Jazz Recordings that Changed My Life 1
Dublin, mid 1980s. Synth pop is fading; indie hasn’t really happened yet. I currently hate U2. I have grown tired of heavy metal and new wave. I want a new musical experience. I want to explore jazz. Where do I start? Despite what revisionists will tell you – Jazz was OUT in the mid 1980s. Nobody that I knew knew anything about jazz and those that did, such as my dad, favored the Acker Bilk 1950s British Trad variety. There were no books about Jazz in the library or in the small bookshops of the time. Record shops (this was before the HMV, Virgin, Tower era) sold current hits, (what we now call) classic rock, country and western and compilations. The “jazz” section contained nothing much, usually swing (I once bought what felt like a 90g Benny Goodman album that was likely recorded before the Americans commandeered Ampex from the Germans). Louis Armstrong – that’s jazz – right? I was given a 3 LP Louis Armstrong box, again likely copyright free stuff from the 1930s – hifi it was not. Meh.
I visited Freebird Records, still going strong – “any jazz?” – I was treated like I was some form of poserish-tosser (I suppose they call them hipsters today) and pointed at a rack that contained tapes from Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. Miles – that’s jazz – right? So I bought a second hand tape by Miles – “Water Babies.” If one was to assemble every recording ever released by Miles Davis and rank them from 1 to 70 (or 80) – starting with “Kind of Blue” (best) and ending with “Decoy” (worst), “Water Babies” is so inaccessible, being leftovers of leftovers – stuff that didn’t even make up padding for padding albums, that it doesn’t make the list. I thought it was, well, shite. The cover, one of the I love (heart) jazz series, was crap – the original at least was a painting of some black kids playing in a fountain! (just a thought – I see that it is on Qobuz, must stream it to see if I still hate the album after 30 years).
In 1986 there was no internet, Google, no Spotify – just a big vacuum of information. That’s the way we lived. It would take one second now to Google “10 best jazz albums for beginners” – every single one of the lists generated would start with “Kind of Blue” – would I be a different person if I had discovered that gem in the mid 80s?
Why was there no great jazz albums in the second hand bins in Ireland in 1986? For the same reason as is the case today – nobody sold them because very few people knew enough or heard enough to buy high quality jazz albums and those that did sure as hell didn’t need the quick fix money from selling their collection to buy the new Smiths album. I gave up.
One day in 1988 I was wandering through the Virgin Megastore, and remember this was the worst period in popular music history – almost as bad as now, looking for something decent to listen to. Obviously I couldn’t afford anything on compact disc (staggeringly expensive £15 at the time). However – there was a cassette sale – 3 for £5 – going on, and, on a whim I bought 3 tapes – one of which was “A Sample of Blue Notes” – a compilation of Blue Note recordings (released in 1987). I don’t thing that I have really ever quite recovered from first hearing that Blue Note tape. I still have it and treasure it. It is the greatest sampler EVER.
Side one (see picture) starts with “Blowin’ the Blues Away” by Horace Silver, followed by another blues by Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Smith, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and finishes with the original version of “Round Midnight” by Monk.
Side two is even better: Lou Donaldson, Herbie Hancock, Cannonball Adderley, and then the extraordinary trio of “Dig Dis” (Hank Mobley), “Midnight Blue” (Kenny Burrell – covered around that time by Stevie Ray Vaughan) and “The Sidewinder” by Lee Morgan.
I frequently hear musos complaining about compilation albums and making condescending comments about people who buy them. For my generation, radio was terrible (only hits and weird alternative stuff) and discovering new music was really difficult. This was particularly bad in the 1990s and the early 00s (before satellite radio in the US – literally all you had was classic hits and the current manufactured smooth R&B crap in the charts). The compilation gave us a low risk window into the world (unfortunately, frequently if you bought the album based on hearing one song from the compilation you discovered that it was the only good song on the album). In fact, so popular were compilations then that they are reissuing some of them now, on vinyl.
Within 10 years I had bought, on cassette or CD, all of the original albums featured on the Blue Note sampler. I’m sure that I have bought them all again on reissued vinyl. There is no doubt that hard boppin’ Blue Note recordings are really accessible jazz – and that is why the brand has such a strong current cachet (and quality used product is unbelievably expensive). You can pretty much pick up any classic era Blue Note recording and will enjoy it.
In 1989, the now resurrected Blue Note issued another sampler – the Blue Note 50th Anniversary Sampler. Hmmm. This release followed the now familiar approach of stuffing in recently released and truly mediocre output (side 1) with classic Blue Note recordings (side 2). I’m pretty sure that I listened to side 1, once.
