10 From Each Style

[Reid]

Here's a variation on the old desert island scenario. Instead of only choosing ten (or whatever number) albums, you get to choose five albums from each style of jazz. So if you could only take five be-bop albums, five free jazz albums, swing, etc., what would they be?

[Pete C]

Are you working on your own lists?

[mke]

Why does the title say 10 when you only allow 5?

[Vince Kargatis]

Just to get some music in this thread, i'm gonna go for one each from various styles, off the top of my head, so not much thought involved (!):

trad/swing: Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives & Sevens vol ?
big band: Ellington - Blanton Webster
bop: Charlie Parker - Dial Sessions
post-bop: Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots
free jazz: Ornette Coleman - This Is Our Music
free improv: Schlippenbach Trio - Elf Bagatellen
fusion (of the nebulous jazz-rock kind): Pat Metheny Group - First Circle
modern: Tim Berne Fractured Fairy Tales or Pace Yourself

Ok, that was really half-assed, but whatever. I'm sure real thought about styles would give better coverage.

[Reid]

mke,

If you want to list ten, go ahead. I was asking for five, but I thought using "top five" in the title didn't sound good in a top ten forum.

Vince,

Blanton-Webster would be in my list for swing, but I'm not well-versed in that style.

Maybe this thread is going to bog down when it comes to creating categories. You got Mingus in post-bop. Are you thinking of post-bop differently from hard-bop? I'm not sure how I'd answer. For example, here's my hard-bop list:

1. Miles Davis--Milestones
2. Miles Davis--Kind of Blue
3. Herbie Hancock--Maiden Voyage
4. Bobby Watson and Horizon--The Inventor
5. Sonny Rollins--The Bridge

Now, I don't know if it's appropriate to place KOB and Maiden Voyage iand The Bridge in a hard-bop list. I could see why someone wouldn't. What category would you place them in?

Well, here's what I've been thinking would go in my fusion list:

1. Miles Davis--Black Beauty
2. Miles Davis--Live-Evil
3. Last Exit--Last Exit


Actually, there's a bunch of stuff that could make 4 and 5, but I'm not sure yet.