A Life in 100 Tracks
Just supposing jazz was to write its own autobiography, what do you think it would include as the soundtrack to its incredible journey from the Southern States of America, and New Orleans, the ‘Cradle of Jazz’ as it made its way up the Mississippi River to Chicago, and to New York before spreading the word across America and pretty soon the world? Well we’ll never know, but we’ve stepped in to act as musical “ghost-writers”, or at least “list-makers”, to try and come up with 100 tracks that tell the colorful life story of jazz.
Jazz was able to spread that word as soon as the phonograph was invented and the Original Dixieland Jass Band cut ‘Livery Stables Blues’ in 1917, acknowledged as the first jazz recording. Soon Papa Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton (who always claimed to have invented jazz) and Bix Beiderbecke gave jazz life.
By the 1930s bands like Duke Ellington’s was entertaining all-comers to The Cotton Club, Chick Webb had them ‘Stompin’ At The Savoy’, Fletcher Henderson’s band came in on a ‘Tidal Wave’ and even the British got in on the act when Spike Hughes worked with Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins in New York. As the decade continued big bands and swing were all the rage, jazz was even pop for a while, with Count Basie and Benny Goodman, yet there was still time for Billie Holiday to sing of some ‘Strange Fruit’.
In 1939 Blue Note Records started, as it certainly didn’t go on, recording music of an earlier time by men from the era of ‘Le Jazz Hot’. Which is where Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli came in. They gave jazz a French accent, while Charlie Christian showed the way to play an electric guitar and Lionel Hampton was ‘Flying Home’.
Then along came be-bop with Bird and Dizzy there at the birth. Mary Lou Williams was an innovator and a sadly underrated talent, not so Monk, even if the musicians on his debut lacked the talent to keep up. Louis Armstrong gathered his All Stars around him and went backwards to go forwards. Ella found that scat and the concert hall were her natural habitat and Bird, like just about every jazzer, according to Norman Granz, wanted to record with strings.
Miles was there at the Birth of the Cool, and the genius of Bouncin’ Bud Powell was unquestioned. Pres having made his name in the 1930s proved he still was trying to get started and Brownie was really only just getting started. If Pres and the Hawk were the first of the big Tenors, Ben Webster proved he was a match for them.
While Erroll Garner gave a ‘Concert by the sea’, the Modern Jazz Quartet paid homage to Django and Chet was just as groovy as Dot. Ella and Louis together and apart made jazz singing seem effortless, theirs was jazz with Verve. Billie in the twilight of her career, and sadly her life, still had it and if Bud was a genius, then so was Art.
In the 1950s new names jostled for attention, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Art Blakey, Cannonball (who needs a surname with a Christian name like that?), Brubeck, ‘Trane, Mingus and Ornette (who else needs a surname?) all had so much to say,
A new decade meant a batch of new names, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Jimmy Smith – a revolutionary – Wes Montgomery in the tradition of Mr Christian, (joined by Kenny B. and Grant Green), Gil Evans and his unrelated namesake Bill who both took jazz into a whole new area.
Getz and Gilberto with more than a little help rom Mrs Gilberto proved there was an awful lot of jazz in Brazil, much of which came from the pen of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Dexter Gordon didn’t need to go to Paris to record, but he did and the result was fantastiqué.
Jazz, always restless, always shifting was approaching fifty and showed no signs of resting on past glories as Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor and Wayne Shorter stretched the limits of it and our imagination. JC came along and for many topped them all with ‘A Love Supreme’.
Herbie Hancock began what has been one of the most long and satisfying careers in the latter era. Bobby Hutcherson created good vibes, The Chairman of The Board and the Count took jazz to Vegas and Miles took jazz to the ‘kids’ when he fused his ideas with a rock idiom – it was a ‘Bitches Brew’.
While some consider the 1970s to be the beginning of the end for jazz as we know it, the likes of Donald Byrd, Herbie, Ronnie Laws, Weather Report, and Chick Corea engaged new audiences and a decade later the ‘sample’ was invented and it brought newcomers to church.
In more recent years Jason Moran and Robert Glasper, together and apart, have created a new kind of jazz, along with Brian Blade, while Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson and Kurt Elling may have had one eye over their shoulder theirs is a new kind of jazz too…it’s just different. In 2014 Gregory Porter won a Grammy and brought untold new fans to jazz, and while there are some who may scoff and say they prefer what had gone previously we have to keep our spirit liquid.
