getting into Jazz who should I listen to??

[devyd]

Hello everyone, my name is Devon...and ive been playing guitar, and bass for quite sometime now, and i was curious....about getting into Jazz playing and didnt know that many artist to listen to...so please post your favorites, and some that I should listen to. Im also a fan of r&b...so any artist in that genre would be appreciated as well. thank you.

[mr. beaumont]

well, if you like jazz and R&B, george benson comes to mind. in the last two decades, his stuff has been a little smooth for me, but his late sixties output thru his commercial breakthrough "breezin'" are all quite good, sometimes great.

but jazz guitar covers all sorts of bases...starting with some of the masters is never bad...wes montgomery, barney kessel, jimmy raney, grant green, jim hall, joe pass, the list could go on for days...

i'd also advocate not listening to only guitarists--there's SO many great artists you can learn from...miles davis, chet baker, art farmer, kenny dorham, hank mobley, john coltrane, paul desmond, charlie parker, bill evans, hank jones, horace silver, red garland, art blakey, paul motian, sheeesh...haven't even scratched the surface...

[Tung]

Traditional Jazz: Ed Bickert, Wes, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Russell Malone

Modern/Fusion: Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Scott Henderson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Scofield

Blues Jazz: Robben Ford, Larry Carlton

Horn: James Carter, Charlie Parker, Miles, Coltrane, Joshua Redman, Jane Bunnett

Piano: Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Michel Camilo, McCoy Tyner

[Jazzarian]

Originally Posted by devyd

Hello everyone, my name is Devon...and ive been playing guitar, and bass for quite sometime now, and i was curious....about getting into Jazz playing and didnt know that many artist to listen to...so please post your favorites, and some that I should listen to. Im also a fan of r&b...so any artist in that genre would be appreciated as well. thank you.

"Im also a fan of r&b"


Paul Bollenback's "Soul Groves" circa 2000 would be a perfect place to start. He along with organist Joey DeFrancesco do a great job with Motown hits.

[derek]

If we are talking about guys who walk the line between jazz and R&B, I would also toss in Lee Ritenour. More of a jazz player than Carlton imo. I see Carlton as a rock player who dabbles jazz.

As far as piano goes, Bill Evans gets a lot of love on this site, but I don't hear Monk mentioned much, or my personal fav, Art Tatum.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Pseudo-Jazzy Shredder

I'm pretty much in the same boat as the threadstarter, but I listen to more of progressive/shred stuff (hence my stupid nick! =P). I always try my best to use obscure and exotic scales/arpeggios when playing over changes, but even when I'm improvising over say a jazz standard like "Blue Bossa" my solos end up sounding "shreddy". I can never make 'em sound jazzy. I guess listening to some jazz stuff might improve my state. Care to make some suggestions?

you said it yourself ma, listen.

and ditch those exotic scales and start playing the changes. it's a different vocabulary, but you can do it. can you link to anything you've recorded so we can hear where you're at now?

[derek]

Originally Posted by Pseudo-Jazzy Shredder

Okay I'll upload a take sometime today. In the meantime, got any suggestions on some jazz guitar players I could check out? I'm currently listening to Stanley Jordan's "Magic Touch", but I don't think you could call him a purely jazz guitar player.

Tung laid it out pretty well. I would suggest you start with his list, especially the traditional guys. Can't go wrong with that list. I might add Tal Farlow and Jimmy Rainey to the list of traditional guys.

If you want an example of a guy who shreds jazz, also known as hard bop, Jimmy Bruno is your guy.

[Tung]

Jimmy Raney did a book of solos for Abersold. It is literally the bible of bebop guitar lines, just incredible wealth of improvisation ideas.
if you like Stanley Jordan, check out his live DVD "Live At Montreaux", where he does some incredible blowing on standards like "Autumn Leaves", I never seen any right hand tapping like that, fast and musical Then he would turn around and do a great groovy take on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On". Very intense but musically satisfying. Stanley Jordan is an icon, his playing is so out there, it's in a class of its' own.

[Jazzarian]

Originally Posted by derek

If we are talking about guys who walk the line between jazz and R&B, I would also toss in Lee Ritenour. More of a jazz player than Carlton imo. I see Carlton as a rock player who dabbles jazz.

As far as piano goes, Bill Evans gets a lot of love on this site, but I don't hear Monk mentioned much, or my personal fav, Art Tatum.

I kind of grew up with Ritenour. I grew tired of him in the mid 1990s. Now and then he comes out with some good (non-smooth, non-pop) stuff, like that song with DeFrancesco. His "Stolen Moments" CD is fine throughout. "Wes Bound" has its moments.

His early fusion recordings were much better than his smooth crap recordings. Few could forget "Captain Fingers" and the like.

He's always had very impressive speed.


Russ Freeman can be pretty good too, although he's pretty much sucked since the late 1990s.


Pat Kelly came out with a jazz CD, produced by George Benson. He sounds mighty fine on an L5.

