1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

MUSIC

Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die

by JOSEPH LAPIN
NOVEMBER 13, 2012

miles-davis.jpg

Photo by HayeurJF

Because there are multiple decades of jazz, it’s almost impossible to pick the top ten albums of all time;
the hip cats with their canes and cool shades will throw their used saxophone reeds in my direction and
call me a young whippersnapper.

But so many people out there, young or even a bit older, are curious about jazz, and they’re not exactly
sure where to start. ink of this as a jazz bucket list, filled with masterpieces of a true American music.
Let’s go!

See Also:
– Top Ten Jazz Shows in NYC is Month

Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) [Full Album]

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 1/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

10. Ornette Coleman

e Shape of Ja to Come
e title of this album, when it came out in 1959, was the equivalent of Babe Ruth pointing to the fences
or Muhammad Ali proclaiming he was the greatest.  It was an album that said, you hear this sound, you
hear what I’m laying down, everything is about to change. Ornette Coleman went from playing the sax
to the trumpet, and he received scorn from Miles Davis who publicly questioned Coleman’s sanity and
technical ability.  And because the album is often credited as being the anchor to avant-garde jazz
albums, it might just sound a bit strange to the newbie’s ear.  But Coleman was trying to move away from
tradition, shattering conventional ideas of harmony and axing the piano, to create a new dimension of
sound.  Give it a shot — free of expectations.

9. Sonny Rollins
e Bridge
When you put on e Bridge, take a tumbler of whiskey and imagine you’re staring out at New York City.
 After a sabbatical from music, Sonny Rollins returned triumphantly in 1962 with this work, whose title
track was named after the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Brooklyn. It’s where
Rollins used to head to practice.  He’s a sax player who wanted to be his own man, an individual.   is
album is accessible to the novice.

Herbie Hancock Headhunters 1974

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 2/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

8. Herbie Hancock
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock helped bring the synthesizer and the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano to mass appeal. is
1973 album was influenced by Curtis Mayfield and Sly Stone.  Even if you don’t like jazz but you love
funk and soul, you’ll likely enjoy this one. At one point, Head Hunters was the best selling jazz album of
all time.  Be warned though, there is experimentation happening here. Still, the funky drums should
keep you driving forward.

7. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Ella and Louis
Imagine it’s a Friday morning, and you have the day off.  It’s you and your significant other. You have
nowhere to go, and it’s raining.  Well, this is the album you need to be playing to create that perfect
atmosphere — an album with so much space, soaring trumpet solos, and a duet so unique and soulful
even a jazz newbie can’t ignore its grip on their heartstrings. It’s a 1956 album dripping with nostalgia.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 3/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

 Plus, the band features Oscar Peterson (piano) and Buddy “Freaking” Rich (drums). Best to listen to an
album with such a dreamy atmosphere to ensure, at least once, that you feel romantic and drenched in
“Moonlight in Vermont.”

Miles Davis - Pharaoh's Dance (1/3)

6. Miles Davis
Bitches Brew
I’m not saying that you have to like this album.  But it’s one you just have to listen to before you die; it’s
kind of like looking at Abstract Expressionism or listening to Morton Feldman — it just might not jive
with you.  Bitches Brew was released in 1970.   e first time I heard this album, I thought it was a joke.  In
fact, I was kind of pissed.  Where was the melody?  Where was the catchy rhythm?  Well, it’s so shocking
the first time you hear it that it forces you to question what jazz and music can be.  It makes you think
about structure and limitations of our current music.   e prison of the human ear.  Ah, enough of that.
 Just listen to the album.  Chaos and cacophony defined.

Monk's Dream - Thelonious Monk - Full Album

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 4/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

5. e elonious Monk Quartet

Monk’s Dream
Probably one of the hippest figures in jazz, elonious Monk was a genius who was able to see notes on
the piano that didn’t even exist in Western music. When he would sit down on the piano, he would strike
two half notes (notes next to each other that sound awful when played together) to simulate the
imaginary notes between the two piano keys.  He was so out there and amazing, and Monk’s Dream (1963)
is just one example, an imprint of strange and beautiful blaps and boops that were being electrified in
his mind. e work is about color; it’s a visual experience as much as an auditory one.