A life in 100 tracks we said, but we’ve actually listed just 99 tracks. What track should we add to complete the story of jazz? Please tell us why you think your choice should make the cut. And we’re fully prepared for you to tell us that we’ve got the story completely wrong.
Anyway! This is our jazz, tell us yours…
Original Dixieland Jazz Band Livery Stable Blues 1917
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band Dippermouth Blues 1923
Jelly Roll Morton Jelly Roll Blues 1924
Bix Beiderbecke Davenport Blues 1925
Louis Armstrong Heebie Jeebies 1926
Duke Ellington Black and Tan Fantasy 1927
Louis Armstrong Hot 5 West End Blues 1928
Fats Waller A Handful of Keys 1929
Duke Ellington Mood Indigo 1930
Spike Hughes Music At Midnight 1933
Chick Webb Orchestra Stompin’ at the Savoy 1934
Fletcher Henderson Tidal Wave 1934
Count Basie Orchestra One O’Clock Jump 1937
Benny Goodman Orchestra Sing, Sing, Sing 1937
Billie Holiday Strange Fruit 1939
Meade Lux Lewis The Blues 1939
Coleman Hawkins Body and Soul 1939
Sidney Bechet Summertime 1939
Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli Tea For Two 1939
Charlie Christian (with Benny Goodman) Solo flight 1941
Lionel Hampton Flying Home 1942
Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker Salt Peanuts 1945
Mary Lou Williams Virgo 1945
Thelonious Monk Round Midnight 1947
Louis Armstrong Muskrat Ramble 1947
Ella Fitzgerald How High The Moon 1949
Miles Davis Jeru 1949
Charlie Parker with Strings Just Friends 1949
Bud Powell Bouncing With Bud 1949
Lester Young I Can’t Get Started 1952
Clifford Brown Cherokee 1953
Ben Webster Tenderly 1953
Miles Davis Bags Groove 1954
Sarah Vaughan September song 1955
Errol Garner Teach Me Tonight 1955
Modern Jazz Quartet Django 1955
Chet Baker Dot’s Groovy 1955
Ella Fitzgerald Begin the Beguine 1956
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong The Nearness of You 1956
Billie Holiday God Bless The Child 1956
Art Tatum & Ben Webster All The Things You Are 1956
Sonny Rollins You Don’t Know What Love Is 1956
Art Pepper Red Pepper Blues 1957
Thelonious Monk Pannonica 1957
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers Moanin’ 1958
Cannonball Adderley Somethin’ Else 1958
Dinah Washington What A Difference A Day Makes 1959
Dave Brubeck Take Five 1959
John Coltrane Giant Steps 1959
Charles Mingus Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 1959
Ornette Coleman Lonely Woman 1959
Freddie Hubbard Open Sesame 1960
Jimmy Smith Back at the Chicken Shack 1960
Hank Mobley Soul Station 1960
Gil Evans Sunken Treasure 1960
Wes Montgomery West Coast Blues 1960
Bill Evans Waltz For Debby 1961
Benny Carter The Midnight Sun Will Never Set 1961
Oliver Nelson Stolen Moments 1961
Oscar Peterson Night Train 1962
Bill Evans Stella By Starlight 1963
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto with Astrud Gilberto The Girl from Ipanema 1963
Dexter Gordon Scrapple For the Apple 1963
Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue 1963
Lee Morgan The Sidewinder 1963
Jimmy Smith Basin Street Blues 1964
Andrew Hill New Monastery 1964
Eric Dolphy Out To Lunch 1964
Horace Silver Song For My Father 1964
Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil 1964
Don Cherry Elephantasy 1965
Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage 1965
John Coltrane Acknowledgement 1965
Grant Green Idle Moments 1965
Cecil Taylor Unit Structures 1966
Joe Henderson Mode for Joe 1966
Frank Sinatra with Count Basie All of Me (live) 1966
Antonio Carlos Jobim Wave 1967
Bobby Hutcherson Pompeian 1968
Sun Ra Yucatan 1968
Miles Davis Bitches Brew 1969
Donald Byrd Black Byrd 1972
Chick Corea Spain 1972
Herbie Hancock Watermelon Man 1973
Archie Shepp Naima 1974
Ronnie Laws Always There 1975
McCoy Tyner Fly With The wind 1976
Weather Report Birdland 1977
Pat Metheny First Circle 1984
Dave Grusin & The NY/LA Dream Band Serengetti Walk 1984
Cassandra Wilson Come On Into My Kitchen 1993
Wynton Marsalis Calling The Indians Out 1997
Jason Moran Still Moving 1998
Brian Blade Perceptual 1999
Kurt Elling Detour Ahead 2001
Diana Krall East of the Sun (and west of the moon) 2002
Herbie Hancock Both Sides Now 2006
Robert Glasper Cherish The Day 2011
Gregory Porter Liquid Spirit 2013
UK English
Dave Conners
October 5, 2014 at 8:01 pm
Albert Ayley, Spiritual Unity – Ghosts, First Variation.
