How about Jazz and Blues Intro??

We have the thread about intro to classical and opera, how about intro music for people wanting to get into Jazz and Blues.....

 

Here's a few off the top of my head for now.
Blues

Koko Taylor - Queen of the Blues
Albert King - Wedneday Night San Francisco or Live Wire Blues
Power
BB King - Live At Cook Couty Jail
Charlie Musselwhite - Ace of Harps (or just about anything)
Albert Collins - Live in Japan
Clapton - Layla

Jazz

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Coltrane - Blue Trane or Favorite Things
John Klemmer - Touch (if you like it mellow)
Billie Holiday - Silver Collection
Ella - Clap Hands or the box
Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives & Sevens
Louis & Ella
or maybe just start with the Ken Burns compilation for kind of an overview.
Almost forgot Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzie's Diamonds

 

Here's some classic blues titles that you will definitely enjoy:

Charles Brown - These Blues
Buddy Guy - A Man & The Blues (or a Chess comp)
Slim Harpo - The Excello Collection
Howlin’ Wolf - His Best 1 & 2
Albert King - King Of The Blues Guitar, I'll Play The Blues For You
BB King - Live At The Regal, Great Moments With
Otis Rush - 1956-1958 – His Cobra Recordings
Muddy Waters - many Chess comps to choose from

 

Another couple fun ones are
Howli' Wolf London Sessions (has Clapton and some Stones w/ Wolf tellin' 'em how to play)
and Muddy Waters Fathers and Sons (w/ Bloomfield)

 

I must respectfully disagree with the esteemed Mr. Mcow1 on a couple titles. The first Albert King title you need is King of The Blues Guitar as it contains his classic singles. And BB King's Cook County seems to be more well known than The Regal, but I think that is because "Jail" is in the title. Live At The Regal is a much more fiery and raucous affair. BB in a small theatre and you can hear the crowd going nuts as he rips it up. The definitive BB IMO, but you might as well get 'em both.

 

Each to his own, but you can't really go wrong with any Albert King title. And didn't they package Jail and Regal together for a while.

 

The Blues (all these are available from CD clubs, if you want to save some money):

Begin with Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings (the jewel case sized version is the remastered edition, though many 78 rpm collectors will tell you that the original 78's beat the CD's hand down). Johnson is a legendary figure in the blues, possibly the greatest.

Muddy Waters - The Chess Box, which is three CD's. There's also the two CD Anthology, and the two single disc His Best CD's if you're on a budget.

The Essential Bessie Smith - a two CD collection of her best work.

Howlin' Wolf - There's the Chess Box, but the first His Best CD from Chess is also a good place to start.

John Lee Hooker - The Legendary Modern Recordings are my favorite, but his later stuff on Vee-Jay and various other labels are also great. You may want to pick up the Rhino collection just to skim his entire career.

Jazz

I can make a list several miles long, but I'll try to hit the major periods and keep it cheap, too.

Jelly Roll Morton - The JSP 5 CD box set is actually the best place for Morton, and it's only $25 or so! It's real cheap, but the sound is the by far the best. Some of the most famous compositions and recordings in early jazz.

Louis Armstrong - The JSP 4 CD box set of the Hot Fives and Sevens (the most common names of Armstrong's group in the 20's) sounds better than the Sony set and is real cheap, too (again, $25 or so). This is where jazz improvisation took off. Only one problem: Cornet Chop Suey should be pitched at F, but it does sound "right" at Eb.

Duke Ellington - The Best of the RCA Victor Recordings. A 3 CD set you can get through BMG, this may not be the best recommendation for Ellington. I can't recommend the box set because it's real pricey, and "The Blanton-Webster Band" and the Fargo, ND concert CD's sound poor (the former because of bad mastering, the latter because it's really an amateur recording). His recordings in the early 40's with revolutionary bassist Jimmy Blanton, arranger Billy Strayhorn, and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster are his most celebrated, but he's done great work throughout his career. Often considered to be one of the greatest composers of the last century, some say the greatest.

