Summary

The twentieth century's greatest musical innovation, jazz is quickly growing in popularity. But with the plethora of new recordings, and the phenomenon of standards being reinterpreted by numerous artists, it's hard to know where to start or how best to enhance a jazz collection. Now you can rely on The Essential Jazz Recordings, Ross Porter's guide to his top 101 CDs. Porter covers recordings from jazz's early days, after Louis Armstrong introduced a regional dance music to the world, through the swing era and the prolific 1950s, when bebop ruled and young bloods like Miles Davis took jazz way beyond its known limits, to modern classics by Wynton Marsalis and Diana Krall. Read cover to cover, The Essential Jazz Recordings is a concise history of the development of jazz from its roots in blues and ragtime to its many flourishing branches: bebop, hard bop, cool, fusion, vocalese, free, modal, soul, Latin.

Author Biography

Ross Porter, the man with the distinctive voice, is president and CEO of JAZZ.FM91, “Canada’s premier jazz
station,” which has undergone a renaissance since his arrival in 2004. Previously, he was the host and producer of CBC Radio Two’s Afterhours and later headed up the specialty TV channel Cool TV. Recently he was presented with the CanWest Global Award for outstanding contribution to jazz, and in February 2002 he was voted the top broadcaster at the first National Jazz Awards. Ross Porter lives in Toronto.

Preface	xi
Django Reinhardt: The Best of Django Reinhardt	1	(3)
Artie Shaw: Highlights From Self Portrait	4	(2)
Benny Goodman: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert	6	(3)
Billie Holiday: The Commodore Master Takes	9	(3)
Nat King Cole: The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Vocal Classics, Vol. I	12	(3)
Charlie Parker: Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker	15	(3)
Louis Armstrong: Louis Armstrong: An American Icon	18	(2)
Louis Armstrong: Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy	20	(2)
Bud Powell: The Best of Bud Powell: The Blue Note Years	22	(2)
George Shearing: Lullabies of Birdland: A Musical Autobiography	24	(3)
Norman Granz: The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions	27	(3)
Horace Silver: Retrospective	30	(3)
The Modern Jazz Quartet: Django	33	(2)
Frank Sinatra: Classic Sinatra: His Great Performances	35	(3)
Ben Webster: Music for Loving: Ben Webster with Strings	38	(3)
Sarah Vaughan: Sarah Vaughan	41	(2)
Count Basie: April in Paris	43	(3)
Lennie Tristano: Lennie Tristano	46	(2)
Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus	48	(2)
Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport 1956	50	(3)
Shelly Manne: My Fair Lady	53	(2)
Bob Dorough: Devil May Care	55	(3)
Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners	58	(2)
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: The Complete Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on Verve	60	(2)
Mose Allison: Allison Wonderland	62	(2)
Nina Simone: Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club	64	(3)
Miles Davis: Miles Ahead	67	(2)
Jimmy Smith: The Sermon	69	(2)
Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall	71	(2)
Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin	73	(2)
Michel Legrand: Legrand Jazz	75	(2)
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Moanin'	77	(2)
Ray Charles: The Genius of Ray Charles	79	(3)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue	82	(2)
John Coltrane: Giant Steps	84	(2)
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: The Hottest New Group in Jazz	86	(3)
Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um	89	(2)
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out	91	(2)
Gene Ammons: Greatest Hits, Vol. I, The Sixties	93	(3)
Wayne Shorter: The Classic Blue Note Recordings	96	(2)
Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth	98	(2)
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Further Out	100	(2)
Bill Evans: Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard	102	(2)
Cannonball Adderley: The Best of Cannonball Adderley, The Capitol Years	104	(2)
Herbie Hancock: The Essential Herbie Hancock	106	(3)
Sheila Jordan: Portrait of Sheila	109	(2)
Oscar Peterson: Night Train	111	(2)
Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue	113	(2)
Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman	115	(2)
Stan Getz: Getz/Gilberto with Antonio Carlos Jobim	117	(2)
Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder	119	(2)
Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim: The Man from Ipanema	121	(3)
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery: Wes Montgomery's Finest Hour	124	(3)
Oscar Peterson: The Canadiana Suite	127	(2)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: I Talk With the Spirits	129	(2)
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme	131	(2)
Duke Ellington: And His Mother Called Him Bill	133	(2)
Paul Horn: Inside the Taj Mahal, Vols. I and II	135	(2)
Lenny Breau: The Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau Live!	137	(3)
Quincy Jones: Walking in Space	140	(3)
Chick Corea: Return to Forever and Light as a Feather	143	(2)
Joe Pass: Virtuoso	145	(2)
Phil Nimmons: Atlantic Suite/Suite P.E.I./Tributes	147	(3)
Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert	150	(2)
Jim Hall: Concierto	152	(2)
Tony Bennett/Bill Evans: The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album	154	(2)
Paul Desmond: The Paul Desmond Quartet Live	156	(2)
Jimmy Rowles: Stan Getz Presents Jimmy Rowles: The Peacocks	158	(3)
Gary Burton: Dreams So Real	161	(2)
Weather Report: Heavy Weather	163	(3)
Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee	166	(2)
Pat Metheny: The Pat Metheny Group	168	(2)
Richie Cole: Hollywood Madness	170	(2)
Steve Swallow: Home	172	(2)
Milt Jackson: Ain't But a Few of Us Left	174	(2)
Dave Frishberg: Classics	176	(2)
Oliver Jones: Then and Now	178	(2)
Various Artists: 'Round Midnight	180	(2)
Chet Baker: The Last Great Concert: My Favourite Songs, Vols. I & II	182	(2)
Harry Connick Jr.: When Harry Met Sally	184	(2)
Joe Henderson: Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn	186	(3)
Shirley Horn: Here's to Life	189	(2)
Bill Frisell: Have a Little Faith	191	(2)
Jan Garbarek: Twelve Moons	193	(2)
Rob McConnell: Our 25th Year	195	(2)
Dutch Jazz Orchestra: Portrait of a Silk Thread: Newly Discovered Works of Billy Strayhorn	197	(3)
Mark Isham: Blue Sun	200	(2)
Cassandra Wilson: New Moon Daughter	202	(2)
John Scofield: Quiet	204	(2)
Charlie Haden: Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)	206	(2)
Marc Johnson: Sound of Summer Running	208	(2)
Diana Krall: When I Look in Your Eyes	210	(3)
Joe Lovano: 52nd Street Themes	213	(3)
Bob Belden: Black Dahlia	216	(2)
Charlie Haden: Nocturne	218	(2)
Bill Charlap: Stardust	220	(2)
Charles Lloyd: Lift Every Voice	222	(2)
John Pizzarelli: Live at Birdland	224	(2)
Guido Basso: Lost in the Stars	226	(2)
Wynton Marsalis: The Magic Hour	228	(2)
Jane Bunnett: Red Dragonfly	230	(3)
Acknowledgements	233

