anybody know of any good jazz music/muscicians out there? thing is, i love jazz, but i can never find just one band/musician to listen to and it makes discovering good songs very difficult

Well, you've got your classics:
- Miles Davis (esp. the album "Kind of Blue"... it's the best-selling jazz album ever...the classic song is "So What" but try also "All Blues")
- Charlie Parker ("Autumn Leaves")
- Louis Armstrong ("What a Wonderful World", "Mack the Knife"... classics)
- Ella Fitzgerald ("Mack the Knife", "Summertime")
- Billie Holiday ("Strange Fruit", "God Bless the Child")

My personal favorites also include:
- Herbie Hancock ("Watermelon Man")
- Nina Simone ("Feeling Good", "Sinnerman", "My Baby Just Cares For Me")
- John Coltrane ("My Favorite Things", "Giant Steps")
- Thelonious Monk ("Misterioso")
- Dizzy Gillespie ("Salt Peanuts")

Also, there are more modern jazz artists that incorporate more electronic elements like:
- Koop ("Summer Sun", "Waltz for Koop")
- Saint Germain ("Deep in it", "So Flute", "Rose Rouge")

Essentially, it all comes down to what [i:796bd75026]kind[/i:796bd75026] of jazz you're looking for. Hot jazz? Cool jazz? Bebop? Hard bop? Swing? I've included one or two good suggestions to look at for each artist. This is based pretty much on my tastes...

Enjoy!

I love people like Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr. I don't listen to a lot of jazz at all (sadly my classical collection is boxed away for now). I personally love listening to piano jazz ...

-K

Harry Connick Jr. is a great musician, a true jazz musician schooled by great musicians in New Orleans. Sorry, but I can't really abide the Michael Bubles and Matt Dusks of the world. They just seem like wannabe crooners who try to imitate Bennett and Sinatra and come up [i:ba5685c73f]really [/i:ba5685c73f]short.

I agree that you should listen to some Ella and Billie Holiday. Then try some Sarah Vaughan & Shirley Bassey. If you're used to listening to music with vocals, it's probably easier to start with vocal jazz and then proceed to instrumental jazz. There are some great indie jazz musicians if you want to try some newer stuff too. Check out Jordan O'Connor, Melissa Stylianou, Leah State... there's a lot of great independent jazz talent that, sadly, hardly anyone's even heard of yet.

wow, thanks for the replies!
personally, i dont like vocal jazz..i just like really laid back and instrumental stuf

[quote:17d513d43f="Vito"]wow, thanks for the replies!
personally, i dont like vocal jazz..i just like really laid back and instrumental stuf[/quote:17d513d43f]

Then [i:17d513d43f]definitely[/i:17d513d43f] pick up Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

EDIT: of my list, you may also want to check out John Coltrane.

[quote:0deda9093c="siren72"]Harry Connick Jr. is a great musician, a true jazz musician schooled by great musicians in New Orleans. Sorry, but I can't really abide the Michael Bubles and Matt Dusks of the world. They just seem like wannabe crooners who try to imitate Bennett and Sinatra and come up [i:0deda9093c]really [/i:0deda9093c]short.[/quote:0deda9093c]

100% agreed!! I might have to check out some of your selections, too...

Man. I love jazz.

Jazz has an extremely wide range of styles and variations.

Some of my faves include;

Dave Brubeck
Pat Metheny
Al Di Meola
Pink Martini
Ronley Tepler (not truly jazz, but jazz influenced
Chick Corea

And for a terrific overview and introduction to jazz, check out Ken Burns' film "JAZZ"

enjoy,
...jim

[quote:ac08d20fe7="joleary"]Pink Martini
[/quote:ac08d20fe7]

Thanks for that link - I've been meaning to look into Pink Martini for some time now!

I like The Polyjesters and Madeleine Peyroux a lot. I haven't found websites for either. ops:

[quote:20df5fa034="rollingoveryou"]I like The Polyjesters and Madeleine Peyroux a lot. I haven't found websites for either. ops:[/quote:20df5fa034]


Polyjesters
Madeleine Peyroux

google is your friend
:wink:

...jim

wow, thanks a bunch, ya'll!
i'l definately check all of them out

ps sourburger, i love the new christmas hat thing on ure avatar

[quote:628e96f4ce="Vito"]ps sourburger, i love the new christmas hat thing on ure avatar[/quote:628e96f4ce]

Thanks!!

[i:aafbf50ad1]Ronley Tepler (not truly jazz, but jazz influenced [/i:aafbf50ad1]

ooh ronley is a sweetheart. incredibly talented but definitely an acquired taste. i did a show with her last year and she [i:aafbf50ad1]killed[/i:aafbf50ad1]!

Hey Vito,

A great place in Vancouver to check out jazz is Cellar Jazz on Broadway.
(http://cellarjazz.com/)
One of the coolest jazz shows I've seen is Crash with Dr. Lonnie Smith. Lucky for us they're playing the Cellar on December 28 and 29. Crash is a local band and Dr. Lonnie Smith is an old Organ player who totally rocks! They sound terrific together. The sound is really funky and laid back. I highly recommend this show!!

Also Vancouver has an exceptional jazz festival every June so you should be sure to check out some shows there this year. The best way is to volunteer at the festival because then you can get into some shows for free.

Enjoy!

Megan =)