I'd love to hear about your fav blues/jazz musicians, your fav songs etc.

I'm pretty ignorant at the mo, but I've grouped a bunch of names to explore and see if I can get into this.

Some big guns of jazz:

Miles Davis
Charlie Parker
Duke Ellington
Chet Baker
Nina Simone
Maynard Furguson (thanx G!)
Louis Armstrong
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Dinah Washington
Sara Vaughan
Count Basie
Charles Mingus
Peggy Lee
B.B. King (the only blues guy in the list?)

-----

Anyway lemme know if you're familiar with anyone and stuff. Anyone else you recommend? I think I need some blues names.

If I had to pick a few:
Louis Armstrong in the 1930's
Charlie Parker's recordings 1944-47
Clifford Brown
Herbie Hancock's "Speak Like A Child"
Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"
Dizzy Gillespie's soundtrack to "Cool World"
Chet Baker in Milan

What a wonderful thread! I could write on this for days.

The cool thing about these genres (and any musical genre really) is that for every person you list there are literally ten other people that are just as much fun to listen to. And everything is related. You can start with Count Basie -whose guitarist Freddie Green was a seminal influence on Chuck Berry- and with just a hop skip and jump wind up with Richard Thompson- who is by no means a blues player per se but skillfully employs Chuck Berry licks in his live version of "Hokey Pokey". Ultimately everything's related.


That said there are just so many different types of blues and jazz that it's hard to know where to start.
Just from the top of my head and the numbering is NOT anything to do with quality or importance

1) T-Bone Walker -A very skilled guitarist in both jazz and blues genres and someone who influenced EVERYONE who came after him, including people like Chuck Berry, BB King, Albert King, etc. Anything he did in 40's and 50's is gold. He's the songwriter of the classic "Stormy Monday". Both he and Pee Wee Crayton define the word elegance. He played a very smooth uptown jazz-blues hybrid music that just dripped confidence and class. No down home shouting for him.

2) Charlie Christian-A contemporary of T-Bone who leaned more towards jazz than blues but gave Benny Goodman's group an infusion of talent and swing.

3) Pee Wee Crayton-Another contemporary of T-Bone Walker's. I think he was a little younger. He also straddled the line between blues and jazz. Again, his work from the late forties and fifties is sublime. GREAT singer and guitarist.

4) Ike Turner-Originally a pianist, he released what's been called the first "rock and roll" song-Rocket 88. Turner had a much harder guitar sound and was one of the first ones to deliberately use distortion and pinch harmonics. His later work with Tina made him more money but generally speaking his pre-Tina work is more inventive.

5) Roy Buchanan-Speaking of harmonics, Buchanan was able to produce them on demand. He was from the Ozarks and had a more country influenced sound. He was often called the best guitarist no one's ever heard of. Check out anything he did in the early seventies. Although he did not play steel guitar he could effortlessly sound as if he did. He wasn't a great singer though. Like Hendrix he "sang" through his guitar.

6) John Coltrane-Imagine if God played saxophone. I can't say anything more than that. You may want to avoid initially his post 65' stuff as he was more into "free jazz" at that point which is not everyone's cup of tea.

7) Rahsaan Roland Kirk-A blind jazz multi-instrumentalist who practiced circular breathing and played several ancient saxophones, Kirk's work is solid quality no matter which period you choose from. One talent of his was playing different melodies on multiple reed instruments simultaneously.

8) Etta Baker-A blues guitarist from North Carolina, Baker was primarily acoustic fingerstyle-a style which was different than everyone above and post WW2 was primarily associated with folk, not blues. Good stuff.

9) Albert Collins-A blues guitarist from Texas who played a shuffle style which has come to be replicated in bar bands across the world. He played the guitar like an organ. His music was fun but not super complex.

10) John Lee Hooker. He was a direct link back to Africa. Much of his music-especially his solo stuff was full of drones, odd time signatures and space. It sounded eerily close to music from Mali and Mauritania. You have to be very careful getting anything by him though as he recorded for close to 60 years with a variety of bands and conditions. Because his timing was defiantly irregular it was often difficult for less skilled bands to follow him.

11) Sonny Sharrock, A guitarist who famously claimed not to be a guitarist. He saw himself as a saxophone player. He translated Coltrane's "sheets of sound" method to the guitar. Again this could often result in cacophony so his music is a very acquired taste but as a Hendrix contemporary he used tones and styles that were just as much associated with hard rock as with jazz. His early seventies work is worthwhile.

12) Howling Wolf. A giant of a man with a giant of a voice. See if you can get the Chess Box set. A lot of his music anticipated and was influenced by funk. When you listen to his sixties work you can hear the family relationship with James Brown's bands at the time.

