Im looking to slide my way into jazz, and I thought this might be a rather easy way... so what are they? Bitches Brew? Something from Sun Ra? the Capn?

there is no easy way into jazz, which is a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time.

if i were to burn 5 discs (sticking to one album per artists( for you they would be:

1. miles davis - kind of blue
2. john coltrane - love supreme
3. ornette coleman - the shape of jazz to come
4. thelonious monk - monk's dream
5. charles mingus - mingus ah um

then maybe

6. herbie hancock - headhunters
7. eric dolphy - out to lunch
8. bill evans - you must believe in spring


pretty generic choices, but staples non-the-less

Thought were already into the jazz, Paul.

Can't argue with Scotty's recs as a jazz intro, but if you want to bridge from rock your best bet is fusion. Bitches Brew, Headhunters, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jaco Pastorious, Stanley Clarke...

Well Im familiar with the received wisdom of 'important' jazz musicians..but I am in no way familiar with the genre...I mean I have Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew, Love Supreme, Headhunters, bunch of Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, more Miles, Coltrane, bunch of Donald Byrd, Bill Evans etc.. but obv. the genre is larger than this - so um yeah, thanks.. I will look into those as well....

maybe:

medeski, martin and wood
brad meldau
john zorn

Sketchy C nailed it with Weather Report, Mahavishnu & Clarke. For all the musicians that feed on these grounds, there's certainly not enough love here for Stanley Clarke, though. Bootsy Collins, Les Claypool & Flea all have cited Clarke as heavy influences in their play.

I'd start with:

Journey to Love ('75)
s/t ('74)
School Days ('76)

Anything by Billie Holiday.
Monk's Music - Thelonious Monk
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (where would Sonic Youth, et. al. be without Ornette?)
Coletrane - A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue

What about Miles Davis -On the Corner.

Being a drummer, I'd have to throw some Art Blakey in the mix. Very easily accessible, as much as the other mentions. Check out:

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Moanin'

Coltrane's Giant Steps and Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool I would reccomend as well.

Love that record!

As far as drummers go though, you gotta give props to Elvin Jones on A Love Supreme. How do the kids say? Unfuckwithable.

great album, and very "rocky"

"headhunters" and "bitches brew" were my introduction to jazz.

i think that Herbie Mann's - Mephis Underground would be a great introduction. It's very Rn'B and rock. It's got Roy Ayres and Larry Coryell on guitar.

Mingus- Black Saint & the Sinner Lady (deserves his place right next to Coltrane & Davis as jazz royalty)
Coltrane- A Love Supreme
Davis- Kind of Blue
Eric Dolphy- Out to Lunch
Oliver Nelson- The Blues & the Abstract Truth


Coltrane's My Favorite Things & Mingus Ah Um sneak on this list, but if its one per artist then this is my story & Im sticking to it.

A entrance point to jazz might be to get a hold of Chet Baker's The Best Of Chet Baker Sings, which is basically an outstanding collection of moody pop, with Chet's jazzy trumpet just icing on the cake. Then, once that album undoubtedly becomes one of your all-time faves, move on to something on which Chet doesn't sing.

I think Sketch gave you the best direct answer to your question. Weather Report are definitely one of the biggies. I've never actually listened to them, but they are Joe Zawinul's band and he's a big name in jazz keyboard players with crossover appeal/influence. He also played a bunch with Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley in the late 60's, recordings that I'm much more familiar with.

I'm not sure how much influence they've had on rock but I'd expect you'd really like:

Jimmy Smith "The Sermon" & "Back at the Chicken Ranch"
Jimmy McGriff "The Worm
Eddie Gale "Ghetto Music"
Archie Shepp "Attica Blues

especially the last two. Bobby Hutcherson & Lou Donaldson are also pretty great also although they've had more obvious impact on funk and soul than on rock. I'm surprised you never took a backdoor route into jazz from your soul & funk interests.

Am I the only one who finds Weather Report a little cheesy for lack of a better word?

im not a big fan of weather report...

... but thank baby Jesus for Weezer.

what the f@#$ does that mean

Given your criteria I'd choose these...

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Al Dimeola - Elegant Gypsy
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Wes Montgomery - Full House

But I think the best way "into" jazz is with these...

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debbie
Monk/Coltrane
Cannonball Aderly - Somethin' Else

Me too - and I think all of the players are killers.

Try Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire, and/or The Lost Trident Sessions come highly recommended. I find these albums to be very similar in style and attitude to King Crimson of the same period (1971-73), so you might want to give that stuff a shot, too.

Um, not at all.

No more cheesy than a lot of the popular fusion and 80s crossover jazz, but that's not a big deal for me (hey, I likes me some George Benson. Slag off). Weather Report is just more pop whereas acts like Mahavishnu are more prog/jamband.

...and what little I've heard of Zawinul on Cannonball Adderley's stuff is ace.

Best Fusion/crossover album:
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow
"Cause We've Ended As Lovers" more than does Stevie proud and "Freeway Jam" is just a freaking blast.

Jackie McLean - A Fickle Sonance
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Jaki Byard - The Jaki Byard Experience
Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear
Dexter Gordon - Go
Clifford Brown - A Study in Brown
Hank Mobley - The Turnaround
Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce

Or Electric Funk... awesome!