Time Life Classic Jazz

A last offer on compilations which I usually am not a great fan of but are one way to find what you like. Try "The Best Blue Note Album in the World Ever!" It is really close to that. 2cd set and cd1 is an outstanding selection of classic jazz. Nothing inaccessable and great for someone new. CD1 includes tunes by Horace Silver, John Coltrne, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Cannonball Adderly (with Miles Davis), Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd and Grant Green .. and all well produced. Try to beat that cast on one cd! I have never put this on without someone (usually a non jazz friend)asking "WHAT IS THAT?". (cd2 is ok too but can't compare with 1)

Thought on getting into Jazz ( or classical or whatever) as Chelillingworth noted, it takes some time and effort and it is easy to waste a lot of $$$$ on stuff you just don't like (even if the critics rave about it). Best long term solutions I have found:

1) Find the best Jazz programs on local Radio and listen up. Best free sampler around. Beats the snot out of Time-Life. If your computer is up to it there are great national and international stations available on line too.
2) You may not know it but odds are that you know or are acquainted with someone who has a great jazz collection. Make it a project to find em and shamelessly brownnose. There is nothing like borrowing from a great collection and believe me the collections are out there. I have found that the general rule is that jazz listeners love to share and talk about their music. You're doing them a favor borrowing their tunes! Good jazz deserves a few good listens before pronouncing judgment (it ain't am radio) and this is the best way to do it.

Ain't life Great!

It sure is!

I want to generalize if appropriate:

I've had baaad experiences buying boxed sets since most-likely this is not a remastering but rather re-re-re-remastering of previous releases to make a compilation so that you can play it on some mega disk changer or car player(god forbid to play it on a descent component setup). I was crazy to buy a Led Zep boxed set and was extreamly dissapointed with the quality of these CDs. After all I avoid buying any compilations(except movie soundtracks sometimes they're great) or boxed sets.

And after all 10 discs for $94 isn't such a great deal for the boxed set -- still tooo much.

Another source for those wetting their whistle in jazz is to use your local library. The slections obviously vary from town to town, but the price is right. In my area, when I run into a new name I want to investigate I can just log on via the net or dialup, see what's in the county-wide system, have it delivered to my local branch, and get an email notifying me when it's in!

I just picked up the Time life jazz first two cd's. Keep in mind this is my very first jazz cd but I am very pleased with them. The recording are great and it offers an excellent selection of artists. I will post all the artist and songs when I get home.