Jazz Listening List-1

Jazz Listening List The following is a list in more or less chronological order of influential artists and/or recordings up to the end of the 1950s. It is by no means exhaustive, and exposing yourselves to as much jazz as possible can only be a good thing; after all this is an aural art. It is very interesting to go back and listen to some early jazz to see how and from where things have developed. Early Jazz • Original Dixieland Jazzband – made the first jazz recording in 1917. 1920s • King Oliver (and his Creole Jazzband) – Oliver taught and later employed the young Louis Armstrong. • Jelly Roll Morton (Red Hot Peppers) – • Louis Armstrong (particularly Hot 5s and Hot 7s) – Arguably the most influential musician in the history of this music. Everyone should have some Armstrong recordings. • Fletcher Henderson – Led a big band that featured Coleman Hawkins and later, albeit briefly, Lester Young on tenor sax. Henderson later played and arranged for Benny Goodman. • Duke Ellington – led an extremely long-lived and influential big band. Ellington’s was the house band at The Cotton Club in New York. To find out more about pre-1930 music, the website www.redhotjazz.com is an excellent resource. It has extensive biographies and music files. 1930s • Benny Goodman – Goodman’s band effectively started the swing era. He was first to have a ‘mixed’ band, first to feature electric guitar as a solo instrument, and was first to take jazz into the concert hall. (1939 Carnegie Hall concert) Pete Cook 2006 • Billie Holiday – After being discovered by John Hammond began recording in 1935. The records with Lester Young are particularly good. • Count Basie – The pre-war Count Basie orchestra recorded extensively at the end of the 1930s. These sides contain some of the best examples of Lester Young’s tenor playing. • Art Tatum – A virtuoso pianist who influenced many other musicians. • Coleman Hawkins – first came to prominence in Fletcher Henderson’s band, and went on to become one of the most influential sax players ever. His 1939 recording of ‘Body and Soul’ is a classic • Artie Shaw – came to prominence as a bandleader in the 30s, and was a virtuoso clarinettist, with quite a different approach than that of his contemporaries. 1940s WWII prevented the transition from swing to bebop from being recorded. Some transition type recordings have since surfaced made at Minton’s Playhouse. These feature Charlie Christian on Guitar, Thelonius Monk on piano and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and, despite the poor recording quality, make very interesting listening. Bebop, therefore emerged as a fully formed music in the mid-40s and created quite a stir. • Billy Eckstein – ran a big band in whose ranks numbered Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughn, Art Blakey and other notables. • Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie – Two of the most influential players in the history of jazz. They, almost single-handedly rewrote the jazz vocabulary. There are many recordings available. • Woody Herman (Thundering Herd and Second Herd) – A big band leader that made some very famous recordings. The Second Herd contained the ‘Four Brothers’ sax section. • Stan Kenton – A West-coast big band with a kind of rhapsodic brassy style. The Kenton band (which ran for years) tended to be either loved or hated by jazz fans. • Bud Powell (The Amazing Bud Powell vols 1 & 2) – An iconic exponent of bebop piano. Pete Cook 2006 • Miles Davis – Birth of the Cool – A classic record made by a very short-lived 9 piece group. Very interesting instrumentation and writing. • Lee Konitz (with Tristano, Marsh and Bauer) – A good example of the ‘cool’ style employed by the ‘Tristano School’ Very modern sounding and quite different from what else was around at the time. 1950s The 50s were an interesting era in jazz where a prolific number of recordings were made and the music developed in many ways. The tail end of the decade saw the introduction of the first ‘concept albums’ in jazz. • Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers – A record that heralded the beginning of the Hard Bop movement. This band later became very famous under Art Blakey’s leadership and ran for decades. • Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet – Clifford Brown’s untimely death at age 24 was arguably the biggest ever loss to jazz. Fortunately he recorded quite prolifically. • Miles Davis’ first quintet (Smokin’, Round about midnight) – once again Miles appears as an influential figure. • Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers – (1957 onwards) • Sonny Rollins – at the Villiage Vanguard 1957 • Art Pepper plus 11 – An excellent example of ‘West Coast’ jazz that was prolific in the 50s, and had a more ‘arranged’ feel to it. • John Coltrane – Blue Trane 1957 • Ornette Coleman – 1958 onwards, - The Shape of Jazz to Come – Coleman was credited with introducing free jazz, but Lennie Tristano had recorded the first ever free improv sides 10 years prior to this. • Miles Davis Sextet (Milestones 1958 and Kind of Blue 1959) – Classic albums that everyone should own. Kind of Blue has never been deleted! • Charles Mingus – Ah Hum (1959) • John Coltrane – Giant Steps (1959) Pete Cook 2006 .

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