Looking for help from big jazz fans
 

I've been listening to jazz for over a decade and own a decent amount of it but I feel like the growth of my appreciation has been somewhat stilted because, unlike other forms of music, I don't know anyone else personally who is really into it. As a result, I find myself going around aimlessly checking out albums by the "greats", but not having that nice organic process of people saying hey check this or that album out.

What I'm hoping here is that I can get some good recommendations of albums or artists that are maybe a bit more under the radar. I already have albums like "Bitches Brew" and "Kind of Blue" and at least a retrospective or two of most of the real big names, especially in bebop and swing. I'm open to pretty much all styles from dixieland to avant-garde and everything in between, old and new, and of course if you're able to share your recommendations that would be particularly appreciated. :)

i'm not really setup to share but i'll toss out my regular top two choices in threads like this

for new stuff bordering on avant garde definitely check out jaga jazzist if you're not already familiar with them. they're a norwegian 10 piece that have been playing together since high school. very awesome, i'd recommend starting with their 'a livingroom hush' album. their last release 'what we must' reminds me a lot of 'loveless' by my bloody valentine, i think it's the density of the production that really does it. either way here's a clip from ALH

YouTube - Jaga Jazzist - Animal Chin

my old school recommendation will always be eric dolphy. he was a free jazz pioneer who played with the likes of charles mingus, ornette coleman, and john coltrane. his life and career were cut short by diabetes in 1964. i cannot recommend his 'last date' album enough, recorded just 3 weeks before his death it's fantastic from start to finish. his take on 'you don't know what love is' stands as my absolute top tune.

there's not a whole lot of solo dolphy stuff on youtube, but thankfully there's lots of mingus. including this full set featuring dolphy (to mingus' left).

YouTube - Charles Mingus Sextet - Live in Norway, 1964 Part 1

Hot damn does that song kick ass! I definitely have to get some stuff by these guys.

I love Mingus. I just downloaded that Dolphy album, really looking forward to checking it out tonight.

glad you're digging it.

the main guy behind JJ is a fellow by the name of lars horntveth. he's put out a solo disc or two as well. his solo work tends to focus on strings more than horns but it's still really good.

the jaga jazzist collaboration with 'motorpsycho' is also worth checking out. especially their cover of the art ensemble of chicago's 'theme de yoyo'. TAEoC is another group well worth checking out if you're not familiar with them as well.

Cool. Yeah, despite having lived in Chicago for a long time, I'm not familiar with The Art Ensemble of Chicago but after what I just read about them on Wikipedia I'm intrigued to say the least. I'll definitely check out the other stuff you mentioned too.

Yeah, the Art Ensemble is legendary stuff :D - Bap-Tizum, Urban Bushmen, Les Stance a Sophie...

A bit crazy at times, but a nice and unique blend worked to perfection.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are my favourite Nawleans/Dixieland band, still going strong after a few decades.

Cannonball Adderly is always one to look out for.

I have more free jazz/Avant garde and some fusion moreso than anything else... Any sub genre in particular you like or are interested in? Or anything and everything?

Yeah, I like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Cannonball Adderly—though I'm familiar with Cannonball mostly as a part of Miles Davis' band.

As far as what I'm looking for, really anything and everything except smooth jazz. I don't know much fusion at all so I'm definitely interested in that. John Zorn is pretty much the extent of my knowledge of avant-garde and my knowledge of dixieland is pretty much limited to Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, so input on those is greatly appreciated as well. I know a bit more about bebop and swing but I'm definitely open to hearing more about those. And of course I'm sure there are many more subgenres I'm not even thinking of, so input on anything else would be great.

from what i know of fusion the best places to start would be 'weather report' along with herbie han****'s work with the headhunters.

I'm not familiar with the Headhunters, but I like Herbie a lot. I'll have to check that out. I'm familar with Weather Report by name and reputation but I've never actually listened to their music. Do you know a good place to start with them?

Also, lol at this software censoring Herbie's last name. I guess we'll just have to refer to him as Herbie Hanpenis from now on.

Never been a big Weather Report fan, but can't go wrong with their ST...

