Top 10 or 20 favorite albums period

[aeroneus]

tell me your top 10 favourite albums ever made
i do this because i want to listen new albums...i´m afraid that im getting bored some of mine albums

[Tanager]

aero, go over to the What Are You Listening To II thread in Speak Out...you'll get a mountain of good ideas.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Charles Mingus -- Black Saint and The Sinner Lady

Cecil Taylor -- One Too Many Salty Swift And Not Goodbye

Sun Ra -- Other Planes of There

Sergey Kuryokhin -- Some Combinations of Fingers and Passion

Duke Ellington -- Blanton-Webster Band

Dizzy Gillespie -- Complete RCA Recordings

Charlie Parker -- Swedish Schnapps

Miles Davis -- Kind of Blue

Jazz At Massey Hall

Billie Holiday -- Billie's Love Songs

Keith Tippett -- Mujician I&II

Eric Dolphy -- Out To Lunch

Codona

[HLJ]

John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Wynton Marsalis-Black Codes From The Underground
Terrence Blanchard-Wandering Moon
Gil Scott-Winter In America
Weather Report-Mysterious Traveller
Return To Forever-Romantic Warrior
Freddie Hubbard-Red Clay
Wayne Shorter-Speak No Evil
Branford Marsalis-Footsteps of Our Fathers
Peace and all that.

[jazzfiend]

Mo Noyz, when did the sex change take place? You be looking much better.

[BlueMiles]

Instead of 10 favorite ever, I'll list 10 favorites from about the last 15 years. These endure.

* Spirits of our Ancestors--Randy Weston (this sensational double CD is the definite look at this great artist's important contribution to jazz)

* Have a Little Faith--Bill Frisell (Frisell curiously wrote nothing for this album, but it could hardly be the work of anyone else; a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable record)

* Lotus Flower--Steve Turre (Turre is THE man on trombone and just a superb all-around artist; what a killer sextet, with Regina Carter in the front line)

* The African Flower--James Netwon (one of the most astonishing tributes to Duke you'll ever hear; on the basis of this album alone, Newton seems to me to be a genuine "great")

* Rush Hour--Joe Lovano (got to have something by Lovano; this one has a little bit of everything, and will keep you fascinated for a long, long time)

* Generation--Kenny Burrell (Kenny just strikes me as the quintessence of jazz guitar; he's never sounded better than here)

* Brass Orchestra -J.J. Johnson (one of the last albums by the great man; a fantastic summation of his career)

* So Near, So Far--Joe Henderson (the best of Joe's Verve albums and the best tribute EVER to Miles Davis)

* The Turning Point--McCoy Tyner (Tyner's best big band album and indeed one of the great albums of his career)

* Haunted Heart--Charlie Haden (some may view this as just nostalgia, but to me this is an album of achingly beautiful music, played with stunning taste and passion)

[Pete C]

Originally posted by BlueMiles
Instead of 10 favorite ever, I'll list 10 favorites from about the last 15 years. These endure.

I haven't heard the Frisell, Burrell or J.J. albums, but otherwise I can't argue with your taste. All great albums.

[gnhrtg]

Michael Moore - Jewels and Binoculars (I just wonder whether this can be improved, or rather could have been better. Both the selection of the tunes and the blowing are great.)

Petrucciani / Hall / Shorter - The Power of Three (I can hardly recall any other album where all of the players, in each tune, excel at creating and playing around with such beatiful melodies.)

Kenny Garret - Triology (if only for the sax and drum interplay on "Wayne's Thang")

DKV - Live @ Chicago & Wels (I've been trying to get my hands on, but consistently failing, on other DKV releases since the first time I've heard this)

John Coltrane - Blue Train (killing double times with Morgan and Trane, great-great blowing and some of the most memorable blues heads.)

Five there and my mind does not allow for extensive search; therefore I'm sure to have left off some of my all time favorites, I'll seek refuge in the possibility of editing - since I should also include stuff by my other favorites: Monk, Gustafsson, Zorn, and Mehldau.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally posted by gnhrtg
Michael Moore - Jewels and Binoculars (I just wonder whether this can be improved, or rather could have been better. Both the selection of the tunes and the blowing are great.)

Absolutely fabulous album! Couldn't agree more.

[slinger]

In no particular order. These are some of the CDs I've been listening to a lot lately.

Stanley Clarke - Journey to Love
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Miles Davis - Jack Johnson
The Bad Plus - These are The Vistas
Allman Brothers Band - Hittin the Note
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame
Fourplay - Heartfelt
Billy Cobham - Spectrum
Yellowjackets - Time Squared

[mmerewitz]

My top ten in no particular order:

Woody Herman - Live at the 1979 Monterey Jazz Festival

John Fedchock's New York Big Band - No Nonsense

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Duke Ellington and Count Basie - First Time!

Pete Christlieb and Warne Marsh - Apogee!

