Impossible to cover in a 10 item or less poll, nonetheless hopefully we can get some good debate going, whether positive or negative comments about the artist/artists.

Feel free to vote multiple times, and feel free to bring up new names, overlooked stars, under-rated performers, obscure musicians, ect...

Many names were omitted- only due to constraints of the poll.

Interested to hear your favorites, why they are your favorites, tidbits, anecdotes, stories, history, ect...

:thmbsp:

Here are a few obvious ones:
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross

I second brubeck, and add the Bird!

You purist may cringe, but for me, Jaco is by far one of the best bass players, and was an alaround great musician.

Here's another Dave Brubeck fan, and I'll also nominate Jimmy Smith.
Tom

Looking at the poll I said why not an all of the above choice. not on the list Herbie Hancock, Larry Young Jr., Mcoy and a host of others

Where's Dizzy? Fats Navarro? Chet Baker? Cannonball? Clifford Brown? Oscar Petersen? Count Basie? Duke?

You're so right -- can't put them all in!

Where's Dizzy? Fats Navarro? Chet Baker? Cannonball? Clifford Brown? Oscar Petersen? Count Basie? Duke?

You're so right -- can't put them all in!
Basie
Duke
Woody Herman
Louie Armstrong
Erroll Garner

Where's Dizzy? Fats Navarro? Chet Baker? Cannonball? Clifford Brown? Oscar Petersen? Count Basie? Duke?

You're so right -- can't put them all in!

It's hard to beat Peterson at jazz piano. And we can't forget GETZ. A man who was widely know in jazz circles as "The Sound" simply must be acknowledged.

Dave Brubeck, YMMV.

There's more Sun Ra fans out there? Sweet!

Billie Holiday, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton. Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman. I also agree that Jaco belongs on any list of jazz greats.

Fats Waller
Jelly-Roll Morton
Teddy Wilson
Ella Fitzgerald
Buddy Rich
Gene Krupa
Charlie Christian
Eric Dolphy

This post asks for tidbits and Sun Ra is on the list. His longtime sax player is "Pat Patrick." His son (Deval Patrick) is the current governor of Massachusetts.

I know you can't add all the greats in such a short list. Joe Zawinul is my favorite, by miles (pun intended).

Rick

Maynard Ferguson baby!!

ALso, Earl Klugh.

Suggest that to cover this well it should be broken down by instrument. Too many good trumpet players, and sax and drums and piano, etc., have been left out. Then there are vocals, female and male (ugh for male jazz vocals from me - only Satchmo was any good at this).

Just off the top of my head, Louis Armstrong, Louis Belson, Harry James, and Jimmy Smith.

Another vote for Dave Brubeck. I also like Oscar Peterson and Al Jureau.

I like some of all of the above, but Miles, Cannonball and Blakey are probably my favs. I will also add Bud Shank to the list.

I voted for everything except for Sun Ra only because I'm not familiar with his music. One of these days I'll have to give him a listen.

In the other/others category I could list dozens but I'll keep it short:

Dave Brubeck
Bill Evans
McCoy Tyner
Hampton Hawes
Hank Mobley
Dexter Gordon
Clifford Brown
Lee Morgan
Freddie Hubbard

and so forth and so on...

I'll second a whole bunch of the additional names put forward by the members who have responded to this thread. And I will add to it:


Ben Webster
Art Pepper
Bennie Golson
Lester Young
Paul Gonsalves
Steve Lacy

Oscar Peterson, Chet Baker, Eroll Garner, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon...

Phil Woods!

McCoy Tyner

So many, but Oliver Nelson........his stolen moments is a visceral mover if there ever was one:thmbsp:

Jimmy Smith, Eddie Harris, Les McAnn, and the list goes on....

coltrane-"my favorite things ",gives me chills to hear it. sonny rawlings also.brubeck,bird,duke,satchmo-all genius s.

