Just getting back into two channel audio after a pretty fair stint focusing on Home Theater (movies). Really enjoying myself.

I had always considered myself a fan of Jazz and am starting now to realise that that statement is pretty laughable. Prior Jazz experiences had been Holly Cole Trio, Harry Connick Jr and a handful of Bargain Bin Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday type collections where the recordings were so old and pathetic they were likely public domain and thrown into the compilations with no consideration for quality.

I started my new mission with a series of John Coltraine albums recommended in another thread. Found that he wasn't for me. I know he's highly respected by most, but for me he is just too chaotic. The rythmn line in the background is nice and melodic, then there's this epileptic saxaphone all over the place up front. Not my thing. My intent is not to offend, I'm sorry if I have.

Other albums I've grabbed have been more price related and random, searching for that hidden gem. I've got a good Idea now of what I like and what I don't and am looking for some recommendations.

Likes
Piano
Bass
Guitar
Percussion
Horns, especially the Trumpet
Live performance
I like Jazz vocals (Cole, Krall, etc), but not exclusively

Dislikes
Chaotic arrangements
Wind instruments, especially the Saxophone
Poor recording quality

So please. Drop me a couple of hits. What should I look for? The random selection thing is getting expensive even buying from the 'Buy/Sell/Trade' places.

Oddly, at the moment I'm giving Monk a listen and am rather enjoying Charlie Rouse's Tenor Sax. *sigh* I'm hopeless.

One thing I do like in Coltraine recordings is the promenance he gives to his percussion group. The hats are right there up front and crystal clear. In this Monk arrangement the hats are there but no where near as up front.

Likes
Piano
Bass
Guitar
Percussion
Horns, especially the Trumpet
Live performance
I like Jazz vocals (Cole, Krall, etc), but not exclusively



Jim Robinson - Trombone, Count Basie piano led band fabulous rhythm section, Bunk Johnson Trumpet, George Lewis Trombone, Wooden Joe Nicholas Trumpet, Bobby Hackett piano, Charlie Christian guitar, Joao Gilberto guitar, Antonio carlos Jobim piano, Bucky Pizzarelli guitar, Nat King Cole piano, Gene Harris piano, James P. Johnson piano, Oscar Peterson piano extroninaire, Joe Pass guitar.

I have stuck to the list however if you want to include violin, Stephane Grappelli and Jean Luc Ponty.

None of these lads horse around with chaotic arrangements. The play with melody, rhythm andto a discernable beat.
Vito

Listen to Miles Davis - Seven Steps to Heaven and a vocal gem is Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan (Verve label)

How about a little trombone action?

Curtis Fuller
Grachan Moncur III

Or some piano/organ?

Andrew Hill
Les McCann
Lonnie Smith
McCoy Tyner
Bob James

Or some bass?

David Freisen
Lenny White

Or Guitar?

Grant Green
John Scofield
John McLaughlin
Gabor Szabo

Dave Brubec (for piano) - Time Out.
Miles Davis (trumpet) - Kind of Blue
Diana Krall (piano) - Ask onepixel for what recordings.
Nina Simone (lovely vocals) - Any of her live recordings.
And give Lionial Hampton a try. (percussion and vocals)
Art Blakley (percussion) - Meet Me at the Jazz Corner of the World.
And give Coltrane another try, pick up his Ballads album. Much calmer.

A really nice "sampler" if you want to listen to some various artists is Blue Note - Perfect Takes. (http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=68852) You can get it off yourmusic.com for $5.99!

Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue", and for drums Dave Brubeck "Time Out" side 2

May I recommend some piano trios.

Red Garland Trio

Plenty of good albums, even the quartets with John Coltrane, but I can understand if he's not your thing. Try the albums A Garland Of Red, Red Garland's Piano, Groovy, It's A Blue World or Can't See For Lookin'

Bill Evans Trio

Sunday At The Village Vanguard, Waltz For Debbie, Explorations, At Shelley's Manne-Hole, Everybody Digs Bill Evans or Portrait In Jazz

Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train

How about some larger ensembles featuring piano as the prominent instrument:

Dave Brubeck Quartet

Everybody suggests Time Out and rightfully so, but may I suggest some recent material, London Flat London Sharp, Park Avenue South (live), The Crossing, Just You Just Me, So What's New or Nightshift: Live At The Blue Note.

