Please list jazz albums which you would qualify as "sleepers"

Most of the Best Jazz
is from 78's ,and in Mono without great sound,But the music is so good it dosn't matter

"From Spirituals To Swing" is a fantastic set on Vanquard records,It has the
classic Basie band with Lester Young ,also there's Benney Goodman with
Hampton and Charlie Christian.
If thats no enough it also has Sidney Bechet

 

Lenny Breau "Five O'Clock Bells" and the followup companion album "Mo' Breau".

 

+1

 

The Honeydripper by Jack McDuff

The Grand Unification Theory by Stefon Harris

Hotwired by Gary Husband's Drive

Pass It On by Dave Holland Sextet

 

Would hardly consider those "sleepers". Great but received lots of acclaim.

Someone mentioned Heath Brothers-Live at the Public Theater. Was this ever issued on cd?

Several of Woody Shaw's works such as Little Red's Fantasy seem to fly under the radar.

 

Yep, that is one of my favorite Jazz albums of all time. Good choice.

 

Excellent album. A classic to say the least.

 

Sanders is amazing.

 

Wes Montgomery - A Day In the Life
Lou Donaldson - Alligator Boogaloo
Miles Davis - Blue Moods
Nat Adderley - Work Song

 

Art Pepper - Living Legend
Art Pepper - The Trip
Art Pepper - One September Afternoon
Art Blakey's Jazz Messangers at Birdland - Ugetsu

 

Cannonball Adderley - Fiddler On The Roof
Grachan Moncur - Some Other Stuff
Freddie Hubbard - Backlash, The Black Angel, Keep Your Soul Together
CTI All Stars - California Concert
Gateway - Gateway 2
Jack DeJohnette - New Directions

 

Art Pepper Quintet-Darn That Dream
Art Pepper (as) Joe Farrell (ts) George Cables (p) Tony Dumas (b) John Dentz (d)
Los Angeles, CA, March 23, 1982 (among his last sessions)
this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Farrell...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1248290990&sr=1-2

 

Great album! My favorite of the later Art Pepper albums.

 

Here's ten overlooked gems that will have you boppin':

Steps Ahead "Smokin' in the Pit"

Lockjaw Davis "The Heavy Hitter"

Bobby Hutcherson "Good Bait"

Mark Murphy "Sings"

Johnny Griffin "Big Soul Band"

Pepper Adams "10 to 4 at the 5-Spot"

Lou Donaldson "Blues Walk"

Donald Byrd "Catwalk"

Charles Earland "Black Talk"

Horace Silver "Blowin' the Blues Away"

All of these records groove relentlessly, and if they don't move you on at least SOME level, I would advise you to seek prompt medical attention as you might be dead!

 

The Al Haig Trio - Esoteric, a crown album in the Penguin Guide but never, ever listed anywhere else.
Don Byas - Laura
Jimmy Smith - Groovin' at Small's Paradise
Kenny Burrell - At The Five Spot Cafe
Michel Legrand - Legrand Jazz

 

some great suggestions and the links are nice to listen to....
here's another i used to own on vinyl and lost somewhere down the line, i always loved the picture on the cover....

http://www.amazon.com/Fuchsia-Swing...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1248295870&sr=1-1

Sam Rivers Fuchsia Swing Song

 

Lovely album. And what a lineup! DeJohnette with Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie and Eddie Gomez.

I'd go for his next one - 'Special Edition' with Arthur Blythe and David Murray. One of the best albums of the late 70s...nearly as good as this one...

Arthur Blythe - Lenox Avenue Breakdown

He really should have been a star -this is such a great album.

 

He is a star, but to a small audience. As I said before, these albums are well known to jazz insiders, and technically they aren't sleepers, just great albums. Just a quibble on my part, please excuse me. They are great records, and I think you can still find Special Edition on ECM and maybe Lenox Avenue Breakdown. The other Blythe albums on Columbia are tougher to locate.

 

Lennox Avenue is in print, or at least available at Amazon, on the Koch label. Another must have is Illusions, which will be harder to find at a reasonable price. I was lucky enough to stumble across a copy a couple years back.

Hmmmm...Special Edition...don't think I ever got that on CD, thanks for the reminder, guys...

 

Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings by the Charlie Watts Quintet is superb.

 

Discovered one just today that qualifies.

Alto Madness - Jackie Mclean and John Jenkins (Prestige 1957) Picked this one up today for $4, and it really is terrific. I know a lot of these Prestige records are remembered as just blowing sessions, but this one seems thought out, with both soloists contributing originals, with the balance of the record being standards.

The thing that makes this a sleeper for me is that in all my years listening to, reading about, and collecting jazz, I have never heard of John Jenkins. He stands toe to toe with Mclean, it sounds like Charlie Parker doing a cutting contest with himself, but with relatively high fidelity sound.

 

I see this was released on the Milestone label; was it produced by Orrin Keepnews?

 

True but as time has passed I think they are over looked compared to his more well known Bossa Nova dates.

 

I guess by then it was Helen Keane.

 

My guess would be Helen Keane. I don't have it handy. It may have been released after his death. Well worth picking up for $10.