Anyone can recommend me a good jazz album/compilation?


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aaron80

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Lately I have been going to jazz joints with my friends and grow to like this genre of music. Am thinking of getting a good jazz album/compilation to enjoy at home..:) Anyone can recommend me a good CD to get? I have heard my frenz recommend "A Living Room Hush" by Jaga Jazzist. Is it good?
 

hmm.. jazz is quite big.. and have different jazz.. have u tried weather report? the bassist is the legendary Jaco pastorius, or more commerical like diana krall.. etc..
 

What you are asking for is a tall order given Jazz without even considering all the wannabe or commercially mislabled groups or artiste claiming to be playing jazz stuff aka Kenny G.... You are seeking someone to recommend you condense summarised selection or album that can encompass all the diverse style, standards and era of jazz. That is like picking you a stone from a pile of stones as high as Mount Everest. Unlike pop music, Jazz is really wide.

You need to narrow it down to what sort of jazz you have heard around town (though I personally think it is rubbish jazz I hear 99% of the time locally even if a foreign black or white band/guy is performing it) If something appeals to you from what you heard, try to recall what instruments were used. Was there vocal?..etc. Usually what I call light-weight jazz is where people first start to appreciate jazz as it is more simplify, tunefully easy on the ears. If you are thrown into the deep end with old standards like from legends like Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass or some underground or experimental stuff from more later era ones like Sypro Gyra or some fusion from even Japan like Casiopea which is very edgy and rock....I can go on but suffice to say, some of those more hardcore albums will put you off from day one.

So if you want more help to narrow down the choices you need to let us know more. Jazz is not something you dive in and you "get it" within one or two album or even after you have bought your 100th jazz album. It is easy for anyone to recommend you an album but that will usually be based on his/her already "aquired" taste of jazz... which can be either very light or very hardcore. In other words their recommendation can make or break your interest even before you have a chance to truly find that out yourself.

I would say, stick to those tunes that you heard, get something close to that so at least you are not wasting your money on something you will listen to a few times and throw away. Try to sample jazz from websites that carrys a large varieties of jazz music. This will help you narrow your choice further too. Like me, I am very into strings as in guitars most of the time, I also like old standards from jazz greats of old right up to the late 80s after that period...I think jazz is not as innovative and it really starts to get very "copied" and very "formulic" but that is just me lah...though I have some following of present jazz players but not many to mention. I have jazz for various moods too..from those that leaves you very relax to something that just gets you under your skin and set your spirit soaring and there are those which really inspire me to move and help me with my creative work. What I am driving at is...jazz unlike pop music if you really start to appreciate it, really can help you centre your mood or you can use it to change your mood. Jazz is organic meaning it always will be changing. If you listen to a great jazz artiste on stage, if you go to his concert for 7 day straight you will notice that same tunes he plays will not be the same each time. That's because it is not about playing the tune note for note but interpreting it at that moment he is playing and how he use it to motivate that particular audience that day. Okay I am rambling abit but that is just to give you an idea as to what jazz is all about from my perspective.

Go slow. Narrow what you want to try first...and not leave it to others to lead you as it is likely to be wrong for you and as I say, kill your interest before you even gave it half a chance if the one who recommend it as either not really into jazz but just chip in or you have one so bias into one type who would end up leading you to something you don't like or someone who recommend you some really advacne jazz stuff that scare you away. heheheh.. Jazz's closest resemblement I would say is classical music. As you know...some classical tune are great to listen to but some will send you to sleep or irritate the hell out of you. Jazz is the same monster. heheh....
 

Thanks bros! Any particular albums which is nice? Diana Krall I know her for the song "Fly me to the moon"..;p
 

Thanks alot the advice bro! Ya I agree that jazz is a very wide genre thats y I also dunno where to start. But I am really serious about knowing and enjoying this genre of music more. My memory is damn lousy thats y oso dun remember what is the song titles that the pubs play..

What you are asking for is a tall order given Jazz without even considering all the wannabe or commercially mislabled groups or artiste claiming to be playing jazz stuff aka Kenny G.... You are seeking someone to recommend you condense summarised selection or album that can encompass all the diverse style, standards and era of jazz. That is like picking you a stone from a pile of stones as high as Mount Everest. Unlike pop music, Jazz is really wide.

You need to narrow it down to what sort of jazz you have heard around town (though I personally think it is rubbish jazz I hear 99% of the time locally even if a foreign black or white band/guy is performing it) If something appeals to you from what you heard, try to recall what instruments were used. Was there vocal?..etc. Usually what I call light-weight jazz is where people first start to appreciate jazz as it is more simplify and easy on the ears. If you are thrown into the deep end with old standards like from legends like Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass or some underground or experimental stuff from more later era ones like Sypro Gyra or some fusion from even Japan like Casiopea which is very edgy and rock....I can go one..but suffice to say...some of those more hardcore will put you off from day one.

So if you want more help to narrow down the choices you need to let us know more. Jazz is not something you dive in and you
"get it" within one or two album or even after you have bought your 100th jazz album. It is easy for anyone to recommend you an album but that will usually be based on his/her already "aquired" taste of jazz... which can be either very light or very hardcore. In other words their recommendation can make or break your interest even before you have a chance to truly find that out yourself.

