Cannonball was one of those guys who was all over the place during the 50s but not nearly enough people know his name.  They know Miles and they know Coltrane, Mingus and Park, but they really should know the roly-poly sax player who was dubbed “Cannonball” as a kid thanks to his prodigious gut. 

“Somethin’ Else” was created about the same time as “Kind of Blue” and it also features many of the same musicians, including Miles Davis.  For all I know once they all finished “Kind of Blue” they just decided Cannonball needed to release his own album and started to work on this one.  I first heard it on vinyl a the jazz radio station I worked at back in college and I fell immediately in love with it.

The list goes on for pages and pages.  It kind of makes me wonder if it just has every single classic jazz album ever created.  There is a lot of Louis Armstrong, for example.  Louis certainly is the pillar upon which modern jazz was built, but I also noticed “Kind of Blue” was not listed among the first few pages, but Davis’ “Nefertiti” was.  While just about any Miles album is something I can listen to (well…almost…) that is not one of my particular favorites

However, other artists are mentioned that I have forgotten about and probably deserve a lot more space here such as Art Blakey and Count Basie.  Sydney Bechet is another example as is Benny Carter.  The vocalists are also mentioned and while I have never been a huge fan of jazz vocals, I do like Sarah Vaughan and Nat King Cole.

So, check out the lists and enjoy your reading. Also, get the checkbook out and start buying or start downloading.  This is a pretty darn good list and this would make an oustanding start to any jazz collection.  If you can dig up an old turntable and find them on vinyl, even better, I think.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Of course, such a thing would be nearly impossible to declare.  I could not even tell you for certain which jazz album in my own collection would be my vote for Greatest Jazz Album of All Time.  “Kind of Blue” would be up there, but then there’s “Somethin’ Else” the Cannonball Adderly album I love quite dearly.  Then there’s the Dave Brubeck albums I enjoy. 

In short, it would be almost impossible.

However, there are plenty of peope willing to make more lists.  Some of them are willing to go up to 100 albums and/or DVDs and other media in their lists of Greatest Jazz Albums of All-Time.

1.  http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/jazz100/   – an interesting list, if fairly standard.  I found few surprises here.

2.  http://100greatestjazzalbums.blogspot.com/  Another site dedicated to jazz.  While it claims to be the 100 of all time, it also appears to give general jazz album information and opinion.

3.  http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=15785  I think I’ve written about this one before and perhaps provided the link.  The entire website is interesting for any jazz fan.

4.  http://www.reitzes.com/jazzbestef.html - this is an intriguing list because it isn’t in a numerical order.  It’s a best-of list in alphabetical order, which saves the writer having to declare an album “number 1.”

5.  http://www.amazon.com/Best-Jazz-Albums-All-Time/lm/GJRMYWCWWVX8  Amazon.com is becoming the King of the Lists.  They encourage lists by those who have memberships.  This author puts Coltrane’s “Blue Train” album at number one with “Kind of Blue” second.  Needless to say, I would disagree.

So, there you go.  Leave it to me to give you a list of the lists.  Actually, this barely scratches the surface. 

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

The list of the “25 Must-Have Jazz CDs of All Time.”  It is on a website called “bkroll.com” and I am not sure who wrote it.  However, the author acknowledges right up front that the entire task of narrowing the list down to 25 is an impossible one.  At the same time, after reading his list, I have to say, I agree with a lot of it.

Of course, I agree with it first and foremost because it has  Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” featured prominently.  For me, that is the Rosetta Stone of jazz.  It was the CD that got me to understand the music as a true art form.  It was the one that made me stop and really listen and give the entire genre a chance.  If I had someone who expressed an interest in jazz, but wanted to know where to start, that would be the CD I would hand them.

You can click HERE to see the entire list.

I like how he starts off with a Louis Armstrong CD, which, as mentioned here, is a key player in the field of jazz.  All of the big names are on the list like Bill Evans and Count Basie and John Coltrane.  Anyone who would go out and buy all of these CDS would have a truly outstanding start on their classic jazz CD collection.

It also gives me some great suggestions of further classic jazz artists to feature here.  I intend to do that, but more in the new year than now before Christmas.