I'm going to make a recommendation here that I think is the best way for experiencing new jazz, so take it for what its worth but I'd say use Pandora or LastFM and just let it run.

Jazz is like any other art form, just experience a whole bunch without making a concious effort to do so.

I think its healthier for your understanding but thats just what i think. Too many people want to decide "I'm going to be intelligent, i'm going to listen to jazz" and then they come here bemoaning the death of "real music like jazz" and they end up getting screwed.

I don't think you're in the same boat but I'm trying to illustrate the issues with forcing it.

duke ellington, air, mulatu astatqe, and sun ra are all pretty great

Own several Duke Ellington albums already: Two of the Carnegie Hall Concerts, The Soundtrack to Anatomy of a Murder, and some Ken Burns compilation of his music. Do you have any specific albums you'd recommend?

I own one Sun Ra live album and have always been curious about his stuff. Do you have specific recommendations?

Air and Mulatu Astatqe are new names to me. Any thoughts on a good starting point with either of them?

Meh. I might try that but honestly that's not how I normally get into music, I normally by albums based on recommendations or stuff I've read about them. So going the LastFM route something is kind of forcing it for me.

for sun ra space is the place is good fun, air lore is a great album, and mulatu astatqe's music is documented in a comp called ethiopiques vol 4

just gonna note the distinction between the jazz 'air' from the 70s and 80s and the electronica act called 'air' from the late 90s to present in case some lurkers are looking to download. might have to be a little creative with web searches.

Thanks!

Ah, I actually already have that album and love it. I didn't realize it was all one guy though, I thought it was a comp of different people. My copy is just a burned CD and I guess never really paid attention to the tracklistings in iTunes when I imported it.

Not sure if this is on the right track, but I found I drifted into Bossa Nova, especially Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz. I have found it unexpectedly rewarding in musical sophistication and it sure is soothing to listen to after a stressful day

Heh. Yeah, when I first read that recommendation, I thought, "Air? WTF, those guys aren't jazz." Then I turned to Wikipedia and found out that there's another Air just like there's another Nirvana. :D

Sounds good to me. I know Stan Getz by name but I'm not familar with his music. Antonio Carlos Jobim I've never heard of.

Jobim wrote the Girl From Ipanema, but don't be put off, the original version is terrific, and he did other such gems as Wave, Stone Flower, Aquas de Marco and a host of others

Ah, well I definitely know "The Girl From Ipanema".

So does the whole planet, usually some 10th rate imitation of Jobim\Gilberto original. I got into this because of Santana's version of Stone Flower on Caravansarai (a great version) and slowly got sucked into full blown bossa nova. Stan Getz was one of the first Americans to get on board and when i started to play sax, he was an obvious inspiration (how DOES he get that smooth sound?)

Does recommendation from 'smaller' Jazz fans count?:p: Other than Jazz fusion, I'm not really big on jazz except for the usual well known stuff.

Jazz sub-genres confuses me sometimes. I'd be happy if anyone could just name the sub-genres and an album along with it. In layman's terms and from whatever I've listened to, you could try these -

Horace Silver - Song for my father(easy listening stuff)
YouTube - Song For My Father-Horace Silver

Andrew Hill - Point of Departure(avant-garde'ish sound)
Couldn't find any track from this though.

Try and get your hands on some Zimbo Trio stuff as well :). They've got some great bossa nova stuff, especially some of the earlier releases. Most of the tracks on youtube seems scattered and all over the place. I'll just post whatever came up first.
YouTube - Zimbo Trio: zimbo samba (Farout Recordings)

Other than those, my knowledge is restricted to more of the popular choices already posted here.(and many more I don't know of yet, which I'll discover thanks to this thread :D) I mean, holy ****, just browsing through some of these record labels leaves me with hundreds of names and releases.
There are many Jazz-related stuff as well. Some of it is ambient, and others are just too weird to even be considered avant-garde Jazz.(I'll just name them if you are interested)

As for Jazz-fusion, I'm restricted to the one's with a progressive structure. I'm not sure about fusion with other styles(although there are a few metal bands as well) but anyways, apart from the usual Mahavishnu Orchestra and Soft Machine, you could try -

Return to forever - Romantic Warrior(thanks Lucifer_sam for this :D)
YouTube - Return To Forever - The Sorceress

Magma - S/T
YouTube - Magma - Kobaïa

Bill Bruford - One of a Kind
YouTube - Bruford - Fainting in Coils

Brand X - Unorthodox Behaviour
YouTube - Brand X Nuclear Burn

Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy
YouTube - Al Di Meola - Flight Over Rio

Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue
The Un-Merry-Go-Round - Part 1, Part 2

If jazz fusion really didn't appeal much, oh well, not a big deal. For me, it surely does feel a lot different from the usual stuff discussed here.

