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I really do enjoy some of the classic jazz and smooth jazz. I have a few CD's now. I have Dave Brubeck Time Out Take 5, John Coltrane a Love Supreme, Chuck Magione Feels so Good, one of the Charlie Brown Vince GUaraldi albums and a best of Peggy Lee.
What else should I have in my budding collection? What are some of the most important pieces in jazz history?
Grab anything by the following people:

Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holliday
Django Reinhardt
Charlie Parker
Lester Young
Louis Armstrong
Stuff Smith

It's always a nice idea to start with a good Jazz collection album or album set. Listen through, see who you like the sound of, and go from there.
Megan has made some excellent suggestions. I would add Gerry Mulligan (esp. with Chet Baker), and Stan Getz.
I agree, Jewel! The thing about jazz is it's so hard to pick favorites, especially from the golden years....
I can't imagine any jazz collection without Charles Mingus and Miles Davis, two giants way ahead of their time.
[color:"purple"]Yea, Billie Holiday is an absolute songbird. I love the sweet vocals accompanying jazz beats. Also a classic is Ella Fitzgerald. A newer counterpart, Madeleine Peyroux is one of personal favorites.

Also, in another vein, Herbie Hancock is a master. And of course Miles Davis. Have fun! [/color]
Music is like food it functions like a bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter day warms you up and starts you off on the right "foot-note"!

"jazz and blues" to me are the same just on different sides of the street....or sidewalk. Can't have one without the other, so if I were to start a collection of jazz, blues would have to be mixed in and go along for the ride. Here are some of my favorites:
THELONIOUS MONK piano
REGINA CLARK jazz violin
JOSHUA REDMAN saxophone
BETTY CARTER jazz singer
CHARLIE PARKER "BIRD" saxophone

Blues:
B.B.KING guitar
ARETHA FRANKLIN known for "soul" but sings the "blues"
VARIOUS ARTISTS the blue note years "organ and soul"
ENJOY....Jazzy Geri
Miles Davis !
Posted By: rythemgrl I agree! - 06/22/07 05:09 PM
Ella Fitzgerald does have the jams. SHe is like the coolest person to have in the library. I work at umgd and when I need those jazz cravings I totally would go to Ella for satisfaction. Hard core women she is.

Website: (www.myspace.com/ellafitzgerald)
You gotta check out "Smooth Ones" and "Late Night Rendezvous" by Rendezvous Entertainment. Its a compilation of some really famous smooth jazz albums... Its great over a summer barbeque or a glass of wine!
I'm getting into jazz myself, and this is a pretty easy listen
Taj Mahal
a lovely smooth jazz artist is Florence K. her album "bossa blue" is in english and french. I love her song "you won't believe me" the whole album is just so easy to listen to.
Hi Every One and particulary Michele.

I have just graduated and been called the Jazz & Blues Editor for BellaOnline. I am Tamm E Hunt, a jazz & blues singer/recording artist and journalist/actor, educator and Jazz & Blues historian and I will be writing weekly articles on the subject of Jazz & Blues for BellaOnline.

One of the articles will be on Building a Jazz Library.

The suggestions made by Jazzy Geri and Megan Board Games are great as well as all the others. However, when one builds a library of Jazz it is built around taste and history. When you collect Jazz music or any genre of music, like art you should collect that which resonates with your soul. You will know it when you hear it.

Jazz is an off shoot of the Blues and Blues is sporn of the field hollars call and response and the cries of the Negro Spirituals that came from the pain and frustration of the captive which bought about the Gospel which only arrived out of jubilation thus came the Blues and then came Jazz.

Keep in mind Jazz has gone through many evolutions and under the banner called Jazz comes many styles; from liturgical to avant garde.

Think Duke Ellington, Ella Fitgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McCrae, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Buster Williams, Wayne Shorter, Elmo Hope, Bud Powell,Tamm E Hunt, CannonBall Adderley, Larry Willis, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Joe Williams, Ornette Coleman, Shirley Horne, Herbie Hancock, Diane Krall, Eric Reed, Mary Stallings, Vanessa Rubin, Carmen Lundy...