I would say, stick to those tunes that you heard, get something close to that so at least you are not wasting your money on something you will listen to a few times and throw away. Try to sample jazz from websites that carrys a large varieties of jazz music. This will help you narrow your choice further too. Like me, I am very into strings as in guitars most of the time, I also like old standards from jazz greats of old right up to the late 80s after that period...I think jazz is not as innovative and it really starts to get very "copied" and very "formulic" but that is just me lah...though I have some following of present jazz players but not many to mention. I have jazz for various moods too..from those that leaves you very relax to something that just gets you under your skin and set your spirit soaring and there are those which really inspire me to move and help me with my creative work. What I am driving at is...jazz unlike pop music if you really start to appreciate it, really can help you centre your mood or you can use it to change your mood. Jazz is organic meaning it always will be changing. If you listen to a great jazz artiste on stage, if you go to his concert for 7 day straight you will notice that same tunes he plays will not be the same each time. That's because it is not about playing the tune note for note but interpreting it at that moment he is playing and how he use it to motivate that particular audience that day. Okay I am rambling abit but that is just to give you an idea as to what jazz is all about from my perspective.

Go slow. Narrow what you want to try first...and not leave it to others to lead you as it is likely to be wrong for you and as I say, kill your interest before you even gave it half a chance if the one who recommend it as either not really into jazz but just chip in or you have one so bias into one type who would end up leading you to something you don't like or someone who recommend you some really advacne jazz stuff that scare you away. heheheh.. Jazz's closest resemblement I would say is classical music. As you know...some classical tune are great to listen to but some will send you to sleep or irritate the hell out of you. Jazz is the same monster. heheh....
 

just go to the CD shops to listen... Bossa Nova is the 'easiest' to start liking, next is bebop.
'Fly me to the moon' etc are standards, sung/played in many genres of Jazz, Diana Krall is one of the big jazz-stars for piano/vocals.

'nice' is a subjective word, hence do listen out which ones you like. You could ask the Jazz bands in the jazz joints what style etc they're playing and which artists they closely resembles etc.

You could get the following if you have spared some $$ for a few CDs
1) Diana Krall - best of (recent release)
2) Jane Monheit - In the Sun
3) Nat King Cole - Best of
4) Ella Fitzgerald and Joe pass - Speak love
5) Eldissa - What a difference

These are more easy listening with vocals. If there's a instrument that you like/play, there's Oscar Peterson (Piano), Dizzy Gillespie (Trombone), Eric marienthal (Sax), Joe pass (guitar) etc..but these are more 'abstract' and might be less palatable in the first listen.
 

If there's a instrument that you like/play, there's Oscar Peterson (Piano), Dizzy Gillespie (Trombone), Eric marienthal (Sax), Joe pass (guitar) etc..but these are more 'abstract' and might be less palatable in the first listen.


Adding some of the biggest names in jazz to the list. :) These guys are legends! Thelonious Monk (piano), Miles Davis (trumpet), Charlie Parker (saxophone), Louis Armstrong (trumpet), John Coltrane (saxophone), Stan Getz (saxophone), Charlie Byrd (guitar), Joao Gilberto (guitar), etc.
 

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messingers
Modern Jazz quartet - last concert
 

Woah thanks for the recommendations guys! Jazz is really overwhelming! I have listened to a preview of "The very best of Diana Krall", not bad and very pleasant to the ears.. Are Engelbert Humperdinck and Frank Sinatra considered Jazz singers as well? Coz their songs sound to me like Jazz genre as well.. I heard of Louis Armstrong, his music are more instrument-based? There are so many different choices, is there a compilation album which is good for beginner to Jazz to absorb and appreciate? Vocal or instruments are both ok for me as I like both..
 

Lately I have been going to jazz joints with my friends and grow to like this genre of music. Am thinking of getting a good jazz album/compilation to enjoy at home..:) Anyone can recommend me a good CD to get? I have heard my frenz recommend "A Living Room Hush" by Jaga Jazzist. Is it good?

Hi there,

THAT CD shop stocks plenty of nice jazz albums and you can try them all out before purchasing. You may like to visit http://jazzplus.gmn.com/ too. :thumbsup

sammy888 is right. JAzz indeed has a WIDE field,not to mention plenty of wannabe jazz artistes around. :)
 

for a start, u can try michael buble for easy listening (altho most jazz lovers will contend that buble is more pop than jazz..)
 

David Benoit any good? wad kind of genre does his jazz fall under? :dunno:
 

For some lighter & easy to listen ones , you can try Lisa Ono. Though with lots of french in it, it's pretty nice.
Two of my latest vocal favourites - Stacy Kent and Tony O'Malley
For pure acoustic slow jazz, u can try Keiko Matsui - Album - Deep blue, Whisper from the Mirror
 

For some lighter & easy to listen ones , you can try Lisa Ono. Though with lots of french in it, it's pretty nice.
Two of my latest vocal favourites - Stacy Kent and Tony O'Malley
For pure acoustic slow jazz, u can try Keiko Matsui - Album - Deep blue, Whisper from the Mirror

Lisa Ono :thumbsup:
 

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