Top Ten Albums

[teddy]

This is a list compiled by an English politician. I will endeavour to post one every day. I found it of interest and I am sure that it will meet with your approval. I have very little issue with it as it mirrors many similar comments made here.

(1)
Hot Fives And Sevens - Louis Armstrong
My first choice has to be L A (1901-1971)., who is always thought of as a traditional New Orleans jazz musician but thats not to give him his due credit. This album showcases the music he made as a young man in the mid twenties-a real musical leap forward from the old Dixieland trad jazz prevelant at the time. Listening to this for the first time as a young man made me realise that there was a lot more to trad jazz than banjos and that kind of thing. The tracks he cut at the time show good technical ability with real originality and improvisation. His musicianship is just beyond compare and it moved the music up several notches. Some purists might disagree with me but I believe this captures him at the peak of his creativity as a musician when he was transforming the way the music was played. Ironically for all that he achieved, he always thought of himself primarily as a jobing musician making a living-but this is quality music.

teddy

[teddy]

(2)
The Original - Gerry Mulligan Quartet With Chet Baker
Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996) played the baritone sax, and rose to prominence during the Cool Jazz era. However the best records he made were with a quartet he had featuring Chet Baker in the early fifties. The two were chalk and cheese in some ways. Mulligan was one of jazz's nice guys= along with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington- while Chet baker managed to get into even more trouble than Art Pepper. This album (1952-1953) was my introduction to modern jazz- I can still remember a friend in sixth form playing me the quartets version of Walkin Shoes which was so unlike the Dixieland style jazz we had been listening to up to that point.

teddy

[teddy]

(3)
Kind of Blue-Miles Davis
I could have chosen any number of Miles Davis records but ti is perhaps his finest moment. A trumpeter, band leader and composer he started out with saxophonist Charlie Parker and producer all sorts of quit different music over the years. By the time this came out in 1959 he was leading the jazz world-and in Kind of Blue he moves the music on-so to speak. The record was in every way revolutionary> it was innovative and highly influential and if you take the time to listen to it, you cant help but be struck by the sheer variety of styles. A great many jazz fans will no doubt have this in their collection and rightly so, its ofter referred to as the greatest album of all times and easily makes it into my ton ten. Incidentally Davis also worked with another of my jazz heroes John Coltrane who would have made it onto this list if id been able to squeeze on a couple more names.

teddy

[White Knight]

(3)
Kind of Blue-Miles Davis
I could have chosen any number of Miles Davis records but ti is perhaps his finest moment. A trumpeter, band leader and composer he started out with saxophonist Charlie Parker and producer all sorts of quit different music over the years. By the time this came out in 1959 he was leading the jazz world-and in Kind of Blue he moves the music on-so to speak. The record was in every way revolutionary> it was innovative and highly influential and if you take the time to listen to it, you cant help but be struck by the sheer variety of styles. A great many jazz fans will no doubt have this in their collection and rightly so, its ofter referred to as the greatest album of all times and easily makes it into my ton ten. Incidentally Davis also worked with another of my jazz heroes John Coltrane who would have made it onto this list if id been able to squeeze on a couple more names.

teddy

Absolutely spot on, Teddy!

[teddy]

thank you Steve. i wish I could take the credit

teddy

[White Knight]

thank you Steve. i wish I could take the credit

teddy

Teddy, just the fact that you bothered to ferret this out {no ducking, please} is very much to your credit, at least in my book!

[teddy]

I trust you will enjoy the rest. Today Duke Ellington

teddy

[White Knight]

Teddy--not for nothing as we say over on this side of the pond--but which English politician are you citing? He or she seems to have very good taste indeed!

[teddy]

(4)
The Jimmy Blanton Era-Duke Ellington
As big bands go, as band leaders go, and as great soloist go Duke Ellington (1899-1974) epitomises jazz at its very best. I was lucky enough to see him as a young man when he visited Britain on tour, and he was as brilliant live as on record. For my money he made his best music in the early Forties, and this album captures him at the pinnacle of his career when he was working with the young Jimmy Blanton on bass. Later in his career Ellington produced some rather pretentious stuff but this is timeless, quality jazz
.
teddy

[dll927]

While surely naming some of the 'saints', this is still one person's opinion.

[teddy]

While surely naming some of the 'saints', this is still one person's opinion.

Of course it is, but I have some respect for the man who wrote it, and I agree with a lot of what he says.

teddy

[teddy]

(5)
Complete Jazz At Massey Hall-Charlie Parker
I'm a modernist at heart and Ive always loved Charlie Parker(1920-1955). If there is one record of his that really stands out, its the 1953 album he made at Massey Hall in Toronto featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and others. This legendary concert was organised by a group of students, but all the jazz musicians fell out with each other and Parker would not play until he was paid in advance. The students were left out of pocket,but out of this fiasco emerged one of the greatest jazz albums of all time on which Parker and his cohorts produced some of the most brilliant live music featuring amazing virtuoso musicianship. Modern jazz is so much more sophisticated both in terms of its harmonies and melodies than anything that preceded it. And in he case of Parker particularly it was more emotional and aggressive too. A jazz classic.

teddy

[teddy]

(6)
Mingus Ahum - Charlie Mingus
Another modernist, Mingus (1922-1979) was a wonderful bassist who was great fun even if he was an impossible man in some respects. He led very noisy, distinctive, personable bands who are tremendous fun to listen to and still sound great. This 1959 album is in my view his masterpiece. I imagine he gave it such a daft name for a bit of fun, but it is a seriously good record, and the perfect introduction to his music. Some Of it sounds chaotically blues-based-but it is modern jazz played by some of the finest virtuoso musicians who had to put up with his rather wild and aggressive temperament. This particular session just came off and is pure genius. And while I don't think Mingus himself ever made a vast amount of money or or added to the development of jazz, this is simply a wonderful record.

teddy

[OLDUDE]

Hi teddy,
Like Steve I would like to know who the guy is.
I have little respect for politicians of any ilk and it is nice to know that at least one has real feelings.

John

[teddy]

(7)
His Red Hot Peppers Volume 1-Jelly Roll Morton
A lovable old scoundrel, Morton (1885-1941) an American Ragtime and early jazz pianist, band leader and composer-liked to claim that he invented jazz. And while he might have been a man of huge self importance, what he produced was very good ensemble music. He put together a wonderful group called The Red Hot Peppers and he made a series of records with them in the twenties that were spectacularly good. Id recommend this album which features some of the best numbers he recorded in the mid Twenties, tracks like Dad Man Blues and Steamboat Stomp. If I wanted to make people who didn't think they were jazz fans into fans, I would recommend this because it can not fail to turn you on to he music.

teddy