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LISTENING LIST

Choosing a selection of suggestions for CDs is a very personal thing!
However, there are certain recordings which my old music teacher at school considered essential to 'a proper education'.
She was, of course, referring to Beethoven's 5th symphony, but there are equivalents from the genre of jazz.
I have tried to cover as many different styles as possible and concentrated on established recordings rather than 'the latest thing"

You might also like to investigate:
  • complilations such as Ken Burn's 'Jazz' (5 CD set)
  • the book 'What to listen for in Jazz' (Barry Kernfeld ISBN 0-300-07259-7) which comes with an excellent CD of historic recordings
  • the pocket book 'Jazz: 100 Essential CDs, the rough guide' (ISBN 1-85828-732-4)


  • Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
    Sorry to be predictable, but there is no way of getting away from the power of this album!
    Put together in, seemingly, the most 'calvalier manner' with the mimimum of musical framework,
    (sketched on the back of an envelope in one case) Miles created a truly timeless work.


  • Louis Armstrong:the 25 Greatest Hot Fives & Hot Sevens
    This represents some of the earliest really significant jazz recordings; from the 1920s.
    This is New Orleans Jazz (albeit recorded in New York or Chicago) at its best.


  • Benny Goodman: The Benny Goodman Story
    Choosen to represent the 1930s (although actually recorded later) this illustrates the sheer energy of Benny's big band and smaller groups.


  • Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy Masters
    The 1940s brought 'Bebop', of which the principal practitioner was Charlie Parker. Somehow his playing
    remains timeless. His influence on almost all jazz players who have followed him is immense.


  • Miles Davis: Round About Midnight
    More Miles Davis! An out of tune saxophone player, a cocktail bar pianist and a not particularly
    virtuoso trumpet player came together to produce a landmark recording!! (1950s)


  • Duke Ellington: Such Sweet Thunder
    There has to be some Duke Ellington on any list... because his music is great! The two really strong periods
    are early 40s and then the late 50 when this album was recorded. The writing is accessible yet often quite
    modern with fantastic solos from Clark Terry, Pual Gonsalves and Cat Anderson


  • The Oscar Peterson Trio with Stan Getz: The Silver Collection
    From start to finish this just swings with the momentum of an express train! (1950s)


  • Getz/Gilberto: Bossa Nova
    This is one aspect of 1960s jazz, the arrival of the bossa nova rhythm! Commercial, even cheesy; the
    birthplace of "The goil from Ipamema', yet classic!


  • John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
    A bit heavier, but well worth checking out. Coltrane develops his modal approach.. teetering on the
    edge of his free work; but the energy and emotion in this music is beautiful!


    PERSONAL FAVOURITES


  • Weather Report: Heavy Weather
    I bought this LP when it first came out. Thirty years later, it has stood the test of time!
    Less so for the popular 'Birdland' or even the virtuoso playing from Jaco Pastorious on
    'Teentown' but for the writing and interplay on 'A Remark you Made'. Jazz-rock was fully formed!


  • Jan Garbarek: Twelve Moons
    This is a great example of the ECM (European Contemporary Music) sound, an antidote to american swing rhythm.
    Here we have folk tunes, swirling synth pads and glorious full saxophone sound from Garbarek


  • Michael Brecker: Michael Brecker
    Whilst some musicians would put him down, Michael Brecker was undeniably the most influential
    saxophonist of the last 25 years; most recorded and technically most able.
    He certainly had a profound influence on me!
    Tragically he died January 13th 2007, a very sad moment in jazz history as he was not one of
    the 'old legends' but the trailblazer for contemporary saxophonism!
    This is his first solo album; featuring a star studded backing team.

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