Thelonious Monk, TS Monk,Jr, Nneena Freelon, Kevin Mahogany, Diane Reeves, Ron Carter, Javon Jackson, Wallace Roney, Geri Allen, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Dakota Staton, McCoy Tyner, Jaron Eames, James Blood Ulmer, Lafayette Gilchrist, Count Basie Orchestra, Cab Callaway Orchestra, Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Oscar Brown, Jr.
Hi Every One and particulary Michele.

I have just graduated and been called the Jazz & Blues Editor for BellaOnline. I am Tamm E Hunt, a jazz & blues singer/recording artist and journalist/actor, educator and Jazz & Blues historian and I will be writing weekly articles on the subject of Jazz & Blues for BellaOnline.

One of the articles will be on Building a Jazz Library.

The suggestions made by Jazzy Geri and Megan Board Games are great as well as all the others. However, when one builds a library of Jazz it is built around taste and history. When you collect Jazz music or any genre of music, like art you should collect that which resonates with your soul. You will know it when you hear it.

Jazz is an off shoot of the Blues and Blues is sporn of the field hollars call and response and the cries of the Negro Spirituals that came from the pain and frustration of the captive which bought about the Gospel which only arrived out of jubilation thus came the Blues and then came Jazz.

Keep in mind Jazz has gone through many evolutions and under the banner called Jazz comes many styles; from liturgical to avant garde.

Think Duke Ellington, Ella Fitgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McCrae, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Buster Williams, Wayne Shorter, Elmo Hope, Bud Powell,Tamm E Hunt, CannonBall Adderley, Larry Willis, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Joe Williams, Ornette Coleman, Shirley Horne, Herbie Hancock, Diane Krall, Eric Reed, Mary Stallings, Vanessa Rubin, Carmen Lundy...
Hi Every One and particulary Michele.

I have just graduated and been called the Jazz & Blues Editor for BellaOnline. I am Tamm E Hunt, a jazz & blues singer/recording artist and journalist/actor, educator and Jazz & Blues historian and I will be writing weekly articles on the subject of Jazz & Blues for BellaOnline.

One of the articles will be on Building a Jazz Library.

The suggestions made by Jazzy Geri and Megan Board Games are great as well as all the others. However, when one builds a library of Jazz it is built around taste and history. When you collect Jazz music or any genre of music, like art you should collect that which resonates with your soul. You will know it when you hear it.

Jazz is an off shoot of the Blues and Blues is sporn of the field hollars call and response and the cries of the Negro Spirituals that came from the pain and frustration of the captive which bought about the Gospel which only arrived out of jubilation thus came the Blues and then came Jazz.

Keep in mind Jazz has gone through many evolutions and under the banner called Jazz comes many styles; from liturgical to avant garde.

Think Duke Ellington, Ella Fitgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McCrae, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Buster Williams, Wayne Shorter, Elmo Hope, Bud Powell,Tamm E Hunt, CannonBall Adderley, Larry Willis, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Joe Williams, Ornette Coleman, Shirley Horne, Herbie Hancock, Diane Krall, Eric Reed, Mary Stallings, Vanessa Rubin, Carmen Lundy...
first time hear about jazz ,can someone tell me what is it ?
I am surprised no one has recommended Max Roach as an important and influential artist.

Here's some cool music - Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
Charlie Parker ~~~ [url=http://www.luxury-heaven.com/] Luxury Heaven [/url]
I hate jazz. The restaurant where I ate tonight was playing jazz. It felt like someone was sticking an ice pick in my brain.
for me i suggest

Miles Davis
Charlie Parker
Django Reinhardt
I love Oscar Peterson. Laura Ingraham turned me on to him and I just love to listen to him play the piano.
Also Yusef Latife. (sp?) I first listened to him when I snuck into a bar on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach when I was 14. That really hooked me.
This is a very new CD, but Annie Lennox (of Eurythmics fame) as just released a compilation of jazz standards. Her version of "I Put a Spell On You" rocked this year's Grammy Awards.
Jazz piano albums by Oscar Peterson
Street bands are my thing at the moment. Search YouTube for "Shotgun Jazz Band The Curse of an Aching Heart" for a whizz-bang trad-jazz number, and "Tuba Skinny Blue" for something a bit quieter. One of them is bound to take your fancy!
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