Pam Muhammad
October 5, 2014 at 8:11 pm
Damn, quite a list. BUT HOW IN THE HELL, HEAVEN AND EARTH could you not have any mention of Roy Hargrove? I searched all over your sight and I don’t see his name anywhere. This gentleman is a musical genius. He is an amazing musician, not to mention a bandleader. He has written and composed several original recordings and has appeared on countless collaborations with other musicians over the years. He is an accomplished performer. I am totally surprised and disappointed by your obvious oversight and omission of Mr. Hargrove. What is your reason?
Carl Mattick
October 5, 2014 at 9:01 pm
No Anita O’Day or Marian McPartland? What? Why?
Michael Miller
October 5, 2014 at 9:01 pm
If Billie Holliday and Dinah Washington are jazz, then surely Ethel Waters is the foremother of them all. She was and is the link between blues, jazz and pop. Her smooth vocals and ability to swing is what made her so popular much more so than Holliday, and it is a real shame that you left her out, as much as I like this collection I won’t purchase it.
Jaap van der Does
October 5, 2014 at 9:24 pm
it seems to me that Kenny Garret, e.g. Sing a Song of Songs, has been much more important to jazz than e.g. Diana Krall or Gregory Potter. Also miss Michael Brecker, Yellowjackets, Albert Ayer, Pharao Sanders, Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Marcus Miller. Jaco Pastorius,…
Stephen Roedel
October 5, 2014 at 10:04 pm
Billy Taylor Trio “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” from the album of the same name. Live on Tower Records from the late 60’s with Ben Tucker on bass and Grady Tate on drums. Very hard to find but well worth it.
Bunthead
October 5, 2014 at 10:08 pm
John Coltrane “acknowledgement???” 1965 …
Giorgi Matiashvili
October 5, 2014 at 10:31 pm
keith jarrett???????????
GreatPumpkinWaltz
October 5, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Vince Guaraldi or get out.
Robertattillo
October 5, 2014 at 11:20 pm
Miles Davis Kind of Blue & Duke/Coltrane Sentamental Mood.
Daddy B
March 3, 2021 at 7:46 am
When I didn’t see Kind of Blue on here I stopped reading.
Robert Pattillo
October 5, 2014 at 11:29 pm
Duke/Coltrane Sentimental Mood
EC
October 8, 2014 at 3:09 am
As soon as I read your comment, Duke’s piano intro sprang into my brain:) It’s definately one of the Himalayan/Alps….peaks of jazz. Cheers:)
Jules
October 6, 2014 at 12:05 am
Nina Simone’s version of I Loves You Porgy.
Ben
October 6, 2014 at 12:26 am
I don’t understand everyones negativity, jazz is such a vast expanse of music, there are artists from every period of jazz that mean more to some people. I would’ve had Clarence Williams, The Harlem Hamfats, John Kirby Sextet, Muggsy Spanier but that’s me, what I consider important isn’t necessarily what someone else might.
Mikey
October 24, 2014 at 3:31 am
Word…
Pam Muhammad
October 26, 2014 at 9:30 pm
Ben, you’re right but when you have such a vast expanse, expect a vast sea of opinions and passionate replies, such as mine, LOL! I love Roy Hargrove! Now I’m going to check out the names on your list. Peace
Keilisi
October 6, 2014 at 1:46 am
Louis Armstrong, Black and Blue. This is one of the most comprehensive songs about the jazz experience. In a few short lines with a haunting musical track, this song speaks volumes about the rise of the soul of jazz.
