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Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
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Points: 17488
Posted: April 22 2016 at 13:50
DDPascalDD wrote:
I couldn't ask for more eh? Very many thanks, will defenitely go through it all.
I think I can already say that I don't really like a too "lazy" sound, but I really like some of the suggestions here.
I can see what you are saying but try not to look at some of it as "lazy" sound. I listen to a lot of jazz, mainly late 50's and 60's era. Very little 30's to 40's, but that history is critical to understand with the development of jazz. Another suggestion is to watch the documentary Jazz by Ken Burns, he explores the deep roots of jazz and its origins, it's been playing on PBS TV lately. The documentary is from 2000 narrated by Keith David.....Its a great program.
KoB (Kind of Blue) can be considered what you call "lazy" sound, but once you understand why you will quickly realize why it is probably the greatest jazz recording session of all time.
A suggestion, may sound quirky but try it.......Do a jazz listening session at night, when your mind is free from daily krapp like work or chores, just sit and listen, its critical to "hearing" jazz and what the musicians were doing.
Joined: October 20 2014
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Points: 2360
Posted: April 22 2016 at 14:27
Some good starters: The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out John Coltrane in general Frank Zappa and The Mothers - The Grand Wazoo Stanley Clarke - School Days Various Miles Davis albums; make sure to hear one or two from each of his general "phases" Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Soft Machine - Third
Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
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Points: 20451
Posted: April 22 2016 at 14:39
As many have mentioned it depends on the type of jazz....I go for more melodic things.....Pat Metheny is excellent , first 2 Mahavishnu's, RTF-Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy and Romantic Warrior, Coltrane- Sound, Giant Steps, and Favorite Things, Eberhard Weber, Oregon.......so many excellent bands and artists.
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin
Joined: August 06 2015
Location: The Netherlands
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Points: 856
Posted: April 22 2016 at 16:07
Catcher10 wrote:
A suggestion, may sound quirky but try it.......Do a jazz listening session at night, when your mind is free from daily krapp like work or chores, just sit and listen, its critical to "hearing" jazz and what the musicians were doing.
have fun!
I might actually be doing this some time, I know a jazz trombonist (that's partly what awoken my interest) and I'd like to hear him play again at some gig.
Joined: November 23 2015
Location: United States
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Points: 69
Posted: April 22 2016 at 16:53
I'll try to cover most of the genres of jazz I can. I included some albums of theirs to try out. Though most of these guys have a relatively steady and good discography, so you can check out their other albums as well.
- John Coltrane (Avant-Garde jazz, A Love Supreme. Also Hard Bop, Giant Steps)
- Miles Davis (Modal jazz, Kind of Blue. Also fusion, In a Silent Way & Bitches Brew)
- Herbie Hancock (Funkier fusion, Head Hunters)
- Mahavishnu Orchestra (Proggier fusion, The Inner Mounting Flame & Birds of Fire)
- Charles Mingus (Avant-Garde jazz, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady)
- Sonny Rollins (Hard Bop, Saxophone Colossus)
- Pharoah Sanders (Spiritual jazz, Karma)
- Wayne Shorter (Post-Bop, Speak No Evil)
- Soft Machine (Fusion/Canterbury Scene, Third)
- Frank Zappa (Fusion, Hot Rats)
Other popular fusion bands (since you mention fusion) include Weather Report (and its members), Return to Forever, and Brand X. Oregon is also a favorite of mine.
Hope this helps! If you need more info/recs let me know.
Joined: September 30 2006
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Posted: April 23 2016 at 00:34
This has become a recommendations thread which is fine, except the thing about jazz is that it is (or was) a music that was created as it occurred, as it was played; Most jazz LPs up to about 1960 were not albums as we understand them, but rather the best of what was captured of an artist or ensemble during a given session or on a certain day. Jazz recordings were largely retroverted packages, not the conceived-of and polished product we get now (even in jazz).
So as to Pascal's inquest, jazz is a very long roadtrip, and that's the point. Jazzrock/Fusion is quite a different animal and would indeed, or often does, appeal to proggies more easily than trad or modern jazz, and doesn't really reflect the jazz experience or approach.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 19597
Posted: April 23 2016 at 03:08
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
Very good suggestions so far, I'd go with
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme & Blue Train
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue & Bitches Brew
Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Collossus
Herbie Hancock - Crossing
Thelonius Monk - Brilliant Corners
There's
also a very vibrant modern jazz scene at the moment with bands like Nik
Bartsch Ronin, Gutbucket, Claudia Quintet, Jaga Jazzist, elephant9,
Hidden Orchestra, Kilimanjaro Dark Jazz, Blue Cranes, Pixel, the cellar
& point, Ergo, Gogo Penguin, The Necks, Snarky Puppy
I can think of one major artiste you're forgetting in this list, probably the one that's closest to prog:
Charles Mingus - Black Saint and Lady Sinner
Mascodagama wrote:
Barbu wrote:
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
Herbie Hancock - Crossing
and if you can't get into that one, go no further, you won't like Jazz.
I don't agree with that. Jazz has far too many
facets for any one piece of music or album to be a simple litmus test.
I'm sure there are countless fans of different aspects of jazz who
wouldn't / don't care for Crossings.
Though personally I love it
Crossings and Sextant are high in the JR fusion/avant-garde with a slight Free Jazz slant. One of my faves... But indeed, saying that one won't get into jazz if he doesn't like this album is highly misleaing, IMHO.