Charlie Parker - if you have the money, the Complete Savoy and Dial Recordings, which are legendary. Columbia House has it. But, for a cheap alternative, there's the Yardbird Suite from Rhino with so-so sound. There's also the famous llive recording "Jazz at Massey Hall" by 'the Quintet.' It was recorded 1953, years after bop arrived in jazz, but it's a great example of it, played by Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, a young Charles Mingus (actually had to overdub his bass part because it was impossible to hear on the recording), Max Roach, and Bud Powell, all legends in jazz (they should be explored, and so should Thelonious Monk and Charlie Christian, both important figures in jazz's evolution during bebop's birth).

Sonny Rollins - "Saxophone Colossus," which Steve also did, is his most celebrated recording, possibly one of the most famous in jazz.

Billie Holiday - There are good box sets out of her Columbia material and Verve material, the former covering her early years and the latter her later years. The Columbia material features the best ensemble playing and a young-sounding Billie, but the Verve material feature her best singing, though by that time her voice had degraded quite a bit from years of substance abuse. Still, the phrasing and melodic invention she displays are wonderful. The cheapest places to go, though, are the two CD Lady Day compilation from Sony, and I supposed to Lady In Autumn compilation from Verve (Dennis Drake helped on the Verve set, but be warned a lot of Verve CD's have a phasing problem; I haven't heard the Lady In Autumn set yet).

Ella Fitzgerald - The songbook series are great, the best being the Gershwin, Ellington, and Cole Porter songbooks (Steve actually remastered the Porter one; EXCELLENT sound!) Also great is the Mack the Knife live album, though the recording doesn't do justice to Ella's bell-like voice.

Bill Evans - Hands down, the Village Vanguard recordings are his most influential work. "Waltz For Debby" and "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" have arguably the best trio playing ever recorded in jazz.

Miles Davis - his entire career pretty much traces the evolution of jazz. First with Parker when Davis was only 19, then with the "Birth of the Cool" which begat West Coast jazz (the RVG edition is probably the best). He did four famous quintet albums at Prestige that were mastered beautifully by Steve, and from there he began his famous run at Columbia. Almost all his Columbia recordings are worth getting, but the cream of the crop is "Kind of Blue" (possibly the greatest jazz album ever made), "Porgy & Bess" (my favorite of the celebrate Gil Evans collaborations, though "Sketches of Spain" is the most popular and some say "Miles Ahead" is the best). Then there's his groundbreaking work with his famous Quintet featuring Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, which some say laid the foundation for modern jazz. The best studio album is "Miles Smiles," but the live Plugged Nickel recordings are a god-send (a very pricey 7 CD set, also available from Columbia House). Then there's his fusion period, and the most popular is "Bitches Brew," but "Tribute To Jack Johnson" is my favorite of these discs.

Ornette Coleman - The father of free jazz, Rhino did a great box set of his Atlantic recordings, but you may want to start with "The Shape of Jazz to Come" first, then move on to "Free Jazz." Be warned, free jazz isn't for everyone, but is a very important part of jazz history.

John Coltrane - You've heard people mention "Blue Train," which is a solid album, but was a really early album. Coltrane really began to catch fire with his Atlantic recordings, particularly with "Giant Steps" (though some prefer "My Favorite Things," which continues to modal experimentation from Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue"). His best work comes with Impulse! The most popular (and some say one of the two or three greatest recordings ever made in jazz) is "A Love Supreme." His Village Vanguard recordings are also amazing, and he also made possibly the greatest free jazz album in "Ascension."

 

You're right, they did! My brother's got mine. At least he better.

 

To add to the above wonderul suggestions:
Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville (the Japanese pressing is wonderful)
Coleman Hawkins Enounters Ben Webster (Verve Mater Edition)
Coleman Hawkins - Body and Soul
Wes Montgomery - Incredible Jazz Guitar (K2 Edition)
The Sound Of Jazz - Soundtrack of CBS Broadcast
John Coltrane - Ole Coltrane
Horace Silver - Song for my Father
Stephane Grapelli - Young Dango (Japanese Most Perfect Sound Edition) - and the first JSP Django 4 CD Box

Blues:
Koko Taylor - Self Titled First Album
Blues Hoot - Hoffmanized by Steve (DCC)

 

Although there are a lot of good individual blues recommendations, personally I would start with samplers or collections in lieu of single artists, especially when there are a lot of blues that fall in the category of acquired tastes (e.g. a newcomer used to modern recordings is going to have a hard time starting with Robert Johnson or a lot of pre-war blues in general).