McCoy Tyner

Again, recent material plays very well, Illuminations, Land Of Giants, McCoy Tyner w/Stanley Clarke and Al Foster or New York Reunion.

There's lots of other lesser known artists as well, mostly from the 60's, featuring the piano in either trio format or larger ensembles. I can provide a list of those if you're interested.

Cheers

You can't go wrong with the Modern Jazz Quartet!...'ceptin maybe that Plastic Dreams LP (What's with that friggin' triangle everywhere?).

The Quintet (Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Milt Jackson)...excellent!

ANYTHING by-with-from-or dedicated to Charlie Mingus. :thmbsp:

Avoid Rahsaan Roland Kirk till you can name everyone that has a problem playing with/for Stan Getz. :smoke:

There are some great recommendations above. I'll add some great guitar jazz to the list: Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue.

And some recent but really excellent piano jazz - Renee Rosnes - Danish Big Band Radio.

Other older excellent jazz pianists would include Horace Parlan - Us Three, Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea, Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train.

And if you feel like trying some jazz organ how about Joey DeFrancesco?

Another piano trio that deserves much more acclaim than it gets, the Yamamoto Trio. Two titles on Three Blind Mice: Misty, and Midnight Sugar. Not only superb performances, but the recordings themselves are excellent.

A couple more titles from the Oscar Peterson trio: OP plays the Harold Arlen Songbook, and the Cole Porter songbook. Less 'demanding' tunes, but with interesting arrangements, on Verve.

Piano = Thelonius Monk = "Straight No Chaser"

The newest CD has an unreleased track (never on the vinyl) from the sessions that produced this classic.

peter malick group featuring norah jones the green "chillin" remix cd is good.

i like the trumpets. chris botti, rich braun are a couple of my favorites.

also the old herb albert's are great. whipped cream and other delights is my favorite.

How about a little trombone action?

Curtis Fuller
Grachan Moncur III

Or some piano/organ?

Andrew Hill
Les McCann
Lonnie Smith
McCoy Tyner
Bob James

Or some bass?

David Freisen
Lenny White

Or Guitar?

Grant Green
John Scofield
John McLaughlin
Gabor Szabothe Lenny white i know plays drums? is there another one?

dont forget WEATHER REPORT

the Lenny white i know plays drums? is there another one?

You are correct, Sir! I made a mistake, I meant to say 'Stanley Clarke'.

But FWIW, Lenny White did record some amazing LPs with folks like Al Dimeola, Larry Coryell, Jimmy Smith, etc... My favorite Lenny White LPs would be Venusian Summer, Streamline, Adventures Of Astral Pirates, Big City. Hope I got the LP titles correct at least :o

Miles Davis - The Birth of The Cool and the new Prestige Sessions box set. I also have a particular fondness for Circle in the Round -- it's a bunch of different tracks from different periods, so it ends up being a good introduction to his music (especially the earlier non-electric period output).

Yeah I really fell in love with Diana Krall. "Stepping Out (The Early Recordings)" has more instrumental than her newer stuff. "All for You" is another favorite.

Al Dimeola - The Essence Of Al Di Meola
Earl Klugh - Best of
George Benson - Live at Carnegie Hall...excellent bluesy
Howard McGhee - Maggie's Back in Town...I surf with Boots his son!
Keiko Matsui - Dream Walk
Deodato - the album with Baubles, Bangles & Beads
Herb Alpert - Rise
Hiroshima
Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola & Jean Luc Ponty - The Rite of Strings
Weather Report - Heavy Weather...may be bit to busy for ya but fun.

And its hard to beat Louis Armstrong and some Shirley Bassey

Have fun!