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
I tend to agree, I'm not really into the early stuff like Glen Miller, Charlie Parker & Duke Ellington. The 50's & 60's with Coltrane, Mingus, Davis, Brubeck, Collins, Monk is really a golden couple of decades for me. I like a lot of the Fusion that came in the 70's and a lot of the avant, minimalist & experimental stuff thats around now. But I could never stand free jazz.
Indeed, though my jazz starts roughly in 59 ... and in some ways stops around 79, though just like prog, there is a certain second coming of the thing and there are really outstanding releases since 2005 or so.
Before 59, I must say that I can't really get into the Bops and Cool Jazz thing, , ragtime and New Orleans type jazz bore me, (though I do like the odd swing-type tracks , but after 10 minutes... ). Big band bores me as well, though i must say that some day, I will have to reassess Duke Ellington someday. But I llove some of the stuff Gil Evans did.
As for free-jazz, one has to see how the term evolved through the years: at first, Ornette Coleman came up with the term in the early 60's, but it's quite accessible to most of us nowadays... Even most late 60's and early 70's stuff (like Trane's Ascenscion, Pharoah or Shepp) are listenable, if in the right frame of mind...
I'd say that free-jazz became really tough during the mid-70's, once it became totally dissonant abnd atonal
Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
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Points: 19597
Posted: April 23 2016 at 03:17
Atavachron wrote:
This has become a recommendations thread which is fine, except the thing about jazz is that it is (or was) a music that was created as it occurred, as it was played; Most jazz LPs up to about 1960 were not albums as we understand them, but rather the best of what was captured of an artist or ensemble during a given session or on a certain day. Jazz recordings were largely retroverted packages, not the conceived-of and polished product we get now (even in jazz).
So as to Pascal's inquest, jazz is a very long roadtrip, and that's the point. Jazzrock/Fusion is quite a different animal and would indeed, or often does, appeal to proggies more easily than trad or modern jazz, and doesn't really reflect the jazz experience or approach.
Yes, even in the 60's, the albums were often made of one or two fairly or totally different sessions, often with totally different line-ups ... This can be very detrimental to coherence or ch-ohesion of the album's sound and contents ... Of course, it didn't help that the artistes often worked for two labels (if not more), like Coltrane worked for Atlantic, Impulse! and Prestige for a few months
Pascal, may I suggest you take a peak att our suister site Jazz Music Archives... Feel free to join the frum (it's a majority of PA members there anyways) and you'll be many help to find your way through. However, the posting rate on the forum is nowhere near as intense as here... Some days, you only get 5 posts/day
Joined: June 25 2013
Location: Portugal
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Points: 10215
Posted: April 23 2016 at 15:13
I'll have to get back here to hear Simon's samples. Nice explanation I started listening to Jazz two years ago so I'm not the best person to give advice, but I've been going to JMA to read some reviews and learn about all the different genres. I've also been going to the local Jazz club too and I feel like it has been important to understand the genre: it's much easier to hear/see what musicians do, and it's critical according to José
Been thinking about this a bit and come to the conclusion that to a complete jazz newbie, who additionally is heavily into prog, it is probably best to approach this branch of music from a fusion direction. That way you get the familiarity of a rock foundation and at least a whiff of jazz.
Easy digestible fusion acts coming up:
Brand X (Phil Collins' means of showboating)
Eberhard Weber (Fusion meets symphonic)
Soft Machine (On the album 'Softs' diving into some rather delicious and melodic fusion)
Jazz artists, who aren't featured on PA (and shouldn't be imho) also experimented with the rock template. Many before me have mentioned Miles, and rightly so, as he more or less started this whole thing with 'In a Silent Way' (and even earlier than that imo showing signs of what was to come with albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro and Sorcerer), but there were most definitely others out there doing equally thrilling things.
Sun Ra fx (Lanquidity is a must if you're into fusion)
Pharoah Sanders (the live album 'Elevation' shows strong signs of rock)
Bob James (most prog fans I know (who are into jazz that is) absolutely adore his 'One' album)
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
Joined: August 06 2015
Location: The Netherlands
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Points: 856
Posted: April 24 2016 at 06:16
I'm having two weeks off of school and so I'll have plenty of time to listen. An album I liked is Modern Jazz Quartet - Third Stream Music, because it seems like composed mostly and not too much free improvisation, which will take some time to grow on me. Fusion seems like a great option to start too; actually what I was thinking at first too.
Joined: December 30 2006
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 5111
Posted: April 24 2016 at 09:00
DDPascalDD wrote:
I'm having two weeks off of school and so I'll have plenty of time to listen. An album I liked is Modern Jazz Quartet - Third Stream Music, because it seems like composed mostly and not too much free improvisation, which will take some time to grow on me.
If you like that, then in similar vein I recommend The Modern Jazz Society Presents a Concert of Contemporary Music.
And if you like the MJQ's sound generally there's plenty more where that came from - they stuck together for 40+ years and made a lot of pretty good records (though a few would probably be enough for most - their sound and approach didn't vary much).
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DDPascalDD wrote:
If you need more info/recs let me know.
... But indeed, saying that one won't get into jazz if he doesn't like this album is highly misleaing, IMHO.
). Big band bores me as well, though i must say that some day, I will have to reassess Duke Ellington someday. But I llove some of the stuff Gil Evans did. 
I started listening to Jazz two years ago so I'm not the best person to give advice, but I've been going to JMA to read some reviews and learn about all the different genres. I've also been going to the local Jazz club too and I feel like it has been important to understand the genre: it's much easier to hear/see what musicians do, and it's critical according to José 
