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Exo's Top Ten of Each Year (1955-2020)
It's time for Exo to try another journal.
It's easy. Top ten albums of each year starting at 1955 with some honorable mentions thrown in. I'm actually going to try to have a list in descending order. Light description with each album. Perhaps a youtube link with a song. I'm not doing TH levels of writing here. Let's try it out! Keep in mind that this is a personal top ten. Not a definitive top ten. I might not have heard an album you think I neglected to mention. |
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It’s a **** load of work. I discovered lots from goofle’s journal.
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TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 1955 #10 https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JP...er=allrovi.com Fats Navarro "Fats - Bud - Klook - Sonny - Kinney" This is some early ass jazz. Young guys like Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt, and Kenny Clarke getting early exposure with the help of legend Fats Navarro who had already had a few albums come out. This is straight bebop and exciting bebop at that. Wish I could find a YT video for this but I can not. #9 https://faithless-street.com/uploads...77c10811a1.jpg Stan Getz West Coast Jazz Super chill. Something you can throw on at night while you're talking to friends or your fam without overpowering the conversation. Not really west coast jazz which I think Getz was in on. Album features some standards like "Summertime" and "Night in Tunisia" but that opening track is always what makes me think of Stan Getz. That dripping cool style. |
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It’s real hard to decide who makes the cut. Even you’re #10 pick. Great pick but already I’m thinking “top ten???”
It’s loaded though shonuff |
#8 https://img.discogs.com/NxYBqf7864BS...-3509.jpeg.jpg Julie London Julie is Her Name You're in a damp underground bar/club and some dame gets up on stage and it gets quiet and dark and this woman slowly stares into your eyes and sings "Cry Me a River". That's the stuff right there. Julie London wasn't the most exciting singer during the 50's but neither was Chet Baker but they had this sad silky dreamy aura about them whenever they performed. Not much instrumentation on here besides Barney Kessell lightly creating mood in the background. I like this record because it takes me to that dark basement and let's me imagine buying Julie a drink afterward. #7 https://cleorecs.com/store/wp-conten...15/04/1842.jpg Dexter Gordon Dexter Blows Hot and Cool Another "cool" record which I guess was the theme of the mid 50's. Chill the f*ck out son. Ironically featuring another rendition of "Cry Me a River". This version is more buttery than London's smokey take. Nearly every take on this record features Carl Perkins in the background laying down some keys and Gordon plays over them beautifully. Album swings hard too like on tracks "Blowin' for Dootsie" and "Bonna Rue". His sax always sounds so, well, saxy. Early record for the soon to be legend. Amazing album cover too. |
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Just saying I don't want these lists scrutinized with a microscope. They're not scripture. |
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Nice name drop on Barney Kessell. That dude was smooth. |
#6 https://img.discogs.com/a7BPNbxOKgi5...-4618.jpeg.jpg Clifford Brown and Max Roach Brown and Roach Incorporated This is the sh*t. Hard bop time. Fast tempos. Fast fingers. Crashing cymbals. Great songs on this taking notes from Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Cole Porter, and even Bing Crosby. Brown and Roach are obvious focuses of the record and they show themselves off quite well, especially Roach, but you also have Richie Powell on the piano doing fantastic work. Uptempo tracks obviously showcase Roach and his frenetic drumming. Brown, who was 25 during recording, showcases a beautiful sound on the trumpet but really highlights the downtempo stuff. Lots of soul in there. "Mildama" is probably the highlight here. #5 https://www.jazzmessengers.com/23911...nus-tracks.jpg Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz Diz and Getz This was tough to put ahead of Brown and Roach but I did it because the entire band on this thing was just miles better than the former. Here you have EVERYBODY playing stellar. Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and f*cking Max Roach again on drums. Stellar. Every track swings. You have a Duke Ellington number to open with that might be one of my favorite renditions of the song. When Herb Ellis joins in with the Peterson solo...birds sing. Getz proves he has serious chops after doing many "cool" jazz gigs like at the top of the list. Plays great with Diz's trumpet. Last two tracks are spicy. Norman Grantz was the man for getting these guys in the same studio and letting them go. |
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#4 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1ukhzhpSSL.jpg Clifford Brown and Max Roach Study in Brown Again? Yup. One year later from my #6 and two spots better. Why? They go harder. I don't know what else to say. Tracks like "Cherokee", "Sandu", and "Take the A Train" just kick so much ass on this record. Harold Land shines better on this one too. A forgotten sound I feel and somebody who I always thought was super rad. Album also starts and ends with fire. #3 https://img.discogs.com/x3KOLs1jdb_8...-9377.jpeg.jpg Helen Merrill Helen Merrill That opening track. That f*cking opening track. Merrill singing Billie Holiday lyrics so sultry while, you guessed it, Clifford f*cking Brown blows in the background. It's one of my absolute favorite jazz vocal performances andone of the big reasons this album is so high on this list. I ALWAYS go back to this record when I want to disappear into the haze of 50's coolness. The backing band, run by Quincy Jones, plays just enough to not overpower Merrills voice but that lifts it over, say, a Julie London record. This record also kind of reminds me of nostalgic nights in NYC with my aunt. She used to take me around the sights and we'd eventually end up in a restaurant or small club playing some jazz. Stuff like this brings me back. |
