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30 I listen to this album a lot, and though I usually skip “The Egg”, I have been warming up to post-bop on the very edge of the avant-garde lately. Side 1 is one of my favorite sides in all of jazz. Tony Williams is a big favorite of mine and he sounds superb on this. “One Finger Snap”, “Oliloqui Valley” |
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29 This album was recommended to me by Tarik Townsend through a post on his jazz blog, It’s a Raggy Waltz. This is a killer hard bop band led by Candoli that also features the playing and composing of Vince Guaraldi. Recording quality is exceptional. “Macedonia” |
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28 I was a latecomer to appreciating Wayne Shorter, but watching the “Zero Gravity” documentary cemented my adoration, appreciation, and respect for him. “Speak No Evil” was an obvious early standout, but in recent years it has been surpassed by the vast majority of the other tunes as album favorites. There is a mellowness here that really speaks to me. |
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27 Here is yet another great album I ignored at first. I don’t think I liked the dissonance in Woody Shaw’s writing. Today I hear those moments merely as tension leading to release. This is a masterfully recorded LP with a mellow, calming vibe that I return to all the time. “The Moontrane” |
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26 Somehow I bought and sold a copy of this before realizing how brilliant it is. Fuller’s writing is emotive, Sonny Clark is in top form, Farmer’s trumpet provides somewhat unexpected harmonic balance, and Louis Hayes makes his presence fully known. |
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25 This is one of the first vintage jazz LPs I ever got my hands on and an incredible mono recording made at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack home studio. The room sound is breathtakingly dry, and all the musicians sound close, present, and natural. “My Funny Valentine” |
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24 When this album was first recommended to me, Rivers’ lack of adherence to a tonal center consistently pestered me. But as I kept listening I came to appreciate the saxophonist’s particular brand of post bop teetering on the brink of free. I’m not the most hardcore Tony Williams fan, but when he plays more “in” like he does here, he cannot be beat. |
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23 I’m not usually a fan of big bands, and while this septet is far from that, they manage to tastefully toe the line between swing and modern styles. This version of “Summertime” gets heavy rotation when in season, and Frank Foster’s even-handed, precise delivery here made me into a follower. |
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22 Original pressings of this album command ga-ga dollars but that has never stopped me from appreciating it. This is an early Englewood Cliffs recording brimming over with cavernous room reflections that manage to complement the sparser quartet arrangement here. Dorham’s sweet signature style of playing is on full display, and an otherwise uptempo affair is balanced out by two unbeatable ballads. |
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21 Not all my favorite jazz artists were great “album artists”, but Coltrane was, and it’s the reason he has more albums on this list than any other artist. I don’t love every album deemed a jazz classic by the consensus, but Giant Steps has always had high replay value with me. “Naima” |