This list is primarily intended as a resource for students to begin the life long process of listening to this great music we call jazz, it is not a comprehensive list of the greatest records in jazz. I view it as a starting place to begin to build a library of listening examples; ideally one would use this as a reference to further ones interest in jazz music. Obviously, since I am a reed player, this list reflects my own personal tastes. For a much more comprehensive and detailed list of jazz recordings please refer to Chapter 24 (“Listen”, Pages 487- 514) of Mark Levine’s Jazz Theory book.
General Jazz:
Louis Armstrong — The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. Pops was the beginning. His voice still rings out loud and clear. Truly the voice of America.
Lester Young — Anything with the Count Basie Orchestra and with Billie Holiday. Classic!!
Charlie Parker — Savoy Master Takes, and the Verve recordings.
Duke Ellington — Anything at all, but listen hard to Such Sweet Thunder, The Latin America Suite, The Perfume Suite and the Blanton/Webster recordings.
Miles Davis — Anything by the Prince of Darkness…..Start with In A Silent Way, Kind of Blue, Filles de Kilamanjaro……but don’t stop until you’ve heard it all!!
John Coltrane — Obviously, anything by Trane, but start with Giant Steps, Crescent, A Love Supreme, Blue Train, and Duke Ellington/ John Coltrane. No one had it more together on saxophone than Trane. No one.
Dexter Gordon — The first tenor player to synthesize Charlie Parker’s influential ideas. I love Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard, as well as all the classic Blue Note recordings.
Sonny Rollins — A giant on the tenor. Anything will give you an idea of his genius, but the classic recordings like St. Thomas have the most impact on me.
Joe Henderson — All the Blue Note recordings, and Double Rainbow, The Music of Carlos Antonio Jobim.
Wayne Shorter — All the Blue Note recordings, and all the classic Miles Davis Quintet recordings of the 1960’s. Don’t overlook his work with Art Blakey either! One of the greatest composer’s of the modern era.
Ornette Coleman — All the Atlantic recordings. Expect the truly unexpected.
Charlie Haden — Silence with Chet Baker and Enrico Pieranunzi. A bassist and composer of profound depth and artistry. Look carefully and you will find him everywhere.
Gary Bartz — Master saxophonist. All his work is important and soulful. Check out Reflections on Monk.
Kenny Garrett — Start wth Miles Davis’ Amandla and the Criss Cross CD Introducing Kenny Garrett. Develops ideas that flow from Bartz. Consistently great.
Pat Metheny — All the ECM recordings, Missouri Sky with Charlie Haden, One Quiet Night. Pure genius.
Herbie Hancock — All the Blue Note recordings. His recordings span the stylistic gamut. Worth every minute you spend investigating this man’s music.
Keith Jarrett — Standards Trio, of course. The classic CD Belonging, featuring his European Quartet, gives a great glimpse into his work with Jan Gabarek, as does My Song. The solo piano recording The Melody At Night, With You is among the most beautiful recordings ever made.
Carlos Antonio Jobim — Start with the classic boss nova albums of the 1960’s that feature Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd.
Steely Dan — Jazz/Pop Masters of the 70s and 80s. No denying that Aja and Gaucho are classics……
World Music Influenced Jazz:
Oregon — Truly a multi ethnic melting pot of amazing music. I love the ECM recording Crossing, as well as Live At Yoshi’s. Into The Woods and Roots In The Sky rank as classics as well. If your tastes are diverse you can’t help but love this inconclasts.
Weather Report — 8:30, a great live album featuring Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius. Words cannot describe the influence this band had in the 1970’s and beyond. True genius. Serious jazz listeners should hear everything they ever recorded.
Jan Garbarek — Well known and loved in Europe, this saxophonist takes ideas from many folk music traditions and makes uncompromising music for the great ECM label. Everything he does is great, but I love Rites, Photo With……, and It’s OK To Listen to the Grey Voice.
Specific to the Clarinet in Jazz:
Alvin Batiste — Amazing New Orleans clarinetist and master improviser, as well as a fabulous composer. Very modern and Coltrane — esque at times. I especially like his recording 1984 Musique D’Afrique Nouvelle Orleans on India Navigation. Sadly this great musician is very much under recorded and under appreciated outside of New Orleans.
Bill Smith — Also known as the classical composer William O. Smith, Bill is known for his work with Dave Brubeck in the 1980’s.
Tony Scott — The dean of jazz clarinet, said to have discovered Bill Evans. Truly an innovator, world traveler and visionary. Classic recordings include Music for Zen Meditation and Other Joys, and the fabulous Sung Heroes.
Art Pepper — Master alto saxophonist who’s soulful clarinet playing can be found on isolated tracks on a variety of his recordings. I especially love In A Mellow Tone and Goin’ Home from his Goin’ Home recording.
Eric Dolphy — The original and daring bass clarinetist in jazz that made history with his fantastic flights that could never be equaled. Check out his solo recordings of God Bless The Child.
Barney Bigard — The first great clarinet soloist in Duke Ellington’s band.
Jimmy Hamilton — The second great clarinet soloist in Duke Ellington’s band.
The entire history of the clarinet in jazz can be heard through these two stylists alone.
Eddie Daniels — The greatest virtuoso to ever play jazz on the clarinet. While the Breakthrough album had a huge impact, I particularly like Nepenthe, To Bird With Love, and Blackwood.
Michael Moore — This musician, now living in Amsterdam, is a wonderful composer as well as a gifted clarinetist and bass clarinetist. I love Bering, a trio recording with Fred Hersch and Mark Helias. Michael has so many different styles together. Bravo.
Marcus Miller — Known primarily for his work producing such artists as Miles Davis, and for his amazing electric bass chops, Marcus plays wonderful bass clarinet. His recordings are littered with little bass clarinet gems. Check out Sophisticated Lady on his Silver Rain CD.
Paul McCandless — A musicians musician, Paul is constantly amazing with his work on bass clarinet. Not only can it be found on the many fabulous Oregon recordings, but I love his work on Eberhard Weber’s Endless Days CD.
Clarinet Summit — A fabulous clarinet quartet consisting of John Carter, Alvin Batiste, David Murray and Jimmy Hamilton. Several recordings exist, all recommended for serious students of the clarinet.