Its pretty difficult to omit the the sax and come up with alot of suggestions,so I think you should follow the recommendations of the guys who suggested piano trios.The Bill Evans Trio is a very good suggestion, especially with Scott LaFaro playing bass.David....

Wow! Overwhelming. Thats a lotta recommendations.

I've got my list cut and pasted into notepad to print off and I'll be off to the 'Buy Sell Trade' tomorrow after work to see what I can come up with. Thanks everyone for posting.

Some of the recommendations I've already discovered.

Wornears recommendation of Thelonius Monk "Straight No Chaser" was the album I was enjoying while writing my original post. I'd mentioned I was rather enjoying Charlie Rouse's Tenor Sax despite my comments against the wind instruments. Currently I'm again enjoying another Saxaphone album while I write this (Art Pepper).

Fernzee ... even before my reintroduction to 2 channel I've been a fan of Nina Simone. Sought her out after hearing her mentioned in 'La Femme Nikita'. I think I've got three or four of her albums in the basement. Will have to dig them out and revisit them. Thanks for the reminder.

Vitopanch ... thanks for mentioning the Trombonists. I played trombone in my Junior High band (can't say I was any good though), but I always thought trombones were typically bigband type instruments. I'll definately be keeping my eyes open for some trombone action.

Thanks again everyone. I'll let you know how I make out with hunting some of these up over the weekend.

Well its been a few weeks of digging threw the Buy\Sell\Trades and the list I've been carrying around in my wallet is getting quite tattered. I've found some Hits and a coupla Misses. I thought I'd report back to let you know your recommendations are being followed up and weren't a waste of your time. Thanks to everyone who responded.


Thelonious Monk 'Staight, No Chaser' (1996 reissue of 1967 release) :thmbsp:
Enjoyed this album very much. Consistant the whole way through.

'The Unique Thelonious Monk' (1987 reissue of 1956 release) :thmbsp:
Really enjoy the Piano/Bass/Percussion trio. Will definately watch for more Monk in this type of ensemble.

'Thelonious Monk's Greatest Hits' (1997 reissue of 1969 release) :thumbsdn:
After enjoying the 'Staight, No Chaser' and 'The Unique' albums, I was caught a little off guard on this one. The first three quarters of the album were a little chaotic for my liking. Did enjoy the last two tracks, 'Blue Monk' and 'Staight, No Chaser'. As far as saxaphones go Charlie Rouse is tolerable, and I mean that as a complement as I've previously stated that I don't like the saxaphone. This one will go back to the buy\sell\trade and I'll be a little more cautious with Monk in the future.


Bill Evans & Jim Hall 'Undercurrent'(1963) :thmbsp:
Finally picked this album up. Its funny cause the cover has been my all time favorite album cover since I first saw it probably twenty years ago. I use it as my Avatar, yet this is the first time I've gotten around to picking it up. A little disappointed that the copy I found has the 'blue' cover rather than what I believe was the original more a black and white look, and furthermore was missing the inlay so there is no information on the back of the case. A great album for the most part, mellow. One disappointment was track two where Evans and Hall do an up tempo, chaotic rendition of 'My Funny Valintine', one of my all time favorite songs. Thanks Drybasement!


Charles Mingus 'Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife' (1959)
This one was loaned to me by a friend on CD-R. Neither loved nor hated it. Have no idea what Mingus was playing on it or the details of the ensemble, but enjoyed it enough to keep him on my list for when I'm in the stores.


Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue' (1997 reissue of 1959 release) :thmbsp:
Was a little concerned listening to the first track of this, but by half way through track two I was into it and enjoyed the remainder of the album. Makes me wonder if my opinion of the first track will change the next time I listen to it. Very much enjoyed what in the old days would be considered the 'B' side. I'm going to seek out the second Davis recomendation 'The Birth of The Cool' soon. Thanks Fernzee!


