Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Jazz?

You gonna ask about blues next? reggae? Got my lists ready.

The Smooth Jazz series are excellent. Great variety of artists and styles on each CD.

Just picked up Charlie Haden Quartet West "Always Say Goodbye". Pretty cool. If you like the old 40's Hollywood sound, you'll like this.

Chick Corea and the New Trio, Past, Present and Futures. Awesome performance, awesome recording - Upright Bass, Piano, Drums. You can catch them live occasionally as well. This album sounds really nice on a pair on M60's.

I've got to throw in a plug here for the Swingle Singers, a vocal jazz group in the 60s. They may not be to your taste, but they're very, very good. On the album I had they sing classical pieces in jazz style, with bass and light drums. It's called "Anyone for Mozard, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi?" Good stuff...

Again, I can't say that it's the best mastering job, but it's pretty good considering it was recorded in the 60's.

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

Just a few other quick suggestions. Check out Joshua Redman, he has an amazing sound. He gets such a clean, clear tone out of saxaphone. You can actually find some mp3's on Kazaa.

Also, for a little more upbeat jazz, you might want to check out John Scofield. Either Bump or A Go Go being two of his best albums. The drums especially are very well recorded and sound superb.

-Enjoy

Hi Spiff,

There's an early '60s stereo recording by the Oscar Peterson Trio, Ray Brown on bass (I forget the drummer). It's a bit of a cult favorite among some reviewers. Peterson is at the top of his form but the piano sounds like it's in a closet. On the other hand, the stand-up bass is really well recorded and so is the drum kit. Very simple miking. Musically great.

The CD is called "We Get Requests" and I think it's on Verve.

Regards,

I have a few recommendations, I'm going to stick to mostly newer straight ahead recordings. Coltrane, Miles, etc are great but usually less than stellar recordings. However I can't stand "smooth jazz" either so anyway here are my suggestions for some modern recordings of some incredible straight ahead jazz albums (some have been mentioned I think):

Joshua Redman - Any album
Michael Brecker - Tales from the Hudson
Chris Potter - Gratitude
Charlie Haden - Always Say Goodbye, Haunted Heart
Kenny Garrett - Pursuance (or any album really)
Dave Holland Quintet - Prime Directive
Arturo Sandoval - I remember Clifford
Herbie Hancock - The New Standard (interesting album)

That's just a few off the top of my head, hope it helps...

Anything by the Keith Jarrett Trio. Jarrett's solo piano album 'The Melody at Night, With You' is exquisite. Also give a listen to the Bill Charlap Trio.