Good calls on the Brand X and Bruford. :thumb:

And also check out Back Door, a progressive jazz band from the 70's.

YouTube - "Vienna Breakdown" - Back Door

Or maybe the 60's I'm not sure....

This thread is a little old, but check out these guys:

Prophecies of War (Unfortunately, the forum is not letting me post a link. But if you google the name it will come up.)

There's a free sample on the page. But when I was listening to them the other the music borders on fusion and prog-rock, but in live performance I saw that they even use video.

BTW, I love Bitches Brew. I would also recommend much of Coltrane's music.

Take care.

Essbjorn Svensson Trio-Viaticum
Miles Davis-Argheta
Sun Ra-Space Is The Place
Ahmad Jamal-Essentials
Joni Mitchell-Shadows and Lights (more Jazz Folk but some awesome playing from Pastorius and Metheny)
Directions In Groove-Curvystrasse
Fela Kuti (everything! a lot of funk in there but he is so awesome)
Herbie Mann Joao Gilberto-Recorded In Rio De Janerio
Billy Cobham-The Funky Thides Of Sings (brilliant fusion)
Medeski,Martin & Wood-Bubblehouse
Charles Mingus-Mingus Ah Um


Just a few for you. I have all these so if you have any problems you know what to do. That's a diverse range there. I would presume that you know bands like Kayo Dot etc who dabble in Avant Garde.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ytUOQ41NV8...a_atlantis.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...z-gilberto.jpg

http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/c/a/captain_noir/o96560.jpg

I like these albums a lot.

Eddie Harris
 

I forgot last time, but you should check out Eddie Harris. Also Harris performed with Les McCann. Swiss movement is on of my favorites.

I agree with a lot of the earlier picks on here as well...lot's of good stuff!

In case you are in the mood for some baritone sax-heavy stuff you can't go wrong with Gerry Mulligan or the World Saxophone Quartet :yeah:

Also, a really great way to find new avenues in the jazz genre is check out some of the college radio stations. It's pretty common for them to contain a jazz show (if not two or more), and some of them focus strictly on jazz & blues.
(They also have quite a few stations that will stream over the net as well, so it's pretty easy whether actual radio or computer/internet.) I have some suggestions in this field if you're not sure which ones to try, but most of 'em are run by fans FOR fans..so it's really a win-win in my book! :)

As much as I like the old legends to bits there are some younger top performers of today I really digg:
Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Antonio Sanchez, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Chris Potter. All worth checking out.
Also I can highly recommend Dutch performers Benjamin Herman, Michiel Borstlap, Eric Vloeimans and Jasper Blom.

Just google any of the names and start listening

Well..if the OP doesn't check out some of the Dutch artists, I probably will! Since I know you're also a drummer..can you recommend any drummer specific artists? (non-American ones that is. I might know already know 'em or at least have heard of them, but I'm always open for newer stuff!) :D

Well, of course El Negro is originally Cuban and Antonio Sanchez Mexican. As it comes to Dutch drummers listen to John Engels, Lucas van Merwijk, Han Bennink or Martijn Vink to name a few. Not sure if it's easy to find any of their music.

John Engels made a great record "Brilliant!" with a band called the Diamond Five ages ago. It was reissued a few years ago and it swings from start til end.

Another drummer that comes to mind is Manu Katche

I have to think a bit harder for other drummers. Will let you know.

Cool..I have heard of some of those folks/have albums by them (El Negro, Katche, and I'm pretty sure I have some Bennink as well)..but I'll check out the other ones too! (Especially if you can come up with some other ones...)
Thanks!