Alot of great names here. Tyner and Coltrane are always near the top of my list. Lately I've been to Gerry Mulligan alot so add him.

cubdog

I like female jazz vocalists, and would like to add to the list:

Jacqui Naylor
Monica Salmaso
Holly Cole


Other instrumental artists in my rotation now:

Bob Kindred
George Garzone and Trio Da Paz
Clifford Jordan Quartet


Ashok

Bill Evans, Eric Dolphy, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Haden, Charles Lloyd, Gary Burton, ad infinitum.

Can't forget Milt Jackson.

cubdog

Kenny Burrell
Oscar Peterson

Just to name a couple.

As others have already mentioned (I think): Ben Webster, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan. I'll add Gene Ammons and Sonny Rollins, and Pete Fountain.

Joe Zawinal.

cubdog

Suprised it took till the third page to get Wes Montgomery out there.

Coltrane takes #1 for me followed closely by those on the list and mentioned.

As another member stated...Coltrane doing "My Favorite Things" is absolutely
stunning and mezmerizing. I'm talking about the 13:41 version recorded on 10/21/60 with McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis and Elvin Jones. An absolute master piece to my ears and brain. :thmbsp:

Yusef Lateef?
Stan Getz?
Paul Desmond?
Stephane Graphelli/Django Reinhardt?
Dizzy Gillespie?
MJQ?
Charlie Parker?
Milt Jackson?
Quincy Jones?
Jimmy Giuffre?
Oscar Peterson?
Jean Pierre Rampal?
Joe Zawunil?

You can come up with a list? Or even one.

Yup and I spelled most of the names right Too!

Just found some Columbia 6 eyes and am listining to The Jimmy Giuffre Trio - All I can say is these cats know their stuff.

I like names like Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck and Roy Ayers...

:music:

ok gentlemen, here's my favorite artists: Not in any particular order, just the Jazz artists I like all of them the same.
1. Chuck Mangione
2. George Benson
3. Bob James
4. Earl Klugh
5. Billy Cobham
6. Lee Ritenour
7. Dave Grusin
8. David Foster
9. Sonny Rollins
10. Herbie Hancock
11. Maynard Ferguson
12. Herb Alpert
13. David Sanborn
14. Kenny G.
15. Kim Waters
16. Down to the Bone
17. Ottmar Leibert
18. David Benoit
19. Louis Armstrong
20. Legendary Doc Cheatham
21. Count Basic
22. Bona-Fide

I'll second Bill Evans!

ok gentlemen, here's my favorite artists: Not in any particular order, just the Jazz artists I like all of them the same.
1. Chuck Mangione
2. George Benson
3. Bob James
4. Earl Klugh
5. Billy Cobham
6. Lee Ritenour
7. Dave Grusin
8. David Foster
9. Sonny Rollins
10. Herbie Hancock
11. Maynard Ferguson
12. Herb Alpert
13. David Sanborn
14. Kenny G.
15. Kim Waters
16. Down to the Bone
17. Ottmar Leibert
18. David Benoit
19. Louis Armstrong
20. Legendary Doc Cheatham
21. Count Basic
22. Bona-Fide

Man, you and I listen to a lot of the same music...

:music:

Al DiMeola
Return to Forever
Jean Luc Ponty
Paco de Lucia
Dave Grusin
Lee Ritenour
George Duke
Stanley Clark

Haven't seen his name on the list yet, how about Grant Green. I also love Charlie Parker, and early George Benson.

The names on my short list are here, but my #1 isn't. Now he is. Vince Guaraldi. A brilliant career cut tragically short.

I'll second Hank Mobley! Soul Station remains one of my favorite jazz albums. Freddie Hubbard deserves to be up there as well.

Unlike many Rock groups, many of these artists played with each other on many albums so how can you justify one over another? Hmmm. How many of these artists wrote "Standards"? One wrote more than a dozen. And he is the only one to do that on this list. Although I have no favorite.

