Kadlec: In my previous post, I suggested a textbook on jazz that will give you an excellent starting point for appreciating the music. If you want to start building a basic library of recordings, however, here are some of the artists you must include: 1. Louis Armstrong - the recent Columbia boxed set of his "Hot Five" and "Hot Seven" groups contains the seminal music in jazz. 2. Duke Ellington - Duke has a huge recorded legacy, and during his career his work included six quite different styles. Listen to his work from the 1930's, and his great groups of the early 1950's. 3. Count Basie: Kansas City Swing at its best. The Basie bands of the 1930's thru 1950's were a rhythm machine!! 4. Art Tatum: THE swing pianist. His recordings from the latter 1940's and early 1950's will get you started. 5. The fathers of the modern sax: Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Their works from the 1930's and 1940's provide the basis for understanding all of the saxophonists who followed in their footsteps. 6. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie: the most influential artists in developing the style called bebop. 7. Miles Davis: after Louis Armstrong, arguably the most influential musician in jazz. He went through 4 distinct periods in his career: bebop, cool, hard bop, and fusion. He had many great recordings, but the group he led in the latter 1950's (with Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane) is perhaps the finest in the history of jazz. His great recording, "Kind of Blue", is a must in any jazz library. 8. John Coltrane: a near diety to many older jazz buffs. His work in the late 1950's with Miles Davis is a great starting point, going on through his group of the early 1960's. Start with his recordings "Blue Train", "Giant Steps", and "A Love Supreme" to begin to understand what an enormous figure he was. 9. Jazz pianists: Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett. 10. Last: a few favorites of my own that I think you will like: Art Pepper; Stan Getz; Zoot Sims; McCoy Tyner; Dave Holland and Charlie Haden (bassists who lead their own groups); Clifford Brown (brilliant trumpet player who died very young in the early 1950's); Erroll Garner (great swing pianist); and guitarists Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Byrd, Kenny Burrell, and Bill Frisell. As you start listening to jazz, be open to everything. Some artists, and some styles, may not appeal to you at first, but that's OK. As your understanding of jazz grows, your range of interest will also. I envy you, because there is so much great jazz, from all eras, available today on CD. Enjoy your musical odyssey.