Enjoy and debate!

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

I posted one list which was on Amazon.com.  It generated some talk, but not quite enough for this writer’s taste.  The problem with that one was that I could not find an author attributed to the writing.  Who was that guy? 

I found another list just doing a Google search of “Best Jazz Albums of 2007.”  This time, I can at least tell you that it is Will Layman and he is writing for some webstie called “PopMatters.” 

Now, I am not expecting you to go “Oh Will Layman!” because, well, I certainly didn’t.  Still, his list at least attempts to do some kind of balance.  There is a reissue listed and there are independent labels mixed in with big label releases.  Most interestingly, there were a bunch of CDs and albums listed I was not familiar with. 

At this point, my list of Jazz CDs from ‘07 is so long I better not even look at new releases in ‘08.

So, please, take the time to read a fellow blogger and check out another person’s idea of the Best Jazz Albums of 2007.  Click right HERE for the list and enjoy.

Happy Christmas shopping!  And, of course, by “Christmas” I mean every other damn holiday that is celebrated at this time of year.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

In theory, I should have my own list.  I have some problems with that, though.  I am just one guy and it would be physically impossible for me to listen to every single jazz album released in 2007.  How could I reasonably be expected to create a list of my favorite albums when, at best, I may have heard only one tune off of a given record.

Still, this is the Jazz and Blues Lounge and I felt, for the sake of debate at the very least, to provide you a link to that article.  Once again, there is no author listed, so it must be some Amazon.com staffer.  There is no explanation, that I can find, of what the criteria is for these albums.  Who decided?  What was the decision based on?  No answers are forthcoming.

There are a few on here I like.  The Terence Blanchard release is on there.  There is the Charles Mingus compilation and one from Thelonius Monk.  Still, it’s hard for me to truly believe these are the ten best. 

Here is the link.  I’d love to know your opinion too, as always.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Still, as Clint Eastwood once said, in one of his movies, “A man’s got to know his limitations”

I am lucky to live in Chicago.  If you are in Chicago and you have an urge to see a blues musician, you can always go to Buddy Guy’s Legends or Kingston Mines and have yourself a great time.  You will likely walk away with a memory you will have for the rest of your life and never now the difference or whether or not you missed some hidden, hole-in-the-wall blues venue. 

So, I turned to a source that has more people than myself to discuss the blues.  I am speaking, of course, of Amazon.com.  OK, maybe the people there don’t really know more than me, but at least they have enough people there to put together lists.

This is the time of year for lists.  There are lists of the best and worst movies.  There are lists of the best and worst on television.  Heck, I may have written a few of those lists.  I have in the past.

Amazon.com has a little bit of everything.  I may have started with books, but these days you can probably get a wombat and a fridge there.  They do have a rather impressive selection of music as well.  If you can’t find it at Amazon.com, the odds are you aren’t going to be able to find it.

So, it is with those who are looking for something to add to their blues collection that I provide you with Amazon.com’s “The Best Blues Albums of 2007.”  The list does not say who wrote it, or I would give credit to a fellow writer.  It also does not explain the criteria for the choices.  So, remember, these are not MY choices, but some anonymous writer working for Amazon.com.

Blues fans, without further ado, here is your link.  Enjoy.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

These albums are mostly older, as you might imagine.  Again, this was released in 2003 and they  tried to compile a list of 50 must-have blues albums.  They asked 80 musicians, music industry folks and music journalists for their opinions and then started weeding it out, editing it and putting it all together.

According to Downbeat, these are the essentials.  These are the ones everyone who wants to have a blues collection should have.  Many of these set the foundation for much of what is popular today.

