Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Best Intro Jazz Albums

From an idea in the Favorite Jazz Cd albums, what are some great albums for people getting into jazz.

Here are my 3:

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
John Coltrane: Favorite Things (Familiar Tune, draws you in to his flowing improvisational style)
Dave Brubeck: Time Out

This was my gateway into jazz.... my brother had this LP back in the mid-80's and I got hooked...

Magic Touch by Stanley Jordan

http://image.com.com/mp3/images/cover/200/drd200/d287/d28713m27p1.jpg

Thelonious Monk - Genius of Modern Music Volumes 1 + 2
Getz/Gilberto
Bill Evans - Waltz For Debby
Sonny Rollins - Way Out West
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

Sort of depends what "intro" means - in other words, if a casual listener wants to go further than smooth jazz on the radio, or if a serious musician wants to understand the genre better, or if someone was (rightfully) told that Kenny G isn't jazz, or....know what I mean?

Kind of Blue (I think the best selling jazz album to date, right?), Time Out and Favorite Things are great starter suggestions.

Others might include:

Pat Metheny - American Garage or Pat Metheny Group
Diana Krall - When I Look In Your Eyes
Coltrane - Giant Steps
Return to Forever - Light as a Feather (acoustic, prior to full-on embrace of electronic fusion)
Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives & Hot Sevens
Monk - 'Round Midnight
Mingus Ah Um
Ella Fitzgerald w/ Duke Ellington - the Great American Songbook

Good stuff listed here. I love Getz/Gilberto and Mingus Ah Um, Headhunters, Ella, Louis, Coltrane all great.

As an introduction, how about Ken Burns Jazz? I got the 5 disc box set as a gift and it's a collection that emphasizes the broad scope of jazz and the early jazz through the fifties especially.

Miles Davis: ''Something Else'', and ''Milestones'' and what the guy above me said about 'ah um' and Ella, and all that.. :beer:

As an introduction, how about Ken Burns Jazz? I got the 5 disc box set as a gift and it's a collection that emphasizes the broad scope of jazz and the early jazz through the fifties especially.

The problem I have with Ken Burns (also known as 'Wynton's toadie') is the same problem I've got with Marsalis - that they have ingratiated their way into the East Coast moneyed pockets to appoint Marsalis as the World's Authority On What Jazz Is.

And now that Marsalis has defined the genre with such a narrow, backward-looking, racist tone (and had Burns broadcast it through PBS on Marsalis' behalf), I find his definitions completely useless and offensive.

And it's not just me - I'm just an amateur jazz pianist. Keith Jarrett loathes Marsalis and all that he stands for, as do most of the players out here in NorCal I've spoken with.

Okay, maybe it's a sensitive subject for me. Picked a bad week to give up EPO.

some folks are gonna disagree with this
but I think Spyrogyra and the Rippingtons are
a good intro to Jazz.
Yah its kind of light but how many folks can go directly
from rock to Sonny Rollins or Keith Jarrett?

marty

Why do people put Jazz and Blues into the same category? They are related, but distinctly different to me.

It's similar to bookstores (and people) who lump Sci-Fi and Fantasy together as the same genre.

Just an observation.


For me, getting into Jazz was done through:
eliane elias: fantasia
acoustic alchemy: against the grain
dave benoit: urban daydreams

A few others came to mind.

Joshua Redman - Joshua Redman (http://www.amazon.com/Joshua-Redman/dp/B000002MJB/sr=1-5/qid=1158947001/ref=sr_1_5/102-4177086-6674543?ie=UTF8&s=music)
The Philadelphia Experiment - The Philadelphia Experiment (http://www.amazon.com/Philadelphia-Experiment/dp/B00005JXQL/sr=1-1/qid=1158947044/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4177086-6674543?ie=UTF8&s=music)
Medeski Martin & Wood - It's A Jungle In Here (http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Here-Medeski-Martin-Wood/dp/B000003228/sr=1-1/qid=1158947079/ref=sr_1_1/102-4177086-6674543?ie=UTF8&s=music)

Nothing too challenging, but some good grooves. Also shows those trying to get into the genre that there are artists who have only been around since the '90's or after.


KT - As for SciFi & Fantasy, i know what you are saying. China Mieville lumps them together with horror and refers to them as "Weird Fiction." At least they don't lump it all in with Romance! That would make me feel even dopier than when I'm browsing the SciFi/Fantasy section of the stores.... :o

It Might as Well Be Swing, Count Basie/Frank Sinatra