Favorite old Jazz/Blues records

billy g · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:41 pm **Posts:** 9020

druucifer Wrote:

ramsey lewis - the in crowd

This is really great. Maybe a top ten jazz album for me and I never see it mentioned in threads like this so kudos to you.

This is kind of a broad topic and I'm not really sure what you mean by "old". I don't think most of what people are recommending is old, especially taken in a jazz/blues context. I'm afraid if I asked for clarification though, I'd find the answer too damn depressing.

So I'll just recommend some stuff I don't think others would mention:

Little Miss Cornshucks

From her AMG bio:

Quote:

Little Miss Cornshucks, who is remembered as a riveting live performer, could easily be labeled as one of the more influential singers in history; unfortunately, hers is a legacy lost to the vagaries of time, bad luck and personal problems. (Critic Barry Mazor, writing in No Depression in May 2003, did much to unearth her achievements in a definitive article.) Cornshucks' influence can be traced in important early soul singers (Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding), R&B giants (Ruth Brown, LaVerne Baker), even '50s pop singers (Johnnie Ray). In fact, her version of "Try a Little Tenderness" not only bridged the gap between the song's crooner origins and its soul revival, it provided a virtual template for Franklin and Redding's take on the number. And lest one try to dismiss her as a curiosity for musical obscurantists only, legendary Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun has called her the best blues singer he has ever heard.

Amos Milburn

An early monger and jump blues pioneer with a predilection for songs about booze

bort · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:11 pm

i'm at work so i have all images and avatars turned off, so these links and pictures-only responses aren't helping me. and whose fault is that?!?!? ...yours. you know who you are!

my fav jazz musician is John Coltrane. both Giant Steps and A Love Supreme should be deemed essential. i like Coltrane because the music is both interesting and easy to listen to. i find myself working too hard to enjoy guys like Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. i also love Louis Armstrong, but again, he's more dixieland/pop than the jazz that's been discussed in this thread.

as for "old" blues, Smithsonian Folkways put out a comp i believe simply called "Classic Blues". it's got old stuff. very good old stuff. might be a nice place to start.

i forgot who posted about it before, but what's Wes Montgomery's "Incredible Jazz Guitarist" like? or should i know just by the title alone?

bort

mcaputo · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:17 pm

the genuis of bud powell
thelonious monk - brilliant corners
charles mingus - mingus-mingus-mingus-mingus-mingus - black saint & the sinner lady
miles davis - working with the miles davis quintet - in a silent way - porgy & bess
oliver nelson - blues & the abstract truth
john coltrane - giant steps - ballads - with Johnny Hartman (Trane's only reckid w/vocals)
charlie parker - plenty of 'bop' to choose from(I prefer him w/ Strings) - amazing phrasing
bill evans - waltz for debby
louis armstrong - hot fives (all or any)
getz/gilberto/jobim - w/astrid
billie holiday - plenty of collections to choose from - but 'Lady in Satin' (her last)..
never has a voice so destroyed from drugs ever sounded so real. Pour a drink and play 'You've Changed'...it will kill you

nobody · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:25 pm

suggest jazz and blues...tough call...two HUGE genres...

Well, there's always classic jazz albums like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, the all time best selling jazz record and an absolutly fantastic one at that, mellow mid-period Miles.

I'll jump on the Charlie Parker bandwagon for something older and recommend Yardbird Suite, a 2 CD retrospective that gives a really great overvies of his career.

I'll also mention that early, instrumental Louis Armstrong is hard to beat, and Duke Ellington is absolutly essential. A Personal choice would be to go get anything by Fats Waller. He was a remarkable pianist, mostly known for the somewhat bawdy humor of his vocal tracks.

For Blues, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as said are great. Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' at the Moonlight is one of my favorite blues albums.

I also wanna toss out a little something for you to listen to that you may like while I'm at it. Here's a quick little zip file with another classic blues artist that you may have passed by. Skip James was an obscure Mississippi bluesman from the 20s. Not many of his recordings have survived, but Shanchie records put out a disc called The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James that gathered what was available. I got 3 songs off that on there.

And, while its not really blues or jazz, another thing I wanted to toss out there was some Western Swing, country sytle music from the 40s. Bob Willis was the most famous bandleader of the style, but I really like Spade Cooley. His music is a bit more ragged and the songs tend to have a less sunny disposition that suits me better. If you're looking for interesting old dusty music, his stuff may be fun. I have three tracks from Spadella, a hits collection of his on there as well.

http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=29V6 ... 1CONK7W36T

I could ramble on more as this is really a huge topic, but I'm gonna quit for now since this post is already starting to ramble.

Hope you enjoy the tracks.

Old Kentucky · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 11:51 pm

Spinning a little Brubeck and Max Roach lately.

cemeterypolka Wrote:

I thought Tom Waits was black, the first time I heard him.