Sadly, my own collection doesn’t have nearly enough of these.  I plan to rectify that.
1
Hoodoo Man Blues
Junior Wells
Hoodoo Man Blues (1966)

2
B.B. King Live at the Regal
B.B. King
B.B. King Live at the Regal (1965)

3
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Muddy Waters (1999) [Compilation]

4
Howlin’ Wolf / Moanin’ in the Moonlight
Howlin’ Wolf
Howlin’ Wolf / Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1986) [Compilation]

5
Two Steps From the Blues
Bobby Bland
Two Steps From the Blues (1961)

6
The Best of Little Walter
Little Walter
The Best of Little Walter (1958) [Compilation]

7
LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith
LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith (1958)

8
The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-’55
Big Maybelle
The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-’55 (1994) [Compilation]

9
The Original Peacock Recordings
Clarence Gatemouth Brown
The Original Peacock Recordings (1994) [Compilation]

10
Too Bad Jim
R.L. Burnside
Too Bad Jim (1994)

11
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)

12
Ice Pickin’
Albert Collins
Ice Pickin’ (1978)

13
Strong Persuader
Robert Cray
Strong Persuader (1986)

14
Blues from the Gutter
Champion Jack Dupree
Blues from the Gutter (1959)

15
Baby, You Can Get Your Gun
Snooks Eaglin
Baby, You Can Get Your Gun (1987)

16
Sufferin’ Mind
Eddie ‘Guitar Slim’ Jones
Sufferin’ Mind (1991) [Compilation]

17
Heritage Of The Blues: Shake It Baby
Jessie Mae Hemphill
Heritage Of The Blues: Shake It Baby (2003) [Compilation]

18
Plays and Sings the Blues
John Lee Hooker
Plays and Sings the Blues (1961)

19
The Herald Recordings: 1954
Lightnin’ Hopkins
The Herald Recordings: 1954 (1989) [Compilation]

20
The Original Delta Blues
Son House
The Original Delta Blues (1998) [Compilation]

21
Amtrak Blues
Alberta Hunter
Amtrak Blues (1987)

22
Today!
Mississippi John Hurt
Today! (1966)

23
The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James
Elmore James
The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James (1993) [Compilation]

24
Today!
Skip James
Today! (1966)

25
The Oil Man
‘Big’ Jack Johnson
The Oil Man (1987)

26
Sad Days, Lonely Nights
Junior Kimbrough
Sad Days, Lonely Nights (1993)

27
Born Under a Bad Sign
Albert King
Born Under a Bad Sign (1967)

28
Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away
Freddie King
Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away (1961)

29
Live at Ann Arbor & In Chicago
Magic Sam
Live at Ann Arbor & In Chicago (1982)

30
West Side Soul
Magic Sam
West Side Soul (1967)

31
Memory Pain, Vol. 2
Percy Mayfield
Memory Pain, Vol. 2 (1992) [Compilation]

32
Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s South Side Band
Charlie Musselwhite
Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s South Side Band (1967)

33
Masters Of Modern Blues
Robert Nighthawk & Houston Stackhouse
Masters Of Modern Blues (1993)

34
Crawfish Fiesta
Professor Longhair
Crawfish Fiesta (1980)

35
The Legend – The Man
Jimmy Reed
The Legend – The Man (1965)

36
Somebody Loan Me a Dime
Fenton Robinson
Somebody Loan Me a Dime (1974)

37
Chicago Bound
Jimmy Rogers
Chicago Bound (1976)

38
Right Place, Wrong Time
Otis Rush
Right Place, Wrong Time (1976)

39
You and Me That Used to Be
Jimmy Rushing
You and Me That Used to Be (1972)

40
Midnight Son
Son Seals
Midnight Son (1976)

41
Is The Blues
Otis Spann
Is The Blues (1960)

42
Hubert Sumlin’s Blues Party
Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin’s Blues Party (1986)

43
Beware of The Dog
Hound Dog Taylor
Beware of The Dog (1976)

44
I Got What It Takes
Koko Taylor
I Got What It Takes (1975)

45
The Boss of the Blues
Big Joe Turner
The Boss of the Blues (1956)

46
Kidney Stew Is Fine
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson
Kidney Stew Is Fine (1969)

47
The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-54
T-Bone Walker
The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-54 (1991) [Compilation]

48
Muddy Waters at Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters at Newport 1960 (1960)

49
The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson [MCA - 2CD Box Set]
Sonny Boy Williamson
The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson [MCA - 2CD Box Set] (1993) [Compilation]

50
The Concerts
Jimmy Witherspoon
The Concerts (1959)

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge