I am 48 years old and grew up on all the classic hard rock, art rock, stuff. I still like it but I also like the new music. Eg. Green day, Lincoln Park. But I have recently taken a liking to Jazz and Blues. I do not like fusion jazz, or really busy jazz stuff, where it sounds like every instrument is playing a different song. I have James Cotten, (harp attack). This is the type of stuff I really like. I would appreciate recommendations for more of this type of music, as I have no history in this type of music. The same holds true for Blues, slow, Guitar driven stuff. like Stevie Ray Vaughn, But older. I would like to hear some blues that I haven't heard before, but still gives me that feeling. All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks, Steve

For jazz....start with anything Miles Davis did between 1955 and 1965. "Kind of Blue" is his seminal work, the biggest selling jazz album of all time for good reason. Also Cannonball Adderley's "Something Else" is a great example of the same kind of work....and Miles is featured on this album too.
Freddie Hubbard has many great albums from the early 60's to early 70"s.
Jackie McLean.....very good hard bop sax player from the same era has some very good albums. There are so many. Search around in "All Music Guide" website. For each artist/album you like, the other musicians featured on the album usually lead their own band and have their own albums too. AMG can lead you to others.
For blues you can't go wrong with Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Slim Harpo, Albert King, Junior Wells, Little Walker, Freddie King, early BB King, and newer artists such as Alvin Youngblood Hart, Ben Harper, Chris Duarte, Ronnie Earle.
Some of the British Blues from the mid to late 60's was great too such as Fleetwood Mack before the two chicks joined (Peter Green years). Peter Green was an incredible blues guitarist that competed with Clapton, Beck, Page for guitar god status in the late 60's until be had mental health problems. He has made a comeback in the last 2 decades however and his traditional blues work is impressive and sounds very much like a non commercial version of Clapton.
Very early Savoy Brown is awesome too.
Enjoy!

hehe... I'm going to suggest Miles Davis too from the same time period as the jazz then has more melodic elements too it. Try the album "Someday my Prince will come". Another good one to break you in with an early seminal work is Dave Brubeck's "Time Out."

Kind of Blue is an excellent place to start. As is Dave Brubeck - Time Out. For some more modern works, consider Pat Metheny. One Quiet Night is the last Pat Metheny that I bought. Excellent guitar work. If you are into horns, I've always been a fan of Chuck Mangione. Feels So Good, or Fun and Games are two good ones to start with.

As for blues, if you grew up a rocker, I'd suggest exploring some of Johnny Winter's work. IMHO, he's one of the best blues rockers of all time.

JD

All excellent suggestions, amongst the Seconded would be Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue. Simply one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, and rich enough that repeated listenings do not tire, but simply allow you to hear more and deeper. Cannonball Adderly, John Coltraine, and Duke Ellington are hard to beat, and if you like female singers, Sarah Vaughn should be on the listen list.

Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, If you're enjoying the James Cotten, may I suggest Sonny Terry, or Mississippi John Hurt (although he wasn't as famous for his harp playing as for his finger picked guitar) it'll help to see where James Cotten comes from musically. With you being a SRV fan (me too) I would suggest that you listen to Albert King. Albert was one of Stevie's favorite guitar players, and he famously admitted how much he'd learned (and stolen:)) from Albert. Of course Albert had basically adopted Stevie anyway, so I don't think he minded. Buddy Guy is another great choice, and you can still catch him in concert, as he tours pretty relentlessly. I cannot recommend enough a man who strode on all sides of blues, jazz, country, and rock, and still managed to be the most incredibly dynamic guitarist; Danny Gatton - Of whom Buddy Guy said, "he was the best guitar player I've ever heard".

Hope this gets you started - If you have a TT set up, haunt some of the thrifts, and local sales looking for jazz and blues records. IMO, they tend to have been better cared for than rock albums of similar age, and can often be bought for a dollar or less a piece. Nothing quite like finding a new musical favorite for pennies.

JD, I didn't know I had a Mangione ally here, I love his stuff. I became aware of him in high school, as a must listen for sharpening chops - I was a cornet player back then.

I have an LP copy of Land Of Make Believe (with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra) that was recorded at Massey Hall, Toronto 1973 that I adore. It's live, so the sound is not quite there with a studio recording, but the music is hip.

I listened to Kind Of Blue this afternoon. What a great album. Can't go wrong with the early Miles Davis. I might throw Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers out there too.

Ed

Albert King!!! Art Pepper!! Bill Evans!

Three contenders!!

Whenever someone asks me, "Where's a good place to start a jazz collection?", my answer is always the same: 1959. For some reason, every single jazz record from 1959 is excellent. I really don't think there was a bum record done that year.

Ask another jazz DJ friend of mine, and he will give you a slightly different answer: He believes the best jazz records will have great artwork on the cover, and will have been recorded from 1945 to 1965. His is another valid criteria, IMHO.

As for blues, I will second the Albert King suggestion, and also suggest any sort of electric Chicago blues.

The best thing I think you can do is to check stuff out of the library, see what you like, and then start buying more artists in those veins. Rob Gordon, fictional protagonist in High Fidelity, says, "I got from Deep Purple to Muddy Waters in six steps."

One of the nice things about buying music on eBay (other than the reasonable prices) is that they break down in the various types of music. Jazz, blues, etc. Just go there and surf around. If you like piano, try Monk and Hancock and Evans. There are several Miles Davis albums with Hancock on them. You might also give Modern Jazz Quartet (modern in the 50's-70's) a try. They did a great album with Miles entitled "Bags Groove". And, if you do any FM listening, try WRTI, 90.1 out of Temple Univ. They do great jazz 12 hours per day (6 pm to 6 am).

Thanks guys, now I have somewhere to start. I know that it will be a case of trial and error, your suggestions will make my chances of finding my favorites alot easier.

Jazz :
Miles Davis _ Birth Of The Cool and Ballads & Blues.
John Coltrane _ Blue Train and Giant Steps.
Billie Holiday _ Body and Soul and Songs for Distingue Lovers.
Thelonious Monk _ Monk's Music and It's Monk's Time.

Blues :
Freddy King : Blues Guitar Hero.
Robert Johnson :The Complety Recordings.
Leroy Carr : The Essential Leroy Carr.
Muddy Waters : Muddy Mississippi Waters Live.

Enjoy. :thmbsp:

clint.

You wont go wrong with Kind Of Blue but there is a lot of Miles Davis that fits your No fusion bill. It all depends on your taste.

I will second the votes for Jr. Wells. One of the greatest Chicago blues artists ever. Chi Town blues is more of an electrified blues then say more conventional blues. Lots of fuzz and feedback used in it and I dig its sound.

For more traditional Blues stick with Muddy waters, John Lee, Lighting Hopkins and the likes. You cant go wrong with about any BB King either. Good luck and let us know which of these your digging and ain't so we can suggest more.

Grumpy

I agree with you about fusion, it's OK for a few minutes, then it gets like heavy metal, well, almost like it. I got started with Miles, then also discovered Paul Desmond and Stan Getz, wonderful stuff. Try Rhapsody Music service, part of Real, if you have a speedy interent connection. They give you 25 FREE songs a month, or pay 10.00 a month and listen to streaming music that you pick from their catalog. Downloads are extra. Their catalog is very large, with all types of jazz

Sounds like you don't like free jazz. I don't either. Stay away from later period Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. Anyway, some very good recommendations already given. I'll add...

