Greatest Jazz Tracks
Friends,
In these perilous times, we all need forms of escape.
For myself, I can't even imagine a day--even an hour, apart from sleep time (and even then I might dream music or a song)--when I'm not listening to music actively, or for background to create mood while I work.
We all have our favorite genres, and jazz being one of mine (in addition to old time rock and roll, blues, and classical).
Herein, therefore, please find my list of the greatest jazz tracks of all time, in alphabetical order:
Cannonball Adderly: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Take Five (written and saxophone solo by Paul Desmond, far right in photo).
Brubeck's album Time Out is one of my top ten jazz albums of all time.
John Coltrane: Equinox
Of course Coltrane deserves to have been in the Jazz Hall of Fame, which, sadly, is now defunct, and only recognized big bands. Apparently jazz is insufficiently valued in our nation.
(from his Porgy and Bess album)
Were I to choose a top five jazz album, Miles's groundbreaking Kind of Blue would be up there, together with Brubeck's Time Out album.
Ronnie Earl: Glimpses of Serenity
Jazz guitarist Ronnie Earl's opus of equal stunning quality is this track from his great album Healing Time.
Duke Ellington: Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue: (live at Newport 1956, with the incredible 27 chorus sax solo by Paul Gonsalves, right).
While some might argue Gerschwin's works were not jazz (he also composed An American in Paris with my all-time favorite trumpet solo) I strongly disagree. They were jazz at the core, albeit far more sophisticated than most jazz compositions, which were usually much shorter, and often improvised, with musicians taking turns at solos.
Henry Mancini: theme from the TV series Peter Gunn. Mancini was both brilliant and prolific. Others of his works included the theme from the parallel TV series Mr. Lucky, the movie thriller Charade, The Pink Panther theme, among numerous other works.
Glenn Miller: In the Mood
My son Jonathan sang this with his middle school choir. Given what Miller's dancers had in mind made this somewhat of an inappropriate song selection, but none were the wiser, it seemed.
Buddy Morrow: Night Train
I first heard this in high school, and played the album over and over, but this track in particular.
Stanley Turrentine: Sugar
This brings back memories of my years in New York. Years later I saw him live in Redondo Beach in L.A. One of the all-time great sax soloists.
Danilo Perez: Across the Crystal Sea
This Panamanian artist's music has a wonderfully ethereal quality to it. My local Seattle jazz station KNKX plays this piece often, for good reason.
Grover Washington Jr.: Winelight
This selection, too, comes of fond memories, in this case during my years in Hollywood. What could be better than a glass of wine while enjoying a sunset at twilight?
Which I will now do, sunset and all.
For myself, I can't even imagine a day--even an hour, apart from sleep time (and even then I might dream music or a song)--when I'm not listening to music actively, or for background to create mood while I work.
We all have our favorite genres, and jazz being one of mine (in addition to old time rock and roll, blues, and classical).
Herein, therefore, please find my list of the greatest jazz tracks of all time, in alphabetical order:
Cannonball Adderly: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Booker T. and the M.G.s: Green Onions
Some might argue that this was a rock instrumental. It could certainly be considered as a crossover. It laid the foundation for the rock and roll 4/4 beat, and was a classic, in whatever genre.
It was also one of the first integrated bands outside of the big bands of the '40's and '50s such as Basie's, Ellington's, Miller's, and Morrow's.
Some might argue that this was a rock instrumental. It could certainly be considered as a crossover. It laid the foundation for the rock and roll 4/4 beat, and was a classic, in whatever genre.It was also one of the first integrated bands outside of the big bands of the '40's and '50s such as Basie's, Ellington's, Miller's, and Morrow's.
Take Five (written and saxophone solo by Paul Desmond, far right in photo).
Brubeck's album Time Out is one of my top ten jazz albums of all time.
John Coltrane: Equinox Of course Coltrane deserves to have been in the Jazz Hall of Fame, which, sadly, is now defunct, and only recognized big bands. Apparently jazz is insufficiently valued in our nation.
(from his Porgy and Bess album)
Were I to choose a top five jazz album, Miles's groundbreaking Kind of Blue would be up there, together with Brubeck's Time Out album.
Ronnie Earl: Glimpses of Serenity
Jazz guitarist Ronnie Earl's opus of equal stunning quality is this track from his great album Healing Time.
Duke Ellington: Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue: (live at Newport 1956, with the incredible 27 chorus sax solo by Paul Gonsalves, right).
I first heard this incredible performance when I was still in grade school, thanks to my brother Ed. It was part of an album of
jazz recordings from a civil rights group. Sadly I can no longer find any trace of it.
While some might argue Gerschwin's works were not jazz (he also composed An American in Paris with my all-time favorite trumpet solo) I strongly disagree. They were jazz at the core, albeit far more sophisticated than most jazz compositions, which were usually much shorter, and often improvised, with musicians taking turns at solos.
This track is especially meaningful to me because I played trumpet in high school (first chair in band and orchestra), and was given the opportunity to perform this solo with full orchestra backing. We actually took it on a small tour of other schools in the area (Morristown, N.J.).
Henry Mancini: theme from the TV series Peter Gunn. Mancini was both brilliant and prolific. Others of his works included the theme from the parallel TV series Mr. Lucky, the movie thriller Charade, The Pink Panther theme, among numerous other works.
Glenn Miller: In the Mood
My son Jonathan sang this with his middle school choir. Given what Miller's dancers had in mind made this somewhat of an inappropriate song selection, but none were the wiser, it seemed.
Buddy Morrow: Night Train
I first heard this in high school, and played the album over and over, but this track in particular.
Cristo Redentor I first heard this great jazz classic on my local jazz, blues and NPR news station KNKX in Seattle. It has become one of my all time favorites, and if you click on the link and give it a listen you'll know what I mean (hint, it's a very bluesy sound).
Stanley Turrentine: Sugar This brings back memories of my years in New York. Years later I saw him live in Redondo Beach in L.A. One of the all-time great sax soloists.
Danilo Perez: Across the Crystal SeaThis Panamanian artist's music has a wonderfully ethereal quality to it. My local Seattle jazz station KNKX plays this piece often, for good reason.
Grover Washington Jr.: Winelight
This selection, too, comes of fond memories, in this case during my years in Hollywood. What could be better than a glass of wine while enjoying a sunset at twilight?
Which I will now do, sunset and all.
Voila, my friends!
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