The Modern Jazz Quartet 'Reunion at Budokan 1981' :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp:
At first the sound of the vibraphone caught me off guard and I was thinking it was too pronounced, 'in your face' or elavator musicish, but sure enough I was won completely over by the sound of it. I think the quality I love about this recording is that it doesn't demand your attention to enjoy it. I can listen to it while reading and still enjoy both activities. Other Jazz I've been listening to, Coltrane and Monk come to mind, demand too much of my attention to make dual activities like reading while listening possible. The Modern Jazz Quartet are absolutely at the top of my 'must find more' list. Thanks bOUddha!.


Diana Krall 'Love Scenes' :thumbsdn:
Diana Krall 'The Girl in the Other Room' :thumbsdn:
Holly Cole Trio 'Girl Talk' :thumbsdn:
'Love Scenes' and 'Girl Talk' I already owned and dug up out of the basement for a revisit. I found 'The Girl in the Other Room' at the library. I'd previously mentioned I liked these vocalists, I remembered liking them at least. I wanted to enjoy these. I thought I should enjoy this. In fact I can't say I didn't enjoy these. All I can say is that I found both Krall and Cole fatiging. I think I like thier sound, but I found in the four or five times I put thier discs in, I couldn't get all the way through them. Not sure how else to explain it.

Glad to hear Jazz reviews are going well. I really do like your little write-ups of what you think. In fact, this one below is making me curious, enough so that I wrote it down and am going to look for it.

Thanks much.

The Modern Jazz Quartet 'Reunion at Budokan 1981' :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp:
At first the sound of the vibraphone caught me off guard and I was thinking it was too pronounced, 'in your face' or elavator musicish, but sure enough I was won completely over by the sound of it. I think the quality I love about this recording is that it doesn't demand your attention to enjoy it. I can listen to it while reading and still enjoy both activities. Other Jazz I've been listening to, Coltrane and Monk come to mind, demand too much of my attention to make dual activities like reading while listening possible. The Modern Jazz Quartet are absolutely at the top of my 'must find more' list. Thanks bOUddha!.

Don't give up on Coltrane, all his work does not fall under "chaotic" and your tastes are bound to grow. Try Blue Trane.

Mingus is a bassist.

Anything by Miles Davis before Bitches Brew.

Bass - Ron Carter

Guitar - Kenny Burrell, Larry Coryell

Sax - Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, etc. (Know your not big on the Sax, but it's my favorite.)

Trumpet - Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard

Keyboards - Herbie Hancock, Chic Corea

Flute - Herbert Laws

Weather Report - Ignore everything after Heavy Weather.

Duke Ellington

Passport - German jazz

ECM label - fairly laid back, melodic, and spacey.

[b]Bill Evans & Jim Hall 'Undercurrent'(1963) :thmbsp:
Finally picked this album up. Its funny cause the cover has been my all time favorite album cover since I first saw it probably twenty years ago. I use it as my Avatar, yet this is the first time I've gotten around to picking it up. A little disappointed that the copy I found has the 'blue' cover rather than what I believe was the original more a black and white look, and furthermore was missing the inlay so there is no information on the back of the case. A great album for the most part, mellow. One disappointment was track two where Evans and Hall do an up tempo, chaotic rendition of 'My Funny Valintine', one of my all time favorite songs. Thanks Drybasement!

Glad to be of assistance but it sounds like you were on the right track anyway. All the Evans I recommended were prior to 'Undercurrent', his Riverside years. All of it highly recommended especially the stuff with Scott LaFaro.

Diana Krall 'Love Scenes' :thumbsdn:
Diana Krall 'The Girl in the Other Room' :thumbsdn:

I could never get into Diana Krall. She's, well, boring - not to put a finer point to it. But I'm not much of a fan of vocal jazz anyway.