That's OK, I once thought Urge Overkill was Nick Cave.

cemeterypolka · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:40 am **Posts:** 3473

nobody Wrote:

suggest jazz and blues...tough call...two HUGE genres...

Well, there's always classic jazz albums like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, the all time best selling jazz record and an absolutly fantastic one at that, mellow mid-period Miles.

I'll jump on the Charlie Parker bandwagon for something older and recommend Yardbird Suite, a 2 CD retrospective that gives a really great overvies of his career.

I'll also mention that early, instrumental Louis Armstrong is hard to beat, and Duke Ellington is absolutly essential. A Personal choice would be to go get anything by Fats Waller. He was a remarkable pianist, mostly known for the somewhat bawdy humor of his vocal tracks.

For Blues, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as said are great. Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' at the Moonlight is one of my favorite blues albums.

I also wanna toss out a little something for you to listen to that you may like while I'm at it. Here's a quick little zip file with another classic blues artist that you may have passed by. Skip James was an obscure Mississippi bluesman from the 20s. Not many of his recordings have survived, but Shanchie records put out a disc called The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James that gathered what was available. I got 3 songs off that on there.

And, while its not really blues or jazz, another thing I wanted to toss out there was some Western Swing, country sytle music from the 40s. Bob Willis was the most famous bandleader of the style, but I really like Spade Cooley. His music is a bit more ragged and the songs tend to have a less sunny disposition that suits me better. If you're looking for interesting old dusty music, his stuff may be fun. I have three tracks from Spadella, a hits collection of his on there as well.

http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=29V6 ... 1CONK7W36T

I could ramble on more as this is really a huge topic, but I'm gonna quit for now since this post is already starting to ramble.

Hope you enjoy the tracks.

Thanks a lot for the link, i'm afraid I can't use it right now, though. My internet has been cutting out every few minutes and i've tried downloading twice and it keeps timing out. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow my internet will be better.

chowgurt · **Posted:** Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:19 pm

OK, If only get one album get this. It is the best!

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee–Sonny&Brownie

harry · **Posted:** Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:49 pm

All of these albums mentioned are good.

When the thread says "old" for me that means 30's and 40's... pre-Charlie Parker... the jazz of the 50's and 60's still sound brand new to me.

But... there is an artist that I always thought was accessible, and never gets much props. Gene "Jug" Ammons. They used to say that in Chicago when he was playing live in clubs you could here his sax three blocks away in the street. A huge, rich, fat sax sound.

"A Sack Full of Dreams" is good place to start.

Lambchop · **Posted:** Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:57 am

ornette Coleman- the shape of jazz to come

chowgurt · **Posted:** Sat Nov 05, 2005 9:13 am

This is a great list!

paper · **Posted:** Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:00 pm

Miles Davis - A Tribute To Jack Johnson
Art Blakey - Maonin'
Charles Mingus - Ah Um
Nina Simone - Anthology
John Lee Hooker - Very Best of
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
Billie Holliday - All or Nothing at All

cemeterypolka · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:40 am **Posts:** 3473

nobody Wrote:

suggest jazz and blues...tough call...two HUGE genres...

Well, there's always classic jazz albums like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, the all time best selling jazz record and an absolutly fantastic one at that, mellow mid-period Miles.

I'll jump on the Charlie Parker bandwagon for something older and recommend Yardbird Suite, a 2 CD retrospective that gives a really great overvies of his career.

I'll also mention that early, instrumental Louis Armstrong is hard to beat, and Duke Ellington is absolutly essential. A Personal choice would be to go get anything by Fats Waller. He was a remarkable pianist, mostly known for the somewhat bawdy humor of his vocal tracks.

For Blues, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as said are great. Howlin' Wolf's Moanin' at the Moonlight is one of my favorite blues albums.

I also wanna toss out a little something for you to listen to that you may like while I'm at it. Here's a quick little zip file with another classic blues artist that you may have passed by. Skip James was an obscure Mississippi bluesman from the 20s. Not many of his recordings have survived, but Shanchie records put out a disc called The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James that gathered what was available. I got 3 songs off that on there.

And, while its not really blues or jazz, another thing I wanted to toss out there was some Western Swing, country sytle music from the 40s. Bob Willis was the most famous bandleader of the style, but I really like Spade Cooley. His music is a bit more ragged and the songs tend to have a less sunny disposition that suits me better. If you're looking for interesting old dusty music, his stuff may be fun. I have three tracks from Spadella, a hits collection of his on there as well.

http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=29V6 ... 1CONK7W36T

I could ramble on more as this is really a huge topic, but I'm gonna quit for now since this post is already starting to ramble.

Hope you enjoy the tracks.

I finally got to download it, thank you. Spade Cooley makes me smile

beachy · **Posted:** Sun Nov 06, 2005 11:26 pm

Any mention yet of Bessie Smith....I didn't notice if so, I really love her voice. Bessie's got some real blues
Bessie Smith at Wiki

Favorite old Jazz/Blues records

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