Below is a list of 10 Blue Note Albums that I would strongly recommend to anyone who is just “getting into” jazz (no surprises here). The best versions currently available (but hurry) are the 33rpm releases from Music Matters.
1. Something Else – Cannonball Adderley
2. Moanin’ – Art Blakey
3. Midnight Blue – Kenny Burrell
4. Maiden Voyage – Herbie Hancock.
5. GO – Dexter Gordon
6. Song for My Father – Horace Silver
7. Open Sesame – Freddy Hubbard
8. Soul Station – Hank Mobley
9. Blue and Sentimental – Ike Quebec
10. Blues Walk – Lou Donaldson
I could list another 100.
audioexchange 
Nice list though no Lee Morgan? I love Hubbard but Open Sesame is not amongst my favorite ones. I am awaiting for the new 80th Anniversary press to give it a more accurate listen. So far I only have the 5 Album bundle and hub tones and hub cap rate higher in my books. Need to listen to Ike Quebec as well. yes, I am relatively new to Jazz! so much to find out which is what I like best! Cheers
Yes – I was trying to limit the list. Obviously “The Sidewinder” would appeal to anyone as would “Search for the New Land” – both on Music Matters 33rpm and extraordinarily good. I was listening to “Hub Tones” last night and completely agree, it is a better record…..
I own none of the MM, still not ready to sell my organs to import some! With regards to Something Else, at the moment I only own the McMaster CD. Would you suggest a (not digitally sourced vinyl) that would be reasonably priced? Been looking to hunt for an Liberty on ebay for a few months now, but not so much around in Europe. Maybe an early toshiba or a king might do the trick? I’ve seen some Classic records 200g, passing by, but it would fetch something in the region of 3 digits and I do not know how to justify spending this much…
The best place, by far, for used vinyl is discogs. Unfortunately, Blue Notes command ridiculous prices – forget about the original pressings, they have been mopped up by Japanese collectors. The various re-pressings have been reviewed by the London Jazz Collector: it makes grim reading. I have been burned a bit over the years with BN repressings (I remember one visit to the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago where I loaded up on records that were pressed in the 1990s – they did sound as good as CDs). There were a number of Blue Notes in the DeAgostini jazz at 33 series (still available online), that sold for £15 and sound great (I neither know nor care about the providence). I like the Heavenly Sweetness Blue Notes, although they are digitally sourced. To be honest, the best option – by far is music matters. Ignore the annoying 45rpm records that are ludicrously expensive and, well, just annoying. The 33rpms are truly great. They are big money now – they started out at <$40. The vinyl gourmet has a couple left – The Big Beat by Art Blakey is a steal at Euro 45).
On the other hand, if you just want great jazz – beautiful analogue pressings – the Original Jazz Classics records (OJC) from the 1980s are easily available on Discogs for reasonable sums in Europe – these are Fantasy, Contemporary, Riverside, Prestige etc (all as good as Blue Note in my opinion) – all analogue sourced. I have never never heard a bad one. Nevertheless, the Analogue Productions Prestige reissues are just fantastic.
Thanks for the in depth and informative post . All great suggestions. I have some OJC and I agree with you those are a bargain, though I have read somewhere that they should be AAA only up to a certain release (nr 250 or so If I recall). Reason for not wanting digital sourced records is that I think I would be better off with the cd and spend 5 than with a 15/20€ LP which I would want to upgrade anyway in the future. If I ever decided to go with the MM, I would certainly opt for the 33rpms not just for a matter of convenience but also cause apparently those where made when KG moved to his current studio delivering better final output. I have been spinning AP Soultrane this last weekend and definitely will pick up some more AP prestige at the right price. Currently awaiting for the delivery of Classic Records’ Kind of Blue (another upgrade from cd). I am an avid reader of the LJC website and the BN audio quality guide skyscraper is like printed in my head 😀 That is why I am thinking about a decent Japanese king or rvg liberty for Somethin’ Else. I have stopped looking on DIscogs after a few bad experiences. Once received a Pathè Marconi Sidewinder having originally ordered a Blue Note early liberty. Ok, was offered partial refund, but I do not like ending up spending less for a record I would not want in the first place. When I enquiry about confirmation, most of the times I receive no reply. I just check it for some details but I prefer ebay where 1 I can see what I am buying, 2 I can try to get a decent price.