OK, I have my thoughts on jazz as well.
Some of the best classic recordings of jazz are necessarily not recorded all that well, because of when they were recorded and sometimes because of the conditions in which they were recorded. But with that caveat:
Ella & Louis -- a phenomenal collaboration between two of the biggest practitioners of the art. Nobody could scat like Ella Fitzgerald, and the smoothness of her voice contrasted with Louis Armstrong's gravelly sound, and then with his unsurpassed trumpet. It's a fantastic album, and it never fails to bring a gigantic grin to my face. They collaborated a few more times, and those albums are also great, but this one is my favorite.
The Quintet Live at Massey Hall -- this was recorded not only live, but I believe in sort of a bootleg recording, but it's still one of the best jazz albums I've ever heard. The quintet features Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker.
I enjoy some of what Wynton Marsalis has done: Standard Time is a good album. The rest of his family are no slouches either.
Oh, and one plug for my brother's CD: Head Games by Dan Loschen. It's available on amazon, or you can PM me if you're interested. It's mostly (all?) Dan's originals and he collaborates with some of the best sidemen around on the Boston scene. It's straight-ahead modern jazz, not fusion, and there are some fascinating explorations of rhythm and interval (if I do say so myself). He doesn't know I'm posting this: it's just a good album!
Again, more later when I have my CD collection in front of me.
Chris
Holliston, MA
