New to Jazz

[Loner]

Hello, I am exploring music I am not varry famliar with and would like to explore Jazz a little more. Can any one name some Musiacans and Artist (both old and Moderin) I should check out?

 

[NuncDimittis]

Try the Dave Brubeck Quartet's Take Five. That should get you moving a bit.

I love Django Reinhardt - one of the greatest guitarists ever!

Get some Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. For clssic vocal work try Billie Holliday.

Enjoy!

 

[Loner]

I got to hear John Colrane and thought he was really good!! I may wait a while before I can look at the other, computer problems.

 

[Sothiamient]

Like mentioned earlier, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis are excellent choices for listening. A good old-style jazz vocalist, and probably the most famous, is Ella Fitzgerald. Burt Bacharach is a decent 60's composer, and Chris Botti is an excellent trumpeter/composer from today.

Edit:

I should not say "decent" when referring to Bacharach, he is more deserving than a word of little impact.

 

[maike]

Try Miles Davies and John Coltrane.
I strongly recommend the Cd 'Kinnings' from the German Jazz Musicans Ulf Meyer , Martin Wind & Alex Riel. I love it . And if you like Jazz / Funk, try Herbie Hancock (esp. Chameleon. )
Best wishes ,
maike

 

[WritingIsMyReligion]

You can never go wrong with Miles Davis, of course. One CD that I always recommend to beginners in jazz is the famous Kind of Blue (1959), since it is easy to follow for people new to jazz, with simple chord progressions, melodic solos, etc. Any music store with any decent selection of albums should have several copies of this is stock...It's that prevalent.

For the "swing" style, you can never go wrong with some Duke Ellington, for example, or any number of other composers.

I'd suggest getting some "sampler" CDs (you know, the "Various Artists") ones. There are some good sets out there (perhas try Amazon), and in this format you can get to know jazz better and decide what type of jazz/what artists really strike your fancy.

Jazz is an amazing idiom, and so diverse--you'll definitely find something out there for you.

 

[xMandariin]

My personal favorite is Michael Buble. He's a modern singer with a classic voice.

 

[abigale]

George Benson for me

 

[rythemgrl]

classic or contemporary?

 

[lostwithoutu]

The greats have been mentioned except for Thelonius Monk which I highly recommend. If you're looking for more modern jazz I'd recommend:

Thelonius Monk (not modern but deserves the top of my list)
herbie hancock,
billy cobham,
dave weckl,
spyro gyra.
john mclaughlin,
Yellow Jackets,
John Zorn,
Allan holdsworth,
modesky martin and wood
galactic
stanton moore
bill laswell

some names I've listed are also considered funk but you can't deny the jazz that's in it.

also some of the names i've mentioned are solo artists that play with various groups and / or projects you can look any one of these names up on youtube and see what it's all bout.

My music studies are primarily jazz and these are the guys I look up to, which have been recommended to me over the years.

Also don't forget the ones previously mentioned on this thread..Those are the grandfathers of what we know Jazz to be now.


There are many many more but this is what I could provide on a whim.

 

[Meaning0fLifeis42]

You can easily find literally thousands of jazz artists out there. Do you play an instrument at all or are just keen to listen to jazz?

 

[theitguy]

Jimmy Smith is one of my absolute favorites! He does organ like noone else I've ever heard. It's just some sweet jazz!

 

[Christian Soldier]

One can't go wrong with any recordings by the following, which is meant to be only a small sample list. Virtually all of them can be found on Youtube.

Dave Brubeck Quartet
Miles Davis
John Klemmer
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Lester Young
Gerry Mulligan
Charlie Parker
Bud Freeman
Stan Getz
Dizzy Gillespie
Louie Armstrong

 

[john66mustang]

jazz has such a rich history. the artists are endless. start with ella then to john coltrane but as you find one others will pop up so to speak.

 

[WannaWitness]

Sam Levine
Dave Boyer
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra

 

[jive4005]

Don't forget vocal jazz. Torme', Fitzgerald, Garland, so many others. Jazz is a pretty broad catagory. Take your time and listen to all of it, then you'll be able to refine your search and find the stuff special to you.

Have fun.

rev

 

[the_Abbot]

Check out 22 year old trumpet player Christian Scott. He has to albums out and he is absolutely amazing.

Some other modern day jazz musicians to look out for are Russell Gunn, Daryl Reeves, Rober Glasper, Marty Williams, and Christian McBride.

Matter of fact check out my myspace http://www.myspace.com/ashsaddler for some myspace links to some jazz musicians.

 

[lostwithoutu]

One can't go wrong with any recordings by the following, which is meant to be only a small sample list. Virtually all of them can be found on Youtube.

Dave Brubeck Quartet
Miles Davis
John Klemmer
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Lester Young
Gerry Mulligan
Charlie Parker
Bud Freeman
Stan Getz
Dizzy Gillespie
Louie Armstrong

Awesome list!

 

[ulu]

George Benson for me

Good choice!

 

[Penny_Lane]

John Coltrane
Charlie Parker
for saxophone
but also Oscar Peterson and Jimmy Smith, theyre all very good