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Returns to Berlin

Chris Potter - Traveling Mercies

Joe Henderson - Page One

Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

[Jazztronaut]

No order of any kind in this listing:

1 - John Coltrane: Interstellar Space
2 - Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
3 - Thelonious Monk: Alone In San Francisco
4 - Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz
5 - Jimmy Giuffre: 1961
6 - Evan Parker/ Barry Guy/ Paul Lytton: At The Vortex
7 - Anthony Braxton: Willisau (Quartet) 1991
8 - Miles Davis: At The Plugged Nickel
9 - Cecil Taylor: Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come
10 - Albert Ayler: Les Nuits de la Fondation Maeght

[HLJ]

I know this would take my list to 11 but I have to add Greg Osby's"Banned in N.Y".Peace and all that.

[Raymond Clemens]

Dave Douglas - Freak In
Quest - Of One Mind
Coltrane - Sun Ship
Joe Ferrall - Moon Germs
Avishai Cohen & IVB - Unity
Herbie Hancock - Sextant
Miles - In a Silent Way
Mingus - Blues and Roots
Chick Corea - Now He Sings Now He Sobs
Ellington - Far East Suite

*Please excuse any spelling errors...
These are my top 10 of all time for today, tomorrow may be different...

[willy]

Bill Evans: Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
John MacLaughlin: Extrapolation
Art Blakey: Free for All
Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson
Dexter Gordon: Go
Hank Mobley: Soul Station
Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity
Bill Evans: Waltz for Debby

[john williams]

I have to split this up.


Pre-1970
First Meditations - John Coltrane
Miles Smiles - Miles Davis
Live at Antibes - Charles Mingus
Out To Lunch - Eric Dolphy
Point of Departure - Andrew Hill
Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk
Ornette - Ornette Coleman
An Night at the Village Vanguard - Sonny Rollins
Cool Struttin'- Sonny Clark
Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come - Cecil Taylor

Post-1970
Bley/Parker/Phillips/ Sankt Gerold
Paul Bley - Not One, Not Two
Live at Tonic - Masada
Catalogue - Ganelin Trio
Leosia - Tomasz Stanko
Conference of the Birds - Dave Holland
Serenity - Bobo Stenson Trio
Touchin'on Trane - Charles Gayle
O'Neal's Porch - William Parker
Deer Wan - Kenny Wheeler

[Groovie]

Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker at Carnegie Hall-1949
Oliver Nelson - Blues and the Abstract Truth
Sonny Rollins - Sonny Plus Three
Sarah Vaughan - Sassy Swings the Tivoli
Jackie Mclean - Swing Swang Swinging
Art Blakey - At The Cafe Bohemia Vol. 1
Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy at the Riviera
Sonny Stitt - Sonny Stitt with Bud Powell and J. J. Johnson
Lambert, Hendricks and Ross - Sing Along With Basie
Miles Davis - Steamin'

[Fran]

Duke's.........Webster- Blanton set on RCA

Dizzie's........Complete RCA Recordings

Basie's.........2 Mosaic box sets

Woody's.......Mosaic complete Capitol Recordings

[JazzCutterBoy]

....I've gotta go with:

Kind Of Blue - Davis
Blue Train - Coltrane
Standards - Coltrane
The Essential Charlie Parker ('92 Verve)
Mwandashi - Hancock
Royal Garden Blues - Marsalis

.......thats all that realy stands out ontop of the rest to me.......wuts yours???

-Cutter

[Sergio Zamora]

Longest Torpedo (Submarine) Sandwich
Chef Franz Eichenauer created a 322.5 m (1,058 ft 8 in) sandwich from one continuous loaf at Peekskill Riverfront Green, New York, USA on September 16, 1979.

[Tanager]

Roger Bannister breaking the four minute barrier for the mile.



(Cutter, I have a feeling that my list, like those of many others around here, is simply too lengthy and full of subcategorizations to allow for easy posting. I may well be wrong, but you will often get better/more serious responses with thread topics which are much narrower in scope than simply, "what are your favorite records.")

[Pete C]

Nonetheless, it's great that you've got Mwandishi on the list.

[Gordon B]

Originally posted by Pete C
Nonetheless, it's great that you've got Mwandishi on the list.

Maybe cutter put it on for nostalgia reasons, having heard it since the age of four.

Cutter, if you want to find out what are the *greatest* records in jazz history, why not look up Steve Reynolds in the Members area and send him a PM. He'll be happy to help you out.

[frankpop1]

i like sergio's approach:


Long Jump Bob Beamon 8.90m 29 feet, 2½ inches

[sonic1]

Which 20 albums represent the most inspiring pieces of music for you, any genre.

If 20 is too small don't be afraid to be generous and break the limit.

[stonemonkts]

20 off the top of my head, which means I could easily think of another 20 tomorrow...and the next day:

These albums adhere to your caveat regarding inspiration, and not necessarily "best ever" etc...

Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Tom Waits - Heart of Saturday Night
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
The Beatles - Meet The Beatles!
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Michael Moore - Bering
Coltrane - 1961 Village Vanguard
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Peter Kowald - Was Da Ist
George Lewis - Homage to Charlie Parker
Mingus - Ah Um
Monk - Brilliant Corners
Monk - Thelonious Himself
Wayne Shorter - Juju
Cecil Taylor - Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Henry Threadgill - Makin' A Move
John Zorn - Big Gundown
Radiohead - OK Computer

Those 20 recordings each had a profound effect on me when I first heard them, and have rewarded me repeatedly over the years.


"Classical" music is a whole other area of pleasure for me. These compositions were what I'd call life-changing:

Beethoven - String Quartets, esp. Nos.13-16 (Guarneri Quartet; early 60's)
Beethoven - Symphonies (all nine of them, but esp. 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9)
Bach - Brandenburg Concertos
Bach - practically anything he wrote for the keyboard
Bach - all his other orchestral works
Mozart - Piano Concertos, esp. nos. 14-27
Dvorak - String Quartet "American"
Bartok - the Six String Quartets

[Mingus]

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Mingus - Live at Antibes '60
Mingus - New Tijuana Moods
Art Blakey - Jazz Messengers - Moanin'
Weather Report - Sweet Nighter
Bob Dylan - Everything/Anytime
Clash - London Calling
Sly and Robbie - Present Taxi
Graham Parker - Howlin Wind
Coltrane - Live at Village Vanguard 1961
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Miles Davis - Complete Plugged Nickle
Miles Davis - Silent Way Sessions
Hamid Drake & Sabir Mateen - Brothers Together
Fred Anderson Trio - Live at Velvet Lounge
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages - Ritual of the Savages
Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - Acoustic disc 2
Richard Thompson - Amnesia
Southern Culture On The Skids - compilation
Bob Marley - Catch a Fire
Bud Powell - Amazing Bud Powell - Vol 1

[Dr Dave]

Okay, straight off the top:

Miles, KOB.
Trane, ALS.
The Complete Charlie Parker Dial Masters
NWA, Straight Outta Compton
Bob Dylan, Highway 61
Booker T & The MGs, Green Onions
Wes Montgomery, The Incredible Jazz Guitar
Tommy Flanagan, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
The Wild Tchoupitulas
The Meters, Rejuvenation
Dave Liebman, Drum Ode
The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Gary Burton, Duster
B.B. King, Live At The Regal
Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues
Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland
Count Basie, Atomic Basie
Mulgrew Miller, Wingspan
Sonny Fortune, Awakening
Abbess Hildegard von Bingen, A Feather On The Breath of God
Jesse Winchester
Carmen McRae, Carmen Sings Monk
Eddie Jefferson, Body & Soul
King Pleasure Sings, Annie Ross Sings
The MC5, Kick Out The Jams
John Mayall, Bluesbreakers
Miles, Live/Evil
Miles, A Tribute To Jack Johnson
Johnny Griffin, Introducing
Geoff & Maria Muldaur, Pottery Pie
John Scofield, Out Like A Light
The JBs, Doing It To Death
The Mighty Sparrow, Hot and Sweet
The Wailers, Burnin'
Kassav', Dife
Fela & Afrika '70, Expensive Shit
Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight
The Rolling Stones, Beggar's Banquet

[Steve Reynolds]

off the top of my head

Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask Replica
Can: Tago Mago
Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy
Myra Melford Quintet: Even The Sounds Shine
Charles Mingus: New Tijuana Moods
Dunmall/Adams/Sanders: Ghostly Thoughts
Duke Ellington: Far East Suite
Julius Hemphill: Flat Out Jump Suite
Replacements: Let it Be
Evan Parker/John Edwards/Mark Sanders: The Two Seasons
Keith Rowe/Burkhard Beins: Live
Urs/Joelle/Fritz: No Try No Fail
Fred/Kidd/William/Hamid: 2 days in april
Gerry Hemingway Quintet: The Marmalade King
Ganelin Trio: Con Effetto
AMM: Live in Allentown
Mujician: Colours Fulfilled
Myra Melford/Han Bennink: Eleven Ghosts
Spontaneous Music Ensemble: A New Distance
AALY Trio + Mats Guistafsson: Hidden in the Stomach

based on my *current* listening space

[Noj]

Clearly this is an impossible task, but off the top of my noggin...

Wes Montgomery - Impressions Verve 2cd
Parliament - Mothership Connection
Art Blakey - Indestructible!
Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys
Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues
Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land
The JB's - Doing It To Death
Brother Jack McDuff - Moon Rappin'
De La Soul Is Dead
The Blue Yusef Lateef
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Joe Pass - Virtuoso
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Horace Silver - Song For My Father
Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns - A Blow For Me, A Toot For You
Portishead - Dummy
Beck - Mellow Gold
Iron Leg - The Complete Mickey & The Soul Generation
Pat Martino - Head & Heart