In the course of my travels playing Jazz gigs here and there, I’ll occasionally have a post-concert conversation that starts something like this: “You know, I’ve never really listened to much Jazz, and before tonight, I never really thought I would like it, but I really did like it tonight.”

In response to that opening, I’ll usually say something like this: “Well, Jazz is not very easy listening music at first, but if you give it time, it will grow on you!” Often I’ll follow that up with a little invitation, mentioning, “You know, if you want some advice on a listening path into the music, write me, and I can make some suggestions.” A number of times people have taken me up on that offer. This article is an attempt to share this advice publicly.

Jazz is still a young, and vibrant art form. Today it’s a global music, played in intimate listening spaces that dot metropolitan areas across the planet. In the last year, I’ve played Stardust in Beijing, Budapest, and Bloomington, Indiana, my hometown, where it was first written a century ago by Hoagy Carmichael.

It’s also a very diverse music, with vastly different forms of expression—from melodies that penetrate the heart instantly to obscure forms of ordered chaos that leave the mind and soul disoriented (which is the intended effect). There are so many artists, worthy of attention, so many names that are hardly known outside the small circle of living practitioners. Where to begin?

My thought is to give you a frame that will provide for both breadth and depth in your listening experience—10 seminal names, that would make up my “Top Ten Jazz Musicians” list. In selecting these 10, I’ve given the most priority to those who had the most influence on the music, either through their own innovations, or their impact on other musicians. The inclusion of most of these artists is indisputable among Jazz players and lovers, but one could reasonably argue for one musician over another as we get to the last few. This is my good faith effort. The names are presented in chronological order, not in order of “importance.” Albums are also listed in chronological order. These recordings provide a sense of the evolution of Jazz style which continues to the present day. For each artist, I share five recordings that represent the pinnacle of their creative production and a sense of their music’s development. Jazz is a dynamic music, always growing.

This list reflects my personal tastes, of course, but these are artists that all Jazz players and lovers adore. Limiting my list to ten spots is a difficult task, but take this as a good starting point, from which you can explore the tributaries that flow out of these rivers of inspiration. Along with the musicians, experience the unfolding adventure of discovery.

Please remember that while we are presenting individuals, Jazz is usually a collective art form. Each of these artists led groups teams where the quality of the togetherness is as important as the particular talents of each member. In the case of the two big band leaders mentioned, Ellington and Basie, the instrumentalists themselves were their primary instrument along with their own piano.

Finally, a word about the conspicuous absence of three incredibly important singers from my list. In defense, I would make a case that Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra merit inclusion as popularizers of the music. However, they were not pioneers of evolving Jazz style, and in the Jazz pantheon, innovators have the highest places of honor. This is why the most innovative and influential singer of the 20th Century, who also happened to be a trumpet player, is the first name given. Albums that feature Ella and Frank are included in our suggested albums list. So not to leave her out, you can find a lovely clip of “Lady Day” right here.

These recordings are available on Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube (I’ve included YouTube links to whole albums where possible, or otherwise to single songs).

When I first started discovering Jazz as a wide-eyed and open-eared 15 year old, I had to take the 5 dollars I made from mowing a yard and ride my 10-speed bike a half-hour across town to buy a Bluenote LP. My, how times have changed. Now everything is available. So now it’s up to you to choose well.

As we say say to our audiences in Italy, “Buon ascolto” (good listening)!

1. Louis Armstrong: The patriarch, he made everything that followed possible.

• Complete Hot Fives and Sevens
• The Complete RCA Victor Recordings
• Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy
• Ella and Louis
• The Great Chicago Concert

2. Duke Ellington: Our greatest composer, he made the unique voice of every musician his instrument.

• The OKeh Ellington
• Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
• Ellington at Newport
• Money Jungle
• And His Mother Called Him Bill

3. Count Basie: His bands played with unrivaled “swing”, the propulsive rhythmic power that makes Jazz move us.

• The Complete Decca Recordings
• Basie Straight Ahead
• The Complete Atomic Basie
• Basie and the Kansas City 7
• Sinatra at the Sands

4. Charlie Parker: When this virtuoso improviser exploded on the scene, modern Jazz was born.

• The Complete Dial Sessions
• Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve
• Best of the Complete Live Performances on Savoy
• Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945
• Charlie Parker with Strings

5. Thelonius Monk: He played and imagined sound like nobody else around him. And now we all play his music.

• Thelonius Monk and Sonny Rollins
• Brilliant Corners
• Misterioso
• Solo Monk
• Big Band and Quartet in Concert

6. Miles Davis: The master of cool changed the course of Jazz history three times. His sound can seduce you or slice you.

• The Birth of the Cool
• Kind of Blue
• Porgy and Bess with Gil Evans
• The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel
• Bitches Brew

7. Art Blakey: He brought bop back to its bluesy, groovy roots, and found a worldwide following.

• A Night at Birdland, Volume 1,2, and 3
• Moanin’
• Paris Jam Session
• Caravan
• Free for All

8. Bill Evans: His melodies feel like gently, falling water, his harmonies reimagine space.

• Portrait in Jazz
• Conversations with Myself
• Undercurrent (with Jim Hall)
• Alone
• I Will Say Goodbye

9. John Coltrane: His soul and his music moved ever forward, ever upward, reaching beyond words for more reality.

• Blue Train
• Giant Steps
• Ballads
• A Love Supreme
• Ascension

10. Ornette Coleman: What happens if we throw out some rules we don’t really need, to say something else. This happens.

• Something Else 
• The Shape of Jazz to Come
• Free Jazz
• Science Fiction
• Skies of America

Finally, a little advice on the listening process—how you bring yourself to the music is as important as what it brings to you.

Postpone judgment of what you hear, and try to absorb it as fully as you can. These recordings bear the weight of and require repeated listenings. For the harder things let the interval between listens be longer—like months later. Try focusing your attention in different directions—from a big picture view where you take in the total effect, to centering on a single sound, to sensing the relationships between two or three sounds. Interaction is central to what’s happening. Leave the world of words. Just feel, move, and imagine. Let the music lift your mind, body, soul to a new place.

Peace, all.

JKG, Feb 2020

Photo by Janine Robinson on Unsplash

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