Cheers

I'd also like to recommend Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool. The arrangements are spectacular, the solos are quality not quantity, and the recording sounds great. Besides, where else can you hear a jazz nonet? :)

Well its been two months more of digging through the Buy\Sell\Trades and the list I've been carrying around in my wallet has almost disintigrated. More Hits and even more Misses. Once again I'm reporting back to let how I'm making out. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Madeleine Peyroux 'Dreamland' (1996)
Madeleine Peyroux 'Careless Love' (2004)
Love this artist. Love the old style quality to the two recordings. Find it funny to look at Madeleine's picture on the cover cause, her picture says thirty something while her voice screams fifty something grandmother (I keep picturing Nina Simone in my head). Love the fact that you can hear the fingers on the strings etc. Of the two the nod goes to 'Careless Love' in a BIG way. This was probably my favorite album of all those I've listened to in this period of exploration, with Modern Jazz Quartet's 'Reunion at Budokan 1981' being the very close second.

Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue' (1959)
Revisted this one. Enjoying it. Still struggling with Coltrane's saxaphone, and oddly, Bill Evans on piano with this album. The latter surprised me as I consider myself a Bill Evans fan. None of the tracks are jumping out at me as either love or hate, but rather consistantly enjoyable. I do find though the more I listen to it the more I'm finding I'm getting out of it. Still not sure why some consider this the greatest Jazz album of all time. Will continue to listen to and enjoy this one.

Modern Jazz Quartet 'Lonely Woman' (1962)
Though the first track had me a little concerned the remainder of the Album was what I was expecting and hoping for. Modern Jazz Quartet remains on my watch list for albums to buy. Still loving that Vibraphone. Between this and the 'Reunion at Budokan 1981' album I commented on previously, I'll have to give the nod to the Reunion album.

Chris Botti 'Midnight Without You' (1997)
Love Botti's slow casual approach to trumpet, this is the type of trumpet playing I'd like to see more of. But I'm not fond of his choice of modern MTV arrangement and supporting instrument choice. Could do without the vocal tracks. Something about the drums\percussion doesn't feel right. Like its been generated on computer rather then played by an artist. If anyone could recommend a Chris Botti album that might have more Classical Jazz sound I'd like to try him again some time.

Michael Buble 'Michael Buble' (2003)
Very Harry Connick Jr esque. Not that thats a bad thing. Will consider him in the future but not running out there to get more.

Wilton Felder 'Lets Spend Some Time' (2006)
I liked the melodic sound of the horns in these tracks, but the supporting instruments, primarily the percussion have a synthesized quality. It reminds me of Yanni's Cameleon Days where if I understand correctly he recorded the entire thing in his basement studio on synthesizers. Kinda ruined it for me. There were a couple of tracks too with vocals that kinda didn't need to be there. This one will be going back to the Buy\Sell\Trade.

Joe Farrell 'Moon Germs' (1972)
I listened to this album three times trying to understand it, it had been recommended. But ultimately I never got it and it'll go back to the Buy/Sell/Trade. Far too chaotic for my tastes.

Michel Petrucciani Trio 'Live at the Village Vanguard' (1985)
A little chaotic for my tastes, but love the percusion so I'll hang on to it. Not fond of the bassist.

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Stan Getz meets Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster Soulville, Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster, Bill Evans Trio '64 and You Must Believe in Spring, Charles Mingus Blues and Roots and Ah Um, Barney Kessell The Poll Winners, all of Monk's Blue Note and Riverside albums, all of Bill Evans Riverside albums, all of Bud Powell's Blue Note albums. Check out multi-disc sets on the Quadromania and Proper Records labels. Quadromania four disc sets are $8.99 at amazon.com

If you can get a copy of
"FOR THE FIRST TIME"
THE COUNT BASIE TRIO on Pablo
Count Basie on Piano
Ray Brown on Bass
Louie Belson on Drums.

Many great suggestions. You might start reading this thread http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=904584#post904584 for particular albums. Runs the gamut of what you've ask. But, is almost sixty pages of suggstions (although probably 5-10% repeats). Enjoy!

Not going to suggest any particular people or records, what I want to talk about is how to buy good collections rather than bad. As you mention in your original post there are a lot of "greatest hits of ...," "essential...," "best of ...," collections out there, some very cheap. But a lot of these are a pastiche of the artists career, with little, or no, information about when, where, and with who the music was recorded.