Dave Brubeck - Strange Meadowlark

4. e Dave Brubeck Quartet

Time Out
is 1959 album was the soundtrack for parties in New York City and the staple in any bachelor pad.
 Without it juicing the sophisticated and artsy minds of New Yorkers and beatniks alike, many of us
probably wouldn’t have been born.  At the time, it was considered an artsy piece, but today, the deviation
from standard time and the hip swing might just feel traditional. Songs like “Take Five” have been
ubiquitous in our culture — movies, television, and (sadly) malls.  It’s an album that screams Don Draper
and nightcaps.  Check it out and find yourself whisked away to another time and place.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 5/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

3. Charles Mingus
Ah Um
Charles Mingus is the godfather of the upright bass, and in 1959, he put out Ah Um, which many
consider to be a masterpiece and cemented his status as a legendary composer.  He combined elements
of gospel and blues.   e opening track, “Better Get It Into Your Soul,” is not just a ruckus jubilation; it’s
a command — the driving brass, the dixie-land rapture and the voice calling out in joy — to stop doing
whatever you’re doing and take into your heart and body this music. It’s a roller coaster ride through
fast and slow tempos, cacophony and perfect harmony, and a touch of madness.

John Coltrane - Blue Train (1958) FULL ALBUM

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 6/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

2. John Coltrane
Blue Train
John Coltrane is clearly one of the leaders of the jazz identity.  If you think about the course of hip-hop,
then can you really imagine groups like Tribe Called Quest or even someone like Tupac without a
cultural and musical prophet like Coltrane?  Of course, A Love Supreme is an incredible album, but Blue
Train just has so much life and color that it’s impossible to ignore.  Recorded in 1957 on Blue Note, Blue
Train was Coltrane’s favorite album. It will likely become one of yours soon, too.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue - 1959 (Complete Album)

1. Miles Davis
Kind of Blue
I can still remember the first time I heard this album.  I was 17, and I was driving my Subaru Legacy
Wagon in the rain.  I drove the car to my grandparent’s house, and put it on.  It was only about a five-
minute drive, but I ended parked outside of their house, the windshield wipers swatting away rain — the
album blaring.  I sat in the driveway until the album ended, and, well, music was never the same for me.
 It’s a composition, released in 1959, that is often considered the definitive jazz album.  Honestly, there
are some jazz purists who probably would die if they found out our generation was unfamiliar with it.
 Just listen to who was featured: Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy
Cobb. If you’re about to go sky diving, and you’re not sure if you’re going to survive, play this album on
the car ride over. Why is it so great? Let’s not try to put it into words. It might be something unsayable.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 7/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

Joseph Lapin is a journalist, author, and photo apher living in San Diego, California.

Swans’ Most Terri ing Songs

On Odd Fu re, Rape and Murder, And Why We Some mes Like the ings at Repel Us
How Not To Write About Female Musicians: A Handy Guide

Sound Of The City

Like Page 277 likes

Follow @soundofthecity

MORE: JAZZ MILES DAVIS ORNETTE COLEMAN SONNY ROLLINS

MOST POPULAR
NEWS & POLITICS

‘Secret Society’ Tzimmes Shows How Right’s Totally

Trumpi ied
by ROY EDROSO

NEW YORK

South Bronx Saviors or Sellouts?

by DJ CASHMERE

MUSIC

Why Kesha’s Grammy Performance Was Actually a Major

Bummer
by KELSEY MCKINNEY

MUSIC

Pazz & Jop: It’s Kendrick’s and Cardi’s World. We’re All Just
Living in It.
by THE EDITORS

FILM

Jason Mantzoukas on “The Long Dumb Road,” Finally Playing

a Lead, and the Wonders of Improv
by BILGE EBIRI

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 8/9
1/30/2018 Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die | Village Voice

LIVES

Ursula Le Guin’s Eternal Search for Freedom

by JULIE PHILLIPS

ABOUT US STAFF JOBS CONTACT US

TERMS OF USE PRIVACY

©2017 VILLAGE VOICE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | SITE MAP

https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/11/13/ten-jazz-albums-to-hear-before-you-die/ 9/9