Guitar based jazz:
Kenny Burrell w/John Coltrane
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Grant Green - Idle Moments
Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of

Piano based jazz:
McCoy Tyner - New York Reunion
McCoy Tyner - Illuminations
Dave Brubeck - London Flat, London Sharp
Dave Brubeck - The Crossing
Horace Silver - Songs For My Father
Horace Silver - Finger Poppin'
Oscar Peterson - Night Train
Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream, Brilliant Corners

Organ based jazz:
Jimmy Smith is king here. So many great albums to choose from. Give House Party or Home Cookin' a listen. If you like those you can move onto other things in his catalog.
Larry Young - Unity (try some Jimmy Smith first though)

Be-bop and Hard bop
Hank Mobley - Soul Station, Roll Call and No Room For Squares
Tina Brooks - True Blue
Lee Morgan - Sidewinder
Freddie Hubbard - Open Sesame, Hub Cap, Hub-Tones...take your pick.
Anything from Clifford Brown and Max Roach. At Basin Street would be a good starter.
Anything from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Start with Moanin' although I really like A Night In Tunisia and At Cafe Bohemia.

I think you get the idea. There's literally hundreds more I could list. Do you like big band and swing? Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Louie Armstrong and of course, Duke Ellington are classics in that area. Then there's Charlie Parker. The greatest alto saxophonist ever. I like the Verve box set but it's expensive and you may not want to plunk down that kind of cash now. I should also plug the recently found tapes of the Thelonious Monk Quartet w/John Coltrane - Live At Carnegie. A simple fantastic live set.

Have fun. Keep us up to date on what you find.

H. Kloss

You must be able to pick up JAZZ.FM (CJRT 91.1) on your tuner where you are....

If you haven't spent any time listening to that station before, you owe it to yourself to tune it in and give a listen. You can find their programming schedule, and playlists online at www.jazz.fm.

They play a wide assortment of jazz... continuously. It may help you zero in on what you like and what you don't!

I'll swing you across the atlantic and give you some of the stuff I like. Someone's already mentioned British blues and that's what I'm talking.
Good old fashioned guitar wailings!

Early Fleetwood Mac is excellent, as is the aforementioned Savoy Brown, but don't forget the Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall. Guys like Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Mick Taylor, John McVie, Aynsley Dunbar, Keef hartley and tons of others have played with him. Other ones to check out are early Jeff Beck ("Truth"), early Ten Years After, and Rory Gallagher.

From this side, I don't know if anyone's mentioned Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Luther Allison (my avatar!!), Mike Bloomfield, Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, Albert Collins, Son Seals, Gatemouth Brown, Magic Sam, Magic Slim, and tons more.

BTW, I don't know why it took a dozen posts for BB King to come up? He's only influenced a gazillion guitarists in the last 50 years!!

H. Kloss

You must be able to pick up JAZZ.FM (CJRT 91.1) on your tuner where you are....

If you haven't spent any time listening to that station before, you owe it to yourself to tune it in and give a listen. You can find their programming schedule, and playlists online at www.jazz.fm.

They play a wide assortment of jazz... continuously. It may help you zero in on what you like and what you don't!
I have been listening to 91.1 every day when I get home from work for a couple of months now. Thats the main reason for my jazz jones. :yes: I do alot of house work from the time I get home till the wife gets in a few hours later. ( poor girl leaves for work at 7:00 AM and gets home at 7:00 PM) :sigh: It's my way to do my part and have some quality alone time with my music. I will have to carry a pad around with me and write down what catches my fancy. Audio Karma and it's members have really come through for me once again. Now I just have to jump in and start collecting (hopefully Cheap) :banana:

Regards, Steve

I have been listening to 91.1 every day when I get home from work for a couple of months now. Thats the main reason for my jazz jones. :yes:

I will have to carry a pad around with me and write down what catches my fancy.

The pad may not be necessary... I believe you can go back to the web site at a convenient time and just browse the playlist to identify what you were listening to....

I agree with you about fusion, it's OK for a few minutes, then it gets like heavy metal, well, almost like it. I got started with Miles, then also discovered Paul Desmond and Stan Getz, wonderful stuff. Try Rhapsody Music service, part of Real, if you have a speedy interent connection. They give you 25 FREE songs a month, or pay 10.00 a month and listen to streaming music that you pick from their catalog. Downloads are extra. Their catalog is very large, with all types of jazz

I will second the Rhapsody suggestion. You can customize "radio stations" and find all sorts of new music for free.