My recommendations:
Look for a particular album (most legit album releases on CD have more info than when originally released), or for those who recorded during the singles era, look for good career retrospectives (Rhino is particularly adept at this), or multi-CD chronologies (many good ones available, though the most recent ones usually have the best sound from older recordings—some modern noise reduction methods are remarkable). Don't hesitate to delve into early recordings on CD, particularly the well-produced chronologies many European companies are now releasing (the copyright laws are shorter in Europe, I think, and music before about 1950 is fair game). If you don't have any jazz recordings from the 20's-40's, I don't think you can really be considered a real jazz fan. This is when the music was being invented and includes the most important recordings by some of the greatest jazz musicians ever (Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, etc, etc—ok so I did name a few people). This is essential music for any jazz/blues fan. I also suggest "allmusic.com" for their exhaustive discographies of virtually every American musician/composer/group/impresario of any importance, and an ever increasing number of foreign ones; and their often insightful reviews of current and historical music. A website likes this is a model of what makes the internet a great place for onestop, specific info shopping, free to boot.

I didn't go through every post, but harking back to your original post - you might try some Vince Guaraldi:

A Charlie Brown Christmas was just recently re-released in a remastered version

and his work with Bola Sete (guitar) on From all sides is a classic guitar/piano piece

Gene Harris Trio with Stanley Turrentine Live...:thmbsp:

Likes
Piano
Bass
Guitar
Percussion
Horns, especially the Trumpet
Live performance
I like Jazz vocals (Cole, Krall, etc), but not exclusively

Dislikes
Chaotic arrangements
Wind instruments, especially the Saxophone
Poor recording quality

Try (several of my mega-favorites!):
The Jazz Channel Presents Keiko Matsui (Image Entertainment, 2001)(predominantly piano)
Friday Night Live w/Al Di Meola, John McGlaughlin & Paco De Lucia (jazz flamenco guitar)

I'm with you on Coltrane, only have one album (promo, not for sale). I can see why it was never released, sounds like he's choking a goose. Listened to it one time, broke me of sucking eggs.

If you like trumpet, check out "Chris Botti Live" (Chris was mentioned above by a fellow that knows his stuff). You have to buy the DVD, it comes with a "bonus" CD.

Started hearing Botti on a local college station, bit on "Live" & "To love again". Normally, live albums stink & studio cuts sound great, but there's a complete 180 here. The quality of the "Live" album is stunning, one of the finest jobs of recording I believe I've ever heard. It's basically a smooth jazz twist to the old standards (even has the old retread Burt Backarach?), but if you like trumpet music, or any kind of music, I think you'll like this one.

And if you don't, feel free to tell everyone what a know-it-all cretian I am.

I already know, Charles

I am surprised there has been little mention of Sonny Rollins. Get Saxophone Colossus. Way Out West is an audiophile favorite but Saxophone Colossus is better music to my ears. As for Chris Botti and smooth jazz in general I have a one word description. Boooorrrring!!!!!!:smoke:

One album that has been getting a lot of play on my deck these days is Wynton Marsalis's Black Codes (from the underground).

Earl Klugh is good, as well as Sea Level. I'm not at home, so I can't get specific on those. I'll post again when I get home.

I agree on Chris Botti. I was doing the channel swim at my gf's place, and they were doing a begathon featuring him. I called her in, and we just lay on the bed and watched the entire thing. GREAT STUFF.
Another one I encountered on the Colorado College station. They played one song, and I found it on the internet. VERY PLEASED with my purchase.
As soon as I can find the CD, I'll send along the info...

This is a great thread, lots of ideas on how to spend money. Thanks for all of the input.

Charles

Sax - Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, etc. (Know your not big on the Sax, but it's my favorite.)

Add Benny Carter to that list. He is maybe the smoothest sax player I have heard.

Anything by the late, great, Anita O'Day.

Any Horace Silver albums from the 60's will get you goin' good. Lee Morgan, too.