13) Muddy Waters-Can't mention the Wolf without mentioning his label mate and rival/friend Muddy Waters. Both as a guitarist and singer Muddy defined the Chicago Blues sound-which was very very different than people like BB or Albert King. Again, there is a Chess Box set. I think Wolf had funkier bands though. Muddy rarely employed a horn section. Everyone got to solo but usually the primary soloist was whoever was the harmonica player; he had some great ones. However to me, unless you REALLY are that good, a little harmonica can go a LONG way.

14) Etta James-She is a singer who stands at the crossroads of blues, jazz, soul, rock and roll. Anything she did in the fifties or sixties is definitely worth picking up.

15) Elmore James-The definitive slide guitarist. He built his own amps and had a heavy thick tone that anticipated the metal of the seventies. His singing voice could best be described as tortured. His mid fifties bands rivaled Muddy's and Wolf's as the best in blues.

And many more that I didn't mention...hopefully others will.
Again, great topic!!!

Parker was involved in many of the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" recordings produced by Norman Granz. These are awesome arrangements and performances of popular songs. The closest you can come to live reenactment today is to catch a concert by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

For a set of vocals, I'd recommend the Verve label recordings of duets by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. They've been chopped up a lot of different ways on CD, but there's a 3-disc set that has everything (Verve was traditionally a top jazz label). Pianist Oscar Peterson leads the backup group. Armstrong's "Let's Do It" is one of the alltime top ten vocals.

Ella recorded thousands of songs. My favorite is the one she termed a "wreck" -- her version of Mack the Knife, sung in Berlin, where didn't have time to learn the words and so improvised for four minutes. It's hilarious, and something you have to be extremely intelligent to do well.

Blues: I'd suggest the other Albert, Albert King. Try, "Born Under a Bad Sign," "We All Wanna Boogie," and the beautiful "Very Thought of You."

On the Big Band side, I'd recommend Benny Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert. I consider the great 9-minute finale, "Sing, Sing, Sing," to be the recording of the century -- an expression of American intelligence, energy, and confidence on the eve of WWII.

Finally, download a copy of Count Basie's "Jingle Bells" and you'll listen to it 100 times before New Year's Day.

Love the blues, but I'm no where near a purist or deep into it like our musical colleague Master Lilo. My blues appreciation is more folk/country influenced. Oh Master B.B., saw him perform a few years ago when he was 80 years old. Holy Key of E minor, that man has soul.
But as I eluded to, my blues appreciation came via the folk scene....Bob Dylan wrote quite a few 12 bar blues songs, James Taylor "Steam Roller Blues", Neil Young could switch from country-steel guitar to raunchy blues in an instant. Then the English invasion openly credits the blues masters for many of their songs, Clapton and Page being the foremost. Gotta love Van Morrison, definetly of advocate of the blues.
Personally, I get into a little guitar, harmonica blues myself from time to time. If this thread lasts, I might even record one of my drunken session.
Oh, and yes, if you want to hear some great Texas-country-rock-a-billy blues, listen to Delbert McClinton...none better.
Long live the blues.

Delbert McClinton. Hmm. I've heard the name but never looked further. You say he's really good, MC?

It's mind-boggling when reading about the speculation that Robert Johnson's recordings might've been played too fast, either accidentally speeded up, or an intentional tinkering back then or sped up by its the original label. We'll never know for certain.

*File under Mistakes that Changed the World.*

EDIT - and a blues scholar rebuttals that theory: http://elijahwald.com/johnsonspeed

I am not much of a jazz person, but I dated one back in college. He took me to a concert at Carnegie Hall that was incredible. There were a number of performers, but the ones that stood out for me were Eubie Blake (98 at the time, and simply amazing), Stanley Clarke and Herbie Hancock.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60D93CB65EA5C43E

That is good stuff, SB. Roland Hanna was one of my Dad's favorite pianists.

Dude, you left out Oscar Peterson?

I don't think I can be friends with you anymore .

I'm surprised at no mention, so far, of either Thelonius Monk or Art Tatum. Both were top-notch pianists.

Likewise, sax player Cannonball Adderly.

I wonder if most sax players belong in the blues/jazz genre. Of course you can find them in classical music, as well as rock bands etc...but mostly jazz?

Speaking of...that reminds me of "Dire Straits" and their epic song "Your Latest Trick". It has an excellent sax solo by Michael Brecker (and later by Chris White). Great stuff. Great band, really.

"The Blues Brothers" soundtrack is loaded with sax, but are these famous songs really blues? pure blues?

And I didn't mention Nat King Cole in my first post even tho I listen to his albums every now and then. Guess I never really thought of it as jazz music, despite the piano.
Lilo you're the expert: is "Unforgettable" or "Mona Lisa" belong in this thread?

