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1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (951-960)

Here is another 10 to add to the list.

Remember that there is no ranking system here, and if you don’t see your favorite jazz album yet, it doesn’t mean it won’t show up.

Hopefully these lists will inspire you to seek some of these albums out that perhaps you haven’t heard before, or revisit an old favorite. And as always, we want your thoughts on any or all of these albums. Here, in no particular order, are albums 951 through 960.

951. Satch Plays Fats: The Music of Fats Waller – Louis Armstrong (Columbia, 1955) CLICK HERE TO BUY

952. Lee-Way – Lee Morgan (APO (Analogue Production Originals), 1960) CLICK HERE TO BUY

953. Piano in the Background – Duke Ellington (Sony Music Distribution, 1960) CLICK HERE TO BUY

954. The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions – Artie Shaw (Bluebird RCA, 1940-1945 recording dates, 1989 compilation date) CLICK HERE TO BUY

955. Walkin’ – Miles Davis (Original Jazz Classics, 1954) CLICK HERE TO BUY

956. The Inner Mounting Flame – John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra (Columbia/Legacy, 1971) CLICK HERE TO BUY

957. Bird and Diz – Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie (Verve/Polygram, 1950 recording dates, 1956 release date) CLICK HERE TO BUY

958. Trombone by Three – Bennie Green/J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding (Original Jazz Classics, 1956) CLICK HERE TO BUY

959. Cattin’ With Coltrane and Quinichette – John Coltrane/Paul Quinichette (Original Jazz Classics, 1957) CLICK HERE TO BUY

960. Boss Guitar – Wes Montgomery (Concord/Concord Music Group/Fantasy/Universal Music, 1963) CLICK HERE TO BUY

Related Posts:

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (941-950)

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (931-940)

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (921-930)

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (911-920)

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die (901-910)

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die – The First 750

1,000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die – The First 500

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Jazz and Presidents

Presidents Day is today, so I thought I would take a look at some photos and videos of Presidents and jazz (the Nixon video might not be jazz, but I found it fun).

Cab Calloway and Lyndon Johnson

Jimmy Carter, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach

Richard Nixon and Duke Ellington

George Bush and Lionel Hampton

Ronald Reagan and Ray Charles

 

 

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A Fly on the Studio Wall

One of the great things about being in my job is having the opportunity to interview world-class musicians, or introduce them on stage at concerts. Of course the chance to hear them play live right in front of me, or learn interesting things about them during an interview is amazing, but for me the most entertaining part is the discussions that happen before the tape is rolling or before the show begins.

This is the time where, even if it is only a sentence or two, I feel you can really get the coolest story of the event.

I have yet to run into sax man Joshua Redman in a bad mood backstage. He remembers names, asks about other people at the radio station by name and tells me to say hello to them for him.

While walking on stage to introduce Wynton Marsalis, one of his band members told me to wait a second because he wanted to know where the best place to eat after the show was.

The late Michael Brecker made it clear to me multiple times in one interview, after complimenting his recordings, that if I really wanted to enjoy his music, “you need to hear that **** live.”

And the great Clark Terry, after a wonderful interview and performance, was kind enough to join some of the staff and listeners for a sandwich. God bless him, as he fell asleep while I was in the middle of a sentence. In his defense, most people start falling asleep when I talk too much.

Thinking about this made me start wondering about all of the great conversations and interactions that took place “off-mic” in recording sessions that we never got to hear.

For example, to be a fly on the wall, Christmas Eve, 1954. Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk are in a recording session that reportedly almost came to blows because Miles didn’t want Monk playing during his solos. Give their recording of The Man I Love a listen, and you can almost hear the animosity. I would have loved to hear that conversation take place.

Or perhaps some studio sessions with slightly less violent interactions. How about Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington (or any recording session with either of those two guys)? I can only imagine the conversations that took place when the tape wasn’t rolling.

Certainly there are many sessions that would have been great to be a fly on the wall for, and no doubt that with all of the ones that are racing through my mind right now, I am probably forgetting some that would have been the best.

I invite you to share who you would have liked to overhear in the studio when the microphones were off.

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Up in the Cotton Club

Did anyone ever suspect that someone would mix Beyonce with Duke Ellington and his band? I can safely say I didn’t see this one coming. My music director called me into his office to give this a listen, and I truly couldn’t believe it. I must have heard Single Ladies by Beyonce a million times, but even though she is singing the lyrics, I didn’t even recognize it because of the way it was mixed with Duke.

Anyway, you’ve got to give this a listen – just for fun.

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Rumors of Jazz Movies

It seems like it has been a couple years since I heard whispers of two jazz related films that were in pre-production. I hadn’t heard anything about either of these projects in a while, and decided to do some digging.

The first film I originally heard about from Abe Beeson on Evening Jazz a couple years ago. He had mentioned that Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, Lucky Number Slevin) would play Chet Baker in a film called The Prince of Cool.

The concept of this film surfaced during the same time that the life of musicians Ray Charles and Johnny Cash were being put on the silver screen, becoming huge cinematic hits.

The problem, as it turns appears, is that the reasons that producers wanted to create a Chet Baker biopic and the reasons Josh Hartnett wanted to create a Chet Baker biopic were completely different. While producers wanted to rush a project in order to capitalize on the Ray and Walk the Line bandwagon, Josh Hartnett claims that he wanted to dedicate a significant amount of time and thought to the project, making it unique and original. Because Hartnett (apparently a huge jazz fan), and the producers could not come to agreement on their differences, Hartnett withdrew from the project and that is that.

The second film of note accumulated press in 2006 upon the announcement of it, but there has been little word of it since. The film is called The Jazz Ambassadors, and is set to star Morgan Freeman as Duke Ellington.

This is not so much of a biography of Duke, as it is a look at what role members of Duke’s entourage might have had in the 1963 coup let by the CIA in Iraq.

That’s right. It is suggested that the CIA planted spies within Duke’s band as they toured the Middle East. While your first reaction might be “yeah right”, U.S. State Department official Tom Simons, who toured with Duke’s band in the Middle East, is working on the project.

Maybe “working on the project” is a loose term to use, as I struggled to find much work being done on the project announced three years ago at all. Freeman (who I think would make an excellent Ellington) is involved on a variety of other projects currently, as is the designated director of the film, and the only suggested release date I came up with is 2011, posted on IMDB.com.