Supplemental Materials

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Excerpts

From the Preface

Jazz is hard to define in a few words because it takes so many forms, and it’s this difficulty to categorize it easily that allows so many to enjoy it, whether listening to a new discovery or an old favourite. To me, jazz is appealing because it represents truth and beauty. To my ears there is nothing more delightful than a swinging blues played by artists in complete accord with one another. There is nothing more exquisite than a solo that explores and extends and bends the melody in a journey to who knows where the first time you hear it. As an art form, jazz has meat on its bones, and it makes for a very rich meal indeed.

One of the most appealing things about jazz is its ability to define who we are, and just as we are constantly redefining ourselves, so too is jazz. It’s an art form that spanned the most tumultuous century in history, and looks like it will be with us for as long as there are human beings expressing themselves through music. In fact, jazz music’s popularity continues to grow. A number of jazz stations have arisen in the past decade or so; new, exemplary artists continue to arrive on the scene, exploring and innovating in this art form; and jazz continues to enjoy crossover appeal. There are always new listeners who don’t quite know where to start. Despite what some would have you believe, jazz is accessible to everyone, and can be enjoyed by everyone. Once you know what it has to offer, you will know whether you get more pleasure from the swinging tunes of big bands or the more unpredictable sounds of free jazz.

In order to appreciate any jazz, you need a sense of fun, adventure, and a desire to take risks. I crave music that grabs my attention. And every album I recommend in this book does just that. When I hear a great album, the easiest way I can describe it is to say that it feels like Christmas. It gives me a feeling of wonder, appreciation, and, there’s no other way to put it, it makes me feel good. What’s the test of a superior album? Well, to me, if it still sounds terrific years later, and I find I listen to it repeatedly, it’s got to be good.

I was asked recently if I could have any job I wanted, what it would be. The answer was easy — I have it. I think I’ve always had it. I first wrote about jazz for the Winnipeg Free Press, then made documentaries on jazz and pop culture for CBC Radio and Television, and for ten years I hosted CBC Radio Two’s daily national jazz program, Afterhours. Then I was fortunate to be asked to launch CoolTV, Canada’s 24/7 jazz channel, and I am currently the president and CEO of what truly is Canada’s premier jazz station, JAZZ.FM91 in Toronto. In forty years of working as a broadcaster, being a critic and a fan, I’ve listened to twenty-five thousand albums in all genres, and I still go back to listen to many of them. So, it has not been easy to whittle my recommendations down to just 101 essential CDs. There are easily 1001 I might have chosen just because I enjoy them, but I tried to keep in mind that I was looking for essential recordings.

What is an essential jazz collection? To me, essential means something basic, something that’s a necessity in order to achieve a true understanding of, in this case, jazz as an art form. And to truly understand something, you have to know where it came from and what it is becoming. This is especially true for jazz, which is so rich, varied, and in my opinion, limitless. So, I decided to organize the 101 selections I made after hours and hours of difficult deliberation in more or less chronological order, based on the date the album was first recorded or the first date of a compilation album representing an entire era or career. Even if you don’t listen to the CDs in the order I’ve presented them, I hope that I’ve been able to convey in words a sense of how jazz has developed.

I’ve begun with a few albums from the early years of jazz, but there are many more selections from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, known to some as the golden age of jazz. This is when jazz made its sharp turn from dance music, from swing, to listening music, to bebop and hard bop. But during those years, all forms of jazz were alive and kicking, and you will find many of them represented here. Since then, as you’ll see, other forms have arisen: fusion, cool, free, and avant-garde, just to name a few, and you’ll find selections here that represent most of these forms.

Not everyone is going to agree with my selections. (There are jazz snobs, whose attitude I dislike, who hold one form of jazz superior to another.) But I appreciate most of its forms, and the criteria I’ve used is not whether this CD is better than that, this form superior to the other, but whether the music is enjoyable, whether it reveals something about the people who made it, about the form and the era in which it was made, and whether people will want to listen to it repeatedly.

It’s my hope that you will take a chance on many of these recommendations and that each one leads you to another by that musician or that group or by one of the musicians in the group whose sound has impressed you. Use the book as a guide, but also use it as a springboard. You may find, as I have, that jazz is the perfect accompaniment for your life.

Excerpted from The Essential Jazz Recordings: 101 CDs by Ross Porter
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.