Thank you all for writing in here. I must say, all this talk reminds me of my visit to New Orleans, which I will never forget. The bands playing, the market, Bourbon st. and of course the Mardi Gras. What a city. Can you guess which novel I bought during my visit there? yeah, "The Great Gatsby"

Of course one can't mention Oscar Peterson without mentioning his buddy, occasional band mate and fellow jazz giant Joe Pass. Pass could make a guitar sound like a piano-in that he would have have chords, melody and bass line all going on at once. Very cool stuff.

And once you talk about Pass you have to mention Wes Montgomery, another very cool guitarist.

Getting back to blues for a second Little Walter should be recognized as the quintessential harmonica player as he was literally the first such musician to take full advantage of microphone and amplifiers to change the sound of what can otherwise be a relatively irritating sounding instrument.

Hendrix came out of blues/R&B, obviously. Unfortunately part of Hendrix's influence was to convince guitarists who were marginal singers that they too had the talent to be front men-they didn't.

Buddy Guy was only a few years older than Hendrix and influenced him. Unfortunately Guy has a TON of resentments about being overlooked critically and financially and since the mid eighties or so has been chasing the blues-rock crowd with mixed results. Gotta eat I guess. Most of the earlier work he did for Chess, Vanguard and later JSP/Denmark records are worthwhile.

The Jazz Crusaders (later just the Crusaders) are a very fine band that originally came together in the late sixties/early seventies. They mixed jazz/R&B/funk/blues together very well. Their seventies album "Scratch" is a MUST have. I think Steely Dan was listening to it.

And Ernest Ranglin is a Jamaican guitarist who stood at the intersection of jazz, ska, mento and reggae. Really fun to listen to.

Although some consider it heresy I sometimes wonder if Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Prima, Clifford Brown, or Clark Terry ever went over to Miles' house and told him gently:

"You know, Miles. The mute is not actually part of the trumpet. You CAN play without it. Yes, really. It was news to us too!!!"

Great thread. I love the blues. Just put a couple solid blues riffs in a song and you got me.

Was listening to an old "In Session" with Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn the other day. Pretty good stuff imo.

In the book "Crosstown Traffic" which is sort of a biography of Hendrix but more a exploration of American music, the author Charles Shaar Murray points out that the sax as soloist in rock and roll died out in the late fifties/early sixties due to better amps, more adventurous sound processing and ease of transport of guitar. In jazz, for a variety of reasons, people weren't looking for the sort of guitar sounds found in rock or blues and with notable exceptions, guitarists weren't the featured players.



It depends on how you look at it I guess.
The original versions were generally not considered blues by young people in the sixties, but Booker T &The MG's and Muscle Shoals/Fame were accomplished blues musicians. Many of those songs have bluesy elements. Otis Redding could sing blues but was not a blues singer. Am I making sense?

Anyway classic Chicago blues bands rarely had horn sections until post-James Brown. But Texas blues bands ALWAYS had horns and prominent keyboards. Albert Collins rarely recorded without at least two sax players. Coming out of Memphis BB kept horns in his bands even when he wasn't making much money.



I'd say so, Fame. I can't find it now but I seem to remember a recent (past 6 months) NYT article that pointed out that although Cole was primarily known as a smooth crooner, he was actually a pretty fierce pianist-among the best. The author was writing something like how unfair it was that someone could be that skilled at two different things. If you go back and listen to Cole, Charles Brown and Ray Charles, there's not a lot of difference.

I don't think it was this article but if it wasn't it was very close.

On some of these things it would be like debating exactly where does red turn into orange or where does blue turn into indigo. As long as you're in the general vicinity, and not trying to say red is violet it's all good.

I was a loyal follower of Modern Jazz Quartet in my jazz period ~50 years ago. Saw them many times at the Village Gate and Village Vanguard. Brilliant musicians all--Percy Heath (bass) would come out with his bow and his music stand. Also liked Herbie Mann, Ramsey Lewis, Oliver Nelson, Ben Webster, Dizzy, Monk and especially, Eric Dolphy ("Mr. Avant Gard"). Saw all of them live.

Greatest contemporary bluesman, IMO, was the immortal Hendrix. Release of his brilliant live work showcased blues classics like "Red House," "Here My Train a'Comin'," and "Bleeding Heart." But you can hear blues in most of his studio work, including "Wind Cries Mary," "Hey Joe," "Bold as Love," "Long Hot Summer Night," etc. I also like Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson, Ledbelly, T-Bone Walker, Chester Burnette, BB King. Little Richard could do blues ("Send Me Some Loving" is a classic).

I tend toward the vocalists, but here are five excellent instrumentals (all on youtube right now):

Take Five - Dave Brubeck
The In Crowd - Ramsey Lewis
7 Steps to Heaven - Miles Davis
My Favorite Things - John Coltrane
I Can't Get Started - Jazz at the Philharmonic

Another vocalist who should be mentioned is Joe Williams ("Alright, Okay, You Win) who was a Basie vocalist and ended up with occasional guest spots on The Cosby Show.

