Jazz and Blues Lounge

The Greatest Jazz Album of All-Time

by balaspa on December 18th, 2007

Looking around for lists has been an interesting experience.  It seems that people truly love lists and there are an endless number of people willing to write them.  At the same time, I began to wonder.  I began to wonder if there was someone out there to definitively declare what they felt was the “Greatest Jazz Album of All Time.”

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. 

POSTED IN: Bands, Chicago, jazz, records