Jazz 6 – The Best Jazz Albums of All Time
Taking a more accessible approach to jazz than the bebop that dominated the genre for 15 years, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s charming collaboration is a timeless classic. Their effortless interplay and sunny personalities make this the perfect gateway drug for newcomers to jazz.
Electric bassist Jaco Pastorius’ kaleidoscopic abilities are on full display on this modern jazz milestone.
John Coltrane’s Kind of Blue (1965)
Often regarded as one of the greatest jazz records of all time, Kind of Blue is a milestone in Coltrane’s stylistic development, and an important precursor to the avant garde work that would follow. Its success spawned a large number of imitations, including several other albums which attempted to emulate its mood and sound. The enduring popularity of the album also makes it a good source for studying the development of modern jazz and its influence on other genres, such as rock.
The original recording session took place on 2 March 1965, and resulted in the three compositions of side one – ‘So What,’ ‘Freddie Freeloader,’ and ‘Blue in Green.’ Both ‘Freddie Freeloader’ and ‘Blue in Green’ were composed by pianist Bill Evans, who was not present at the session, but who was given composer credit on the LP and CD releases.
Both ‘Freddie Freeloader’ and the A section of ‘Blue in Green’ are based on a preset chord progression which allows the musicians to freely improvise over the top. This approach would become the standard for later modern jazz recordings. The group rehearsed for about two hours before the session, and recorded a few takes on each piece. On ‘Blue in Green,’ the band recorded four takes before settling on a performance that would make the final cut.
The improvisations on ‘Blue in Green’ and ‘So What’ display the same melodic, moody atmosphere that was established on Kind of Blue. However, the most significant change on these tracks is in the content of the improvisations themselves rather than in radically changing harmony. While both Tyner and Coltrane still employ some of the tools they used on earlier recordings – such as chiming right hand melodies and block chords based in fourths – they are now less constrained by them. Coltrane has moved away from a reliance on Slonimsky scales, and instead plays with a greater degree of freedom, still mindful of the modal principles that he had developed in his earlier work.
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Charles Mingus & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & Astrud Gilberto & Joao Gilberto & Sebastiao Neto & A
During a 1961 trip to Brazil, singer Tony Bennett and bassist Don Payne became familiar with modern Brazilian popular music, which helped revitalize jazz at a point in its history when it had fallen into the shadow of rock and roll. A year later, guitarist Stan Getz heard the recordings of Jobim and Joao Gilberto and was immediately smitten; he would record two albums of bossa nova with them, Jazz Samba and Garota de Ipanema.
Both albums were recorded at Phil Ramone’s A&R Studios in New York City, produced by Creed Taylor and released by Verve Records. Astrud Gilberto sang lead vocals on both, with Getz on tenor saxophone and Jobim on piano. Bassist Sebastiao Neto and drummer Milton Banana (credited as ‘Milton’) played on both, but they were only credited on the original release.
Aside from the obvious brilliance of the musicians, what distinguishes this recording is its sonic clarity. George Marino’s new stereo mix for this reissue was able to eliminate the muddiness and murk that plagued previous editions and bring the voices and instruments to a higher level of clarity without making them sound too bright or unnatural. This improved sonic clarity allows listeners to experience the musicians’ performances more closely and naturally.
Marino was also able to cut away a few of the problematic elements that were present in the original recording, such as Joao’s voice sounding like it came from a different location than his guitar or Astrud’s singing appearing further back on the sound stage. As is typical of Resonance’s historical releases, the album comes with a detailed book featuring newly commissioned essays, personal accounts from those who created and recorded the recordings, and rare archival photos. In this case, the 32-page book was written by producers Feldman and Barkan and includes interviews with Getz’s son Steve, author James Gavin and bossa nova legend Carlos Lyra.