#2 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1L._SX355_.jpg Tony Fruscella Tony Fruscella Who? Exactly. Nobody remembers this guy. This was his last record. His best record. Lots of original compositions on here which makes the record sound fresh to my ears and also just adds to the mystery as to why this wasn't a hit. It goes sways from cool jazz, to bebop, to sections of almost big band heavy horns, back to light numbers played in sync by a great rhythm section. I like forgotten records. They hold a sense of magic to me. This record might not hold up to the chops that Max Roach, Clifford Brown, and Oscar Peterson can display, but in a sea of dominate jazz figures of the mid 50's, my dude Tony here from NY ended up making one that stands up with the stars. #1 https://cdn3.volusion.com/gnvdh.kdfv...che=1383738471 (Decided to use the 1957 album cover for this because it's cooler) Kenny Dorham Afro Cuban Can't be matched on this list. It's too good. This early Blue Note recording, released on a ten inch in 1955, later on LP in 57, is the starting point for some big f*cking names. Art Blakey hadn't started him band yet but is on this VERY percussive record as a young man slammin' away with Hank Mobley on sax early in his short career, Horace Silver on keys before he started to take Blue Note by storm, and Jay Jay Johnson on the bone before becoming a mainstay on Columbia and Impulse!. Cecil Payne and Oscar Pettiford round out the band culminating in a lineup to be remembered. Most of them going on with Blakey to make up the Jazz Messengers in the upcoming years. Wait, what about Dorham? Future Jazz Messenger himself has constructed a beautiful record behind the legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder. RVG keeps almost a big band feel to most of the record but really highlights the percussion while keeping Dorham soaring over everything. Great tracks on here like the opening number (at least on the LP) "Afrodisia" and "Minor's Holiday" which really highlight the afro-cuban theme while staying tight and swingin'. It's an extremely good record and one of the best Blue Note records of the 50's. 1955 Closing Notes I'll be honest. I haven't listened to a large chunk of releases from 1955. It's all jazz and probably could do with some classical or world music on here. There's also some early space age and easy listening that are great to listen to but they're fun records to collect in vinyl form than discuss musically. I thought about putting Louis Armstrong or Frank Sinatra on here but truth be told, I don't listen to those guys anymore. There's also a lot of albums that play like comps rather than stand a lone albums like The Amazing Budd Powell and some early work by Miles Davis, Ellington, Mobley and Monk. I also just barely chose London over Billie Holiday's Music for Torching which shoudl be noted because I think that Holiday was a MUCH better artist than Julie London. I just think London's best album achieved more than one of Holidays less popular ones. On to 1956! I'll be slowing down a bit. I was excited with this today as I have a lot of free time after this blizzard. Hopefully I'll be doing at least a post a day on this in the upcoming months. |
It’s a great list for 55.
Concert by the Sea by Erroll Garner Is another that if someone is looking at albums by year that’s a great one from 55. Thanks for letting me in your sandbox dude |
I'm hyped for this journal, I've really appreciated your recs lately so I'm looking forward to discovering lots of cool music here. I've listened to and enjoyed the Helen Merill album so far (which of course I picked to start with because of the breathtaking cover); gentle but smoky and sensual. I'm grooving to Afro-Cuban now.
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TOP ALBUMS OF 1956 #10 https://img.discogs.com/n6LeDH34X-zQ...13766.jpeg.jpg Paul Chambers Whims of Chambers A true champions lineup that doesn't swing as hard as it possibly could but it's still a fantastic record for this year and deserves a spot in the top ten. Look at this team... Donald Byrd - trumpet John Coltrane - tenor saxophone Kenny Burrell - guitar Horace Silver - piano Paul Chambers - double bass "Philly" Joe Jones - drums Wild. Byrd, Trane, and Chambers all get writing compositions on here and the only dud is "Dear Ann". Everyone plays top notch, especially Jones on the kit, and it's always fun hearing Trane before he started to really take the world by storm. #9 https://img.discogs.com/phETkg1gGd3A...-3045.jpeg.jpg Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio Rockabilly with a whole lotta edge. F*cking Everly brothers weren't doing this sh*t. Burnette has that howl of his and it shines throughout the whole record, which is wonderfully consistent. I'm not a HUGE rockabilly fan but this certainly deserves inclusion and I think it's just a slight more iconic than Chambers giving it the edge here. |
#8 https://img.discogs.com/t3ZtdUF5yZhn...-4525.jpeg.jpg The Lester Young and Buddy Rich Trio The Lester Young and Buddy Rich Trio This is a cool record. You know why? It's a trio and there's only two dudes on the cover. They left one out. Who'd they leave out? Nat "King" F*CKING COLE. Cole had been in the scene a while now but this was right before his big break where everybody and especially their grandmothers bought his records. His piano playing on this is light and cheerful mixing in with Rich and Young. The record is pretty standard "you play sh*t then I'll play sh*t" style but it swings hard considering it's these three guys. Drips cool. |
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