A great pianist, but I can't listen to him for more than 5 minutes or so. I respect him, but I don't love him.

Otis Rush-"Cold Day in Hell". He's another left handed blues guitarist, like Albert King, whom he resembles in sound.

Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and Jimmy McGriff were all fine jazz organists. It is fun to listen to a bass and then realize that's there is no bass, you're hearing the organist play the bass line with his feet.

Mingus was already mentioned and did so much-including what would today be called "world music". He had a vicious temper and did not suffer fools or incompetents lightly. If pushed this could result in violence against his own band members. That aside he was just as skilled a composer as he was a bassist and pianist. I have a lot of his work but there's always something new. I like "Better Git it in your soul".

Pharoah Sanders-Coltrane was described as God the Father and Sanders was called The Son. He really IS that good. His best work imo is in the early seventies. He was mostly "free jazz" but for some reason I find his explorations easier to enjoy/understand than Coltrane's. I like that whole spiritual jazz movement. Check out "The Creator has a Master Plan" or "Summun, Bukmun, Umyun". Again, he's someone who was playing "world" music before it was given that name.

Ornette Coleman-This saxophonist I don't like. He claims it's really advanced stuff and maybe it is but I think he's just WEIRD. I have tried and failed to listen to his music. Just like Cecil Taylor...

Max Roach-got to give the drummer some- He single handedly changed jazz drumming (and influenced many other drummers) starting back in the forties. Check out "Driva Man", his duet albums with Adbdullah Ibrahim and Dizzy Gillespie, "Mop Mop", or just anything he ever did. He was consistently excellent. He played melodies on the drums and gave solo concerts.

Freddie King-the last of the three great Kings of the blues to come to prominence. Unfortunately he was the first to pass. He had a brasher rock-and-roll sound than BB or Albert did. His early sixties work is largely surf instrumental shuffles. He was a session guitarist at Chess Records for a while. He later hooked up with Atlantic Records for some fine work. His work on Shelter Records was consistent but not that inspired. Huge influence on Clapton, with whom he toured. The long version of "Gambling Woman Blues" with Clapton on second guitar is worth finding.

Lilo,

I notice that you mentioned both Ettas (Baker and James). But if we're going to talk female jazz vocalists, how could you leave out Lady Ella?

And why'd you roll your eyes at me? I was just kidding. We're still friends .

Check her out with the Duke's band below.

Delbert has been around since the early 60's and one of those guys who flys under the radar. He's won a Grammy or two; one song with Bonnie Raitt. Check out this video, a little piece of Rock n Roll history, but you can peruse his YouTube videos. Check out Austin City Limits, "Givin' It Up For Love." or Otis Redding's "I've Got Dreams"

Delbert McClinton, Bruce Channel and "Hey, Baby"

Thanks, MC.

You're right Lilo, it's all good. There's a whole bunch of crooners from the 50's that I never really associated with Jazz. Maybe I'm a little more familiar with the genre than I imagined. But then again, vocal jazz is just one angle. I've got so much to learn. Thanx again folks, keep up with them entries.

Just one small request: if you're gonna link to YT, then please just paste the link instead of posting the actual video in this thread. It takes me forever to load a page with tons of videos on it. (I know, I should get a new comp). Anyway so far I can live with pizzaboy's vid, but a few more of those and I won't be able to open this thread...so please just paste the links without the codes.

Old-time BB member Omar Squarez posted a good piece to idFilm, on "the reciprocal influence of jazz and film", in June this year: Call and response.

Nice.

(oh and welcome back.)

Jazz and film could make up an entire (and interesting) thread by itself. Quincy Jones' work alone was a major force.

Speaking of blues:

The wild popularity of television in the US caused the three major radio networks to break up. Hundreds of individual stations changed hands. The new owners discovered that their audiences in major cities weren't exclusively Ozzie-and-Harriet types--they were predominantly ethnics. WEVD in NYC broadcasted progams in 23 languages per week.) And, in many cases, blacks were the major or one of the major ethnic groups. So, for the first time they began offering programming aimed at blacks. It included R&B, especially late at night. Alert white kids like me in the mid-50s would tune as a relief from Dean Martin, Perry Como and Patti Page. That's where I heard, for the first time, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Little Walter Johnson, BB King, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Gayten, Big Joe Turner and many others.

David Murray is an extremely talented jazz saxophonist who has had success both as a solo artist and as a member of the World Saxophone Quartet. He's probably the best known of that group because of his catholic approach to music. There's a lot of gospel and soul in his sound; he doesn't turn up his nose at either avant-garde jazz or neo-soul and rap (Macy Gray, The Roots, etc). I like him because of his very thick, fat sound. Anyway he's putting out a CD devoted to some music that Nat King Cole did in Spanish: Afro-Cuban music.




NYT Article