain? What did you like about it? Really. Myself, once in a blue moon, I took out the CD & played it and then put it back for another couple of years. The thing I remembered about that CD is that it sounds so "sharp". |
I don't know, really, what attracts me to that, above other cds :-). It's one of two albums that I've heard on the radio that made me pull over to the side of the road and listen till they announced what the album was so that I could be sure and write it down. (The other was 'The Glory of Gershwin', the cut with Peter Gabriel singing 'Summertime'.) It's just one of those things where the music just fits me like a key in a lock :-).
I think (I'm listening to it, now :-) it may have been the spareness/blend of the arrangements, and the forwardness of the trumpet. I'm very much a vocal fan, and the trumpet was sooo vocal. 'Concierto De Aranjuez' the first song, is actually the middle section of a classical concerto, for guitar (I also have the original around somewhere :-).
Gil Evans was the arranger/concert master for this album, and did 3 other albums with Miles, which I also have and like ('Porgy and Bess' , 'Miles Ahead' and 'Quiet Nights').
If you're into the forward, in your face, bop of Miles, then this might not be your cup of tea, but, for laid back cool, this is his best (I know others like 'Kind of Blue' better, but... :-).
I think, of all the jazz musicians/vocalists, I have the most albums of, in this order(each with 10 or more):
Miles Davis
Ella Fitzgerald
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Bing Crosby
Mel Torme
Nat King Cole
Benny Goodman
Frank Sinatra
Chet Atkins (you might think him country, but, in his later years he did a lot of jazz)
If you're into trumpet, others I like: Chet Baker, Harry James, Chuck Mangione ('Children of Sanchez'!)
Tom Kimpton. |
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| hanszl2001 |
What about Earl Bostick, Lionel Hampton, George Benson.
And the one and only Paolo Conte? (very good recordings from this former Italian lawyer) |
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| Blues |
| quote: | Originally posted by renfrow
Dave Brubeck
Take Five
Diana Krall:
Love Scenes
The Look of Love
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Tony Bennett: Sings Ellington
Ron Carter: The Bass & I (Rudy van Gelder)
Diana Krall: Live in Paris (DVD); Tribute to Nat King Cole; When I Look in Your Eyes
Herbie Hancock: Gershwin's World |
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