Jeffrey Tedford
October 21, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Nice pick!
Michael Nieradka
October 6, 2014 at 1:50 am
What about Kind of Blue and you just list Acknowledgement, you need all of A Love Supreme and Ascension
Charles Friedline
October 6, 2014 at 1:58 am
Not sure how this was overlooked: “So What” Miles Davis, 1958
Barrie Watts
October 6, 2014 at 2:19 am
You mean to tell me great (white) composers/arrangers don’t belong in the hierarchy? Does composed music behind the great soloists count for not much? Gimme a break. Jazz is full of brilliance and brilliant performers resolutely unrecognised or granted a passing sneer by pusillanimous and pretty damn’ stupid critics.
Ursula Hemard
October 6, 2014 at 2:32 am
Pretty Good! Well done…
I miss Lorez Alexandria … she just MUST be in the top 100
… and I definitely would omit Diana Krall 🙁 … her elevator-music does not fit in here at all .. sorry …
a list of Jazz Divas in the making : https://open.spotify.com/user/1232311488/playlist/1XVRQrO3PDhnPXoUN5XKI4
Leonard Wong
October 6, 2014 at 3:05 am
• Chuck Terry on Flueg with Monk as sideman – Argentia
• Julie London – everytime I hear D. Krall
• Les Double Six – ambition & jest!
• Stacey Kent – she doesn’t just sing, she weaves a story
Elge Larsson
October 6, 2014 at 3:48 am
Carla Bley!
and some Swedes you may never heard of like
Lars Gullin, a baryton sax player who kinda towers over Mulligan,
and Jan Johansson who fused jazz and Sw. folk music into the most enchanting magic, a really innovative strain like nothing ever before.
Also more world music of the kind that Jan Garbarek or Rabi Abou-Khalil make.
Ursula Hemard
October 6, 2014 at 4:18 am
Very good list indeed!
However I miss Lorez Alexandria and Ethel Ennis …
and would immediately omit Diana Krall … her elevator music has nothing to do in this list … sorry
Markdemey
October 6, 2014 at 5:35 am
PEACE PIECE! Bill Evans and The art. of The trio
Shirley H
October 6, 2014 at 7:34 am
Are you going with me? by Pat Metheny Group. It is one of the most beautiful and haunting pieces of jazz ever from a fantastic album. Also what about Blossom Dearie?
Pife
October 6, 2014 at 11:54 am
Great list but – Carmen McRae, Stan Kenton
Ted Parkinson
October 6, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Yeah, the deal is there are so many brilliant Jazz artists that any list will exclude far more than it includes. That is the nature of lists. I think the greatest omissions are artists like Steve Lacy and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. So I see this as another list to remind me about some valuable listening but hardly definitive.
John Hochheimer
October 6, 2014 at 12:53 pm
First, check your spelling: Lousi Armstrong Hot 5 West End Blues 1928. Pops was many things but “Lousi” would NEVER come to mind.
Secondly, why no Latin Jazz? No Tito Puente? Cal Tjader? Eddie Palmieri? The list goes on forever.
Third, I miss the great vocalese singers: King Pleasure, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Babs Gonzalez.
Bob Gustafson
October 6, 2014 at 1:58 pm
How could you leave out Clifford Brown and Max Roach?
Carlos Briede García
October 6, 2014 at 2:56 pm
Me interesa poder escuchar los temas de la lista.Saludos y muchas gracias.
Rob Thibert
October 6, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Clearly cannot be done in 100 songs. Spyro Gyra, The Rippingtons, Earl Klugh, Al Jarreau, and most of the smooth jazz movement have been left out. At least put in Wes Montgomery or some of the innovators of smooth jazz.
Michael
October 6, 2014 at 6:09 pm
Bill Evans–How can you forget Jade vers. 2 or My Man’s Gone Now.
And how did Dianna Krall make this list and not Melody Gardot??
Richard Balatoni
October 6, 2014 at 10:34 pm
Light on the Jazz Rock. A Return to Forever or Mahavishnu Orchestra track should be there.