[derek]

Originally Posted by Jazzarian

I kind of grew up with Ritenour. I grew tired of him in the mid 1990s. Now and then he comes out with some good (non-smooth, non-pop) stuff, like that song with DeFrancesco. His "Stolen Moments" CD is fine throughout. "Wes Bound" has its moments.

His early fusion recordings were much better than his smooth crap recordings. Few could forget "Captain Fingers" and the like.

He's always had very impressive speed.


Russ Freeman can be pretty good too, although he's pretty much sucked since the late 1990s.


Pat Kelly came out with a jazz CD, produced by George Benson. He sounds mighty fine on an L5.

Well, Pat Metheny made his fortune playing smooth, and Norman Brown can rip it up when he isn't playing that mindless drek. There is a guy on another jazz group I hang out. He gets frequent calls for smooth jazz gigs, and does them because they pay well.

The rest of the time he fronts a straight ahead trio.

[ed@edbarrettjazzguitar.co]

Well in order you should transcribe from the following Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker, Django, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Raney,Grant Green,Jim Hall, Joe PAss,Pat Martino,Ed Bickert, then the post fusion guys Larry Coryell, Pat Metheny,John Scofield,Bill Frisell,Mike Stern, Allan Holdsworth and if you want to get closer to the roots Robert Johnson,John Lee Hooker, and The Basie Band, and the Count. It is a lifetime's worth of work don't neglect your own "voice" which is an intinsic part of your self. Good Luck!!!

[oldane]

If you are new to jazz, I suggest listening not only to guitarists. Listen to all the great trend setters - Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Lester young, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock - the list is endless. There are many compilations on CD with these greats which can be had cheap in internet shops.

A personal favorite of mine is Lester Young with his very fluid, very logical phrasing - and his "pupils" like Wardell Gray, Allen Eager, Brew Moore.

Also listen to big bands - Ellington, Basie, Gillespie, Thad jones/Mel Lewis etc.

Don't only listen to modern musicians. Also listen to the "moldy figs". In the 1940s, one of the musicians in Gillespies big band claimed that he didn't want to listen to "that old s***". Gillespie told him that he might have been playing better if he had listened more to the "old s***".

Like our moderator also wrote, I have only scratched the surface, but musicians like the mentioned would be good starting points.

[Doc Music]

I don't think I saw Pat Martino on the list- early stuff and later stuff post his brain injury.

[zigzag]

Piano: Joe Zawinul (fusion)
Sax: Wayne Shorter

Both can be heard in Weather Report. Wayne Shorter can also be heard with Miles, et al.

[Extrapolation]

Just a few, these albums will open your ears. Hope you enjoy

Eric Dolphy - Outward Bound, Out There, Far Cry, Live At The Five Spot Volumes 1, 2, & 3, In Europe, Berlin Concerts, Stockholm Sessions, Conversations, Iron Man, Out To Lunch!, Vintage Dolphy, Candid Dolphy

Charles Mingus - Mingus At Antibes, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, In A Soulful Mood, Mingus, Oh Yeah, The Clown, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Pre Bird, Tijuana Moods, Mingus Ah Um, Cornell 1964, Complete Live In Amsterdam, Complete Bremen Concert, Revenge! Legendary Paris Concerts, Great Concert Of Charles Mingus, The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady

Booker Liitle - Out Front, Booker Little, Booker Little And Friend, Booker Little 4 + Max Roach

Jackie McLean - Action, Let Freedom Ring, Destination... Out!, One Step Beyond, Right Now!, Bluesnik

Art Blakey - Live At Birdland Volumes 1 & 2, Mosaic, A Night In Tunisia (Blue Note), Free For All, Indestructible, Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk

John Coltrane - Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Sessions, Olé, Blue Train, Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, Impressions, Coltrane's Sound, Coltrane (Prestige & Impulse!), A Love Supreme, Complete 1961 Copenhagen Concert, Complete 1961 Paris Concert

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus, Work Time, Tenor Madness, The Sound Of Sonny, Sonny Rollins Volumes 1 & 2, The Bridge, Freedom Now Suite

Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk Trio, Complete Five Spot Featuring Johnny Griffin, At Carnegie Hall, Monk Orchestra At Town Hall, Monk's Dream, Criss-Cross, Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music

Anthony Braxton - 3 Compositions Of New Jazz, For Alto, News From The 70s, Eugene (1989), New York 1974

John McLaughlin - Extrapolation, My Goal's Beyond, Where Fortune Smiles, Inner Mounting Flame & Birds Of Fire (with Mahavishnu Orchestra)

[pierre richard]

check out jamie abersolds site and get his "jazz aids" booklet..free to download and or print...good list of who to listen to...plus much more...

you have to listen to many players to find the style and sound you want to follow ...when I went through that stage ..some I liked and some I didn't like...and I stuck to the ones I liked as you will..

time on the instrument...pierre

[Jazzpunk]

This thread is 4 years old. Hopefully the OP figured out who to listen to at this point.

[3chordsnmore]

Wes