Jazz Samba - Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Collosus
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

I recently started listening to satelite radio and it has been benefical to finding tunes I like. Not only can you listen to one genre without(much)interruption, the artist and tune is scrolled across the screen.

Just wanted to get my name on here so I can get updates and find the thread easier for future reference.

mac

No one has mentioned Elmore James, huh? Kinda strange as everybody and his brother have covered his music. His recorded material I do have is good listening.


Of course anything ever done on the Chess and Blue Note labels before 1960 is a no brainer.

Carl

BTW, I don't know why it took a dozen posts for BB King to come up? He's only influenced a gazillion guitarists in the last 50 years!!

Nobody mentioned BB until the 12th post? I did in post #2. Just saw him in Edmonton about a month ago....unfortunately he is 80 now and it shows. He talked most of the set. Nice to see him however.

Someone also suggested Ten Years After.... "Undead", their first live album, does a cover of Woody Herman's " At The Woodchoppers Ball" that is unreal. There you have a British Blues version of a swinging jazz tune....can't get any better than that!

Nobody mentioned BB until the 12th post? I did in post #2.

Sometimes it's not what you post but how you post it. Unfortunately, your post was not very organized. I had to go back reread it again to pick up on this.

I have an Albert Collins CD (Blues) that I really enjoy. It's a compilation called "Deluxe Edition". Great songs- "I Ain't Drunk" is funny as hell too.

The live recording of "If Trouble Was Money" sounds outstanding! I use it when evaluating imaging on speakers.

Take care,

Ed

I'll add:

Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Smith- "Blue Bash!" (Evening listening Jazz/Bluesy guitar)
Jimmy Smith- "Root Down-Jimmy Smith Live!" (Great keyboard driven Jazz)
Buddy Guy- "Live-The Real Deal", "Bring 'Em In", "Sweet Tea"
B.B. King- "Blues On the Bayou"
Son Seals- "Midnight son"
Otis Rush- "Cold day in Hell"
Jimmy Rogers- "Chicago bound"

The last five artists give you a smattering of differing styles of blues all great in there presentation.

here are some of my fav's
ronnie earl- blues and ballads
jhon schofield-plays ray charles
holley cole- it happened one night
jimmy d. lane- its about time-with SRV'S double trouble band
norah jones

Sometimes it's not what you post but how you post it. Unfortunately, your post was not very organized. I had to go back reread it again to pick up on this.

I'll use different fonts, bullet points, multiple colours etc. next time.
Jeez

Don't forget Dexter Gordon. Anything from his Bluenote recordings are usually very good. I think "Go" is the one I like best but I would also recommend "Our Man in Paris". Also, Art Pepper Meets the Rythym Section. "Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson" is another great album. John Coltrane's "Blue Train"

Can't make any recommendation for Blues.

Another suggestion if you care to spring for a few bucks - the Ken Burns Jazz compilation. It is a 5 cd set with some early recorded blues to the early nineties. It also has a booklet with some nice photos. You are sure to find some things in there that you will like.

Check out this website, search for an artist, say Miles Davis, then it will list all the similar artists....then you can read biography's, discography's, links to others.

http://www.allmusic.com/

type in kkjz.org. you will be hearing the best jazz and blues available. it is cal stat long beach' station with J&B 24/7!

they will play stuff that will send you to their playlist which lists everything they have played. so of you miss the announcement, the titles are still accessible. its even linked to itunes.

you can listen on line or if you live in the LA area, on the air.

Excellent!! :thmbsp: Thank you!

Now, how can I go backwards out of my computer into my main rig so I can listen to this on 'real' speakers?

on the air, great stuff. at 2pm starts the blues program.

Brad Mehldau Trio _ Anything Goes.

A brilliant record from one of the best Jazz "Power Trios" of today. :yes:

clint.