George Rinker
October 7, 2014 at 7:11 am
“Desafinado” beats “Girl from Ipanema” for Getz and “Georgia on My Mind” beats anything on “Take Five (Desmond wrote that tune btw)” for Brubeck. There are no dogs here, but 100 is just not enough to avoid missing some of the greatest tracks, equal or better than some of those listed.
Kleber Araújo
October 7, 2014 at 8:06 pm
Bossa Nova is African-American music as well as Jazz, Cuban music etc. But, the Bossa Nova is not Jazz. Bossa Nova is Samba. His rhythmic cadence is different. Has its roots in Candomblé.
Bossa Nova é música afro americana, assim como Jazz, Música Cubana etc. Mas a Bossa Nova não é Jazz. Bossa Nova é Samba. Sua cadência rítmica é diferente. Tem suas raízes no Candomblé.
Kleber Araújo
October 7, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Bossa Nova is African-American music as well as Jazz, Cuban music etc. But, the Bossa Nova is not Jazz. Bossa Nova is Samba. His rhythmic cadence is different. Has its roots in Candomblé.
Caroline
October 7, 2014 at 8:23 pm
I would like to have seen something from Wynton Marsalis (I particularly like Observation Car from the big train), but like the guy above said – what I like might not be what everyone else likes. That is what makes jazz so great – there is tons of stuff for EVERYONE
Brendan Brohan
October 7, 2014 at 9:36 pm
Great list. I’d have to add Blue & Sentimental by Ike Quebec as my 100th track – an often overlooked but wonderful tenor sax player and B&S still makes the hair stand on the back of my neck!
Dental
October 8, 2014 at 12:57 am
Great list! I would have thrown something from Hancock’s Thrust, Sextant, or Manchild album in there. Way to span the century!
CleArthur Harris
October 8, 2014 at 6:25 am
This is historical, a true collection for jazz lovers. I can’t be mad about your reasoning behind your selection process, that’s a lot work. This collection will never diminish the contribution of the brilliant jazz geniuses left out of this tedious effort, I commend you for shining the light on the beauty of jazz from it’s earliest formation to date. Thank You.
Paul Nagi
October 8, 2014 at 8:18 am
Dizzy and Bird playing Salt Peanuts doesn’t seem like a good representation of the be-bop they gave us – it is a lesser known tune and fairly peculiar. Groovin’ High or Billie’s Bounce seem more representative of be-bop to me. Though short lived, Eddie Jefferson also gave jazz a unique twist in terms of vocals – he could tell this same story of all these jazz artists in his vocals like nobody else. Great list and a great idea!
Sally T. Stevens
October 8, 2014 at 8:52 am
What about Woody Herman?!!!!
Bob Green
October 8, 2014 at 12:38 pm
I would have to go for a Brit on the list, Stan Tracey’s Starless And Bible Black off the Under Milk Wood LP, but really there are many artists who could have made the cut.
Tony
July 19, 2015 at 10:24 am
Well said, beautiful music. Also graham Collier, Tubby Hayes, Chris Mcgregor……so many.
phil murray
October 9, 2014 at 12:02 am
an impressive list.but…..no weather report ? no Jimmy heath ? and no Frank Zappa/Jean Luc Ponty / peaches en regalia ?
Chris Signori
October 11, 2014 at 11:55 am
Where is the work of Buddy Rich represented?
Jim in Durham
October 18, 2014 at 1:36 am
Outstanding list. Here are a few more favorites for which I’d like to have found a place:
Duke Ellington Orchestra, Take the A Train
Louis Armstrong, Struttin’ with Some Barbeque (or the Ellis Marsalis version)
Miles Davis, So What
MJQ, Bags’ Groove (I love the version on The Last Concert)
Milt Jackson, In the Woodhouse
Benny Carter, Doozy
Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band, Long Yellow Road or Interlude
Woody Herman, At the Woodchoppers’ Ball
Sammy Nestico, Free Flight
Chris Walden, Jive at Five
Roy Hargrove, Ms. Garvey
юрий
October 24, 2014 at 9:24 am
Какое большое удовольствие получаешь от этой замечательной музыки.Сейчас с помощью интернета стало доступно почти всё . было создано талантливыми людьми.
uDiscover
October 24, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Спасибо, очень верно
Alan Brown
October 24, 2014 at 12:05 pm
How could you leave out Buddy DeFranco, or Eddie Daniels, or the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra?
uDiscover
October 24, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Alan, the question then becomes, what to take out?
willem van kruijsdijk
October 25, 2014 at 9:42 pm
Joe Zawinul’s Syndicate:
N’awlins
elguene
October 27, 2014 at 1:15 pm
WHAT??????
No KENNY DORHAM in the list????
unbelievable…
jazz queen
October 29, 2014 at 4:30 pm
There are time periods omitted here: 2002-06; 2006-11; 2011-14; 1977-84- 1984-93; 1993-97. Where’s Jazz Crusaders; Lou Donaldson; Stanley Turrentine; Freddie Hubbard; Kenny Barron; the Marsalis family; Roy Hargrove’s Bohemia After Dark (fast & mesmerizing); the entire Black Jazz label enterprise of the 70’s featuring Doug Carn; Cecil Bridgewater; Quincy Jones; Duke Pearson; Thad Jones/Mel Lewis; Cannonball Adderly; Sonny Stitt; Lee Morgan; Wayne Shorter; George Adams/Don Pullen. Won’t name particular tunes here except for Roy’s, but any music they produced during these periods would serve.
pete robinson
November 17, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Glad to see a mention of Roy H but very happy to see George Adams and Don Pullen! I’d probably replace Herbie’s WMM with Chameleon, just for the sheer impact. I’d like to add in Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, Freedom Now Suite…
Doug Greig
November 9, 2014 at 6:21 am
Kudos for creating a space for this dialogue. Don’t forget pianist Oscar Peterson and his trios–as a front man or accompanist, who had a more prolific recording and performing career? And Kenny Burrell on guitar? And why is the story only that of musicians? Think songwriters and composers and the list is very different. And then there’s the promoters and producers–you got Granz, how about Quincy Jones? And recording engineers: look up Rudy Van Gelder’s body of work and you’ll find nothing finer. Last, where would jazz be today if radio disc jockeys hadn’t kept the flame burning? Ross Porter’s CBC AfterHours was the primer that got me hooked–who brought jazz into your world, fellow true believers?
Benedetto
November 9, 2014 at 1:21 pm
only one Dizzy Gillespie track? No Roy Eldridge? can’t be right…
Sujit Patwardhan
November 17, 2014 at 4:06 pm
“Kind of Blue” doesn’t find a place in this list?
Tyler
November 18, 2014 at 2:24 pm
No “So What”? That for a beginning jazz trumpet player contain the most basic language from Miles they should be learning and studying.
Matthew
December 13, 2014 at 3:38 am
Alas, the humble survey. I don’t know what is inherent, somehow mechanically, in such compilations (even the thought of the attempt, at once is suspect in its overreach) that make them appear awkward…they never seem right. A fool’s errand, albeit well intentioned.
They work as a reminder, not so much of music deserved of recognition and contention, but of how man in never tiring in his inability to tolerate ambiguity. Once the candidates are winnowed down the last fixed selection, discord flies in the window. How unmusical to the ear.
Simply because a thing can be done, doesn’t mean it should. To paraphrase John Lennon “There nothing that is done that can’t be done, but just don’t.”
matthew
December 13, 2014 at 3:43 am
Also, the writing is unwell.
Joe Giardullo
January 17, 2015 at 11:28 pm
>John McGlaughlin- anything from The Inner Mounting Flame (Billy Cobham blew the doors off jazz drumming then, if I recall correctly)
>Tony Williams- Spring
> George Russell- Ezzthetics
> Dave Holland/ Barry Altschul /Sam Rivers /Anthony Braxton- Conference of the Birds
>Keith Jarrett- Byeablue
It appears the OP missed a full generation of jazz……..
kevin adams
January 18, 2015 at 12:52 am
Were can i get it
neil crystal
January 18, 2015 at 2:58 am
The Trio (1961) Hal Gaylor, Billy Bean, and Walter Norris. One of the greatest jazz recordings ever!
peter
January 18, 2015 at 4:44 pm
What about ramsey Lewis stuff like another voyage or the in crowd
Paul
January 18, 2015 at 5:03 pm
I would have included Blues (First B Flat Blues) from Jazz at the Philharmonic (1944) featuring Illinois Jacquet and Jack McVea on saxophone, Les Paul on guitar, Nat King Cole on piano, J. J. Johnson on trombone, Johnny Miller on bass, and Lee Young on drums for the final tune to make a list of 100.
