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Thad Jones

While listening to Pandora in the backgroud...this killer trumpet playing caught my attention.  I walked over to the player to see that it was the Thelonius Monk album 'Five By Monk Five'.  I looked up the album on Wikipedia to see what musicians were on the session. It listed Thad Jones as the trumpeter.  He was killing it.  I'm 65 years old and have been listening to jazz for 46 years and have never heard any music by Thad Jones.   I'd seen his name a few times over the decades while reading about jazz, but nothing ever stood out.  I retrieved the album on Napster and played it.  Excellent album.  Cat can play.

Can anyone recommend any Thad Jones recordings that you think are some of his best work?

On a trivia note, .....pianist Hank Jones and drummer Elvin Jones are his brothers.
128x128mitch4t
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,012 posts
 

mitch4t,

I hear what you're saying. I've been a jazz fan for about 9 years, and more casually before that, but I don't have a clear view of the landscape and the history as I do with rock, so I depend on random discoveries and the recommendations of others. Thanks for the heads up guys. It's always great to make a new discovery.  

alexatpos
1,216 posts
 
Just a few clicks away....

https://forum.audiogon.com/search/index?utf8=✓&query=thad+jones
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Mitch,
 Yes I truly understand your point.  No matter how much jazz music listening and exposure there's still someone new to discover.  I have a pretty good size collection of jazz recordings but not as large as yours.

You are so right in that there's so much recorded jazz you could live two lifetimes and yet would be unable to hear it all. I've been a devout jazz listener 30 years and attend live jazz venues quite regularly. This experience of hearing the musicians live has profoundly impacted how I judge/choose audio components😊.

Since the topic is regarding a renowned jazz trumpeter,  are you familiar with Trumpeters Lee Morgan,  Kenny Dorham or Fats Navarro? I listen to a lot of Miles and Chet Baker. 
Charles 
jond's avatar
jond
5,847 posts
 
I knew of Thad as a player but not as a bandleader so this has been great. Listened to some Thad/Mel Lewis stuff and some of Thad's solo stuff. Great music and playing and excellent sound quality across the board thus far. Thanks for starting the thread Mitch and Frogman and Charles for sharing your voluminous jazz knowledge. And happy Friday all!
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t OP
1,611 posts
 
Charles1dad, my current trumpet faves are Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell, early 60's Donald Byrd and of course Miles.  The catalogs of just this handful of guys as leaders and as sidemen is exhaustive.

I've heard of Kenny Dorham and Fats Navarro...but never listened to any of their music.  Their music is easily available on my paid subscription service, but I've just never gotten around to giving them a try.  I've listened to Chet Baker a few times over the years..but he's not in my regular trumpet rotation.

My current project is to find EVERYTHING I can by Randy Brecker as a jazz sideman.  As a leader, I'm not that thrilled, but the few times I've heard him as a sideman...he REALLY sparkles.
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