Some of the artists I enjoy most, in alphabetical order

Abdullah Ebrahim
Bill Evans
Chic Corea
George Benson (early, as someone mentioned above)
Gino Vannelli
Hubert Laws
Return to Forever
Weather Report

Gotta have Wes Montgomery and Oscar Peterson on this list somewhere.

Grant Green
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Jimmy Smith
Miles Davis

I resisted the impulse to click each and every name on the list. I like them all; but the ones I selected are in my top 10 faves. Oh, and yet another Dave Brubeck fan here:yes:

Am I the only one here who listens to Art Tatum? Sadly, the quality of most of his recordings is sub par, but his ability blows away most pianists in my opinion.

One of my favorite concert memories is of Tommy Flannigan playing at a small club in S.F. Wow, the guy was unreal!

Here's another Dave Brubeck fan, and I'll also nominate Jimmy Smith.
Tom

Hell yeah! Jimmy Smith has moved me more with music than anything has. Look up "See See Rider" on Last.fm and give it a go! :music:

Al DiMeola
Return to Forever
Jean Luc Ponty
Paco de Lucia
Dave Grusin
Lee Ritenour
George Duke
Stanley Clark

Now this is more my style, and I'll add

John McLaughlin (and Mahavishnu Orchestra)
Roy Hargrove
Chico Hamilton
Garaj Mahal

So many of the artists have collaborated (Ponty>Duke/Ponty>McLaughlin, etc.) that the list would be something else, but this style is what I like.

In terms of my favorites, here's a few I would include in that "others" category:

Duke
Maynard
Oscar Peterson
Joshua Redman (don't think I saw that name yet)
Jimmy Smith
Clifford Brown
Max Roach

I LOVE Sun Ra. I have several albums but Strange Celestial Road is my fave. It's the one where the "Arkestra" sound really gels and begins to sound like what I imagine an "Arkestra" would sound like- all playing at once but not necessarily playing the same song. It's a wonderful effect.

Some of my faves that didn't make it to the list: Herbie Hancock, Airto Moriera, Eric Dolphy, Prince Lasha, Alice Coltrane. And MILES! I'm nuts about his electric phase. I listen to Get Up With It, On the Corner and In a Silent Way all the time.

Some great calls here, like looking through my collection. Some notable misses so far:
Modern jazz Quartet
Ella Fitzgerald
Bud Powell
Billie Holiday
Benny Goodman
Dinah Washington
Herbie Nichols
Sonny Rollins
Joe Pass, etc, etc, etc.

My personal favorite jazz musician is the great sax player Zoot Sims. One of the legion of Lester Young disciples who played with style and grace. One of the Four Brothers in Woody Herman's Thundering Herd with Stan Getz. He played with Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson, Sweets Edison, Joe Pass, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Rowles, Bucky Pizzarelli and the list goes on.

Here are some cds I can whole heartedly recommend if you dig straught ahead jazz: http://www.amazon.com/Zoot-at-Ease-Sims/dp/B00003L9GR (Zoot At Ease with Hank Jones, etc.)

http://www.amazon.com/Zoot-Sims-Gershwin-Brothers/dp/B000000YOO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1226077805&sr=1-1
(Zoot Sims & The Gershwin Brothers. With Oscar Peterson et al.)

Pretty much anything recorded by Norman Granz of Zoot for the Pablo label is worth buying. Enjoy.

I'd like to put in 5,000 votes for Coltrane, 3,500 for Monk and 3,200 for Mingus, please.
And write in King Oliver, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie.

Even at 80+ years old, Dave Brubeck can rip the roof off of a concert hall! He's a hell of a nice guy, too...I can't believe I got the chance to shake his hand!

Cool! That's the original realease, isn't it? Most of us are stuck with the later one with "TAKE FIVE" screaming across the top.

What no Big Band greats!!!! How could you leave out The Duke!

Off the top of my head:

Pat Metheny
Cannonball Adderly
Buddy Rich
Freddie Hubbard
Joe Henderson
Phil Wilson

There's so many!!