Aaron
January 18, 2015 at 6:58 pm
That’s the list of a hopeless romantic…
Mike Sammin
January 18, 2015 at 7:02 pm
Royal Garden Blues with Eddie Condon and Wild Blue Davison.
Mike Sammin
January 18, 2015 at 7:04 pm
Royal Garden Blues with Eddie Condon and Wild Bill Davison.
Paul Treutel
January 19, 2015 at 2:56 am
The artist’s palette of jazz is so broad and brilliantly effusive that no single tribute could possibly capture it adequately. The legends of jazz may be debatable, but just barely if at all. I know of no other genre of artistic expression as unique, noble – hell – as gracefully human, as the musical forum of jazz. To attempt to name “the greats” is to diminish jazz itself. There may be standouts that we all agree on – Bichet, Armstrong, Monk, Dizzy, Bird, Coletrane – but that doesn’t diminish Bill Evans or Marian Mcpartlan or so many others one iota. They all bring their own stripe of genius to the tapestry of this phenomenal medium. And we are the beneficiaries!
Patricia Sterling-Molitch
January 19, 2015 at 5:33 pm
Glad to see someone differentiates between Diana Krall and Nina Simone…
abby4410
February 22, 2015 at 5:43 am
After all those comments , we tend to The Encyclopedia of Jazz
Mario
March 8, 2015 at 12:51 pm
After reading the list, I was surprised not to find “All Blues” (Kind of Blue) Miles Davis 1959, West Side Story – Oscar Peterson 1963.
Paul Mainwaring
March 11, 2015 at 9:47 am
Charlie Parker and Strings? Why choose this when there are so many classic tracks available from one of the Jazz greats? I feel you are belittling his memory and influence by choosing a track from arguably his weakest work. Please use something else, otherwise people will not be able to appreciate fully the genius of the one and only “Yardbird”.
wandile israel Lumbiwa
July 18, 2015 at 10:22 am
I thought Gene Ammons-Play me,Gene Harries-Tico rico,Paul Desmond- Take ten,Shirley Scott-Jazz 4 a Lady,Stanley Turrentine-Easy Walker,and The Crusaders-Pass the Plate should suit the selection but I applaud the selection in this Biography!!
Julie
July 18, 2015 at 1:51 pm
Don’t forget George Benson and Clarence Palmer, “Beyond the Blue Horizon” and specifically their rendition of Miles Davis’: “So What”!
Mel
July 18, 2015 at 11:25 pm
For track 100 how about EST ? Shame no space for Dianne Reeves. Sad to see so much negativity/snobbery about Diana Krall – her Live in Paris album really swings.
Gerald Mason
July 19, 2015 at 8:07 am
This list is not a list of favorites but rather a list of pieces that tell a story of the evolution of jazz inclusive of the different types or styles. That being said, it would seem that if modal type jazz is to be part of the story, the most recognized originator of modal would be included via one cut on the ALL BLUES recording.
Tony
July 19, 2015 at 10:32 am
and my second favourite after Trane….Rahsaan Roland Kirk!
Doug Atwell
July 22, 2015 at 10:20 pm
Jack Teagarden was my Grandpa…I like him a lot.
Simon Legault
December 21, 2015 at 12:51 pm
You’ve forgotten 4 people : Brad Mehldau who is one of the most talented piano player of our times. There are also Michel petrucciani, Enrico pieranunzi and Ibrahim Maalouf. But good playlist though
Dori
December 24, 2015 at 5:20 am
I must say i dont like this list.Where is George Benson – Breezin’ ??? No RTF.Just to mention a few.
Carl Root
January 14, 2021 at 1:13 am
The problem with lists like this is that it can’t decide which kinds of hyphenated jazz to include. My introduction to jazz in the early 60s was Brubeck, MJQ, Ahmad Jamal, Ray Charles and Mose Allison – none of them mainstream jazz, but they certainly served as a gateway.