Some favorite all-around collections I recommend:

* Chess Blues box (4 CDs)
* The Rhino Blues Master series (up to 18 volumes now, I believe), but all titles individually available at midline prices. I highly recommend the individual volumes concentrating on the blues revival, harmonica classics, Chicago classics, delta blues, urban blues, and slide guitar classics. This is overall still the best series for those starting out - it covers a lot of bases
* Chicago/The Blues/Today! - seminal 3 volume set recently reissued on Vanguard
* Living Chicago Blues - volumes one through four - great samplers of modern blues on Alligator, considered a classic series
* The Alligator Records 20th, 25th, and 30th Anniversary collections - more modern blues on the most popular current label, each a 2 CD set for the price of one
* Shoebox Full of Blues on the House of Blues label- great 18 CD set that was a cutout on Amazon for months - was retailing for under $70, now is back to full price.
* Mean Old World - 4 CD set on Smithsonian label - covers pre-war through present
* Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey - recently compiled 2 CD set covering mainly pre-war blues, great hardcover book also available

Beyond these types of samplers, I would then hit the classics - Muddy, Howlin' Wolf, BB King, etc. that others have started to scratch the surface on. I also tend to use samplers as roadmaps for future purchases, buying the stuff on the samplers that turns me on.

 

Milt Jackson Meets Wes Montgomery; DCC GZS 1093;
Stevie Ray - Couldn't Stand the Weather - Mastersound gold
Terry Evans - Come to the River

axis of B+

 

Oscar Peterson

I'm not a big Jazz fan but....

Oscar Peterson's best recordings are as good as any in any genre in my humble opinion.

The musical invention is awe inspiring and still manages to be very melodic.

My favourites include:

Canadiana Suite - all tracks are original Peterson compositions, this was the first album I heard by this piano genius.

Exclusively For My Friends - 4CD Box Set. His best collection of work. Recorded live at the engineer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's house/studio between 1963 and 1968. Fantastic performances and great sound.

Tristeza On Piano - great album also recorded by Brunner-Schwer.

 

Just wanted to add one of my favorite blues titles to the lists of wonderful albums above...

MUDDY WATERS - FOLK SINGER
Mobile Fidelity UDCD 593

I haven't heard the LP but this has to be one of the best sounding classic blues CDs that I have ever heard!

 

And SH also did a version of Folk Singer, which I prefer to the MCA remaster. I have the MFSL Folk Singer too, but haven't compared yet. Should I even bother?

Also, the Otis Rush title I mentioned has been remastered by Fuel 2000 (the old one is Paula/Flyright) and Buddy Guy's A Man & The Blues has been remastered and combined with Buddy's 2 other Vanguard albums on a 2cd collection by Vanguard. I have both of the new remasters, but again, have not listened to them yet.

 

Just a couple of blues CD's from "white" bands.

There is a great 3-CD set on Vanguard Records for the Siegel-Schwall Band (from Chicago) compiling four albums and some demos/outtakes. The SSB were, to my ears, the best "white" blues band from the late sixties. The remasters of the 70's material on Wounded Bird aren't particularly good remastering, but the original Wooden Nickel versions (cheap if you can find them) are very good, although they're more boogie than blues.

Also from the 1960's, and also on Vanguard, is the self-titled album by Charlie Musselwhite's South Side Blues Band called "Stand Back."

And B.B. King's "Live At The Regal" may be the greatest live blues album of all time. Absolutely amazing!!!

As for jazz, let's not forget Stan Getz in his bossa nova period (still fine jazz) and also his "Focus" album (great string arrangements).

And my current fave from the 60's is the Oliver Nelson "More Blues From The Abstract Truth." Killer arrangements for a big band (but not a big band sound).

Plus Gil Evan's "Out Of The Cool."

I could go on forever, but I'll sign off with Miles and Coltrane rule!!

 

Let's not forget Dave Brubek with Time Out.

 

Anyone seen what Robert Johson original 78s are selling for these days?