7 Greatest Jazz CDs

[Fer Urbina]

Arent some of these items in the list compilations from the Definitive label in Spain?

Not at all. Regardless of whatever other labels have done, all these sets have been reissued by the current owners of the original masters (Never No Lament is the actual title of the RCAVictor/Bluebird/whatever 3-CD set).

F

[andybleaden]

Well I only have got A Love Supreme.....had some of the others and let em go -_-

[GregK]

why 7?

[Neal Pomea]

Space considerations in the magazine?

Anyway, when counted up it's more like 16 cds. Never mind. Those are some great artists to recommend to the general public. Not to be taken too too seriously. Maybe in the future they'll have more space for more comprehensive coverage.

[Johnny E]

Only the Jefferson Airplane could get away with a "Worst of..." album.

Not so fast Mr. K!

[Jazz Kat]

I think it's probaly better to make this list jazz musicians, not albums. Either way, taking a century of music, and picking out the best recordings is almost an impossible task.

[RDK]

Only the Jefferson Airplane could get away with a "Worst of..." album.

Not so fast Mr. K!

Yeah, but "Basher" is the better comp!

[Brownian Motion]

Why prune the beautiful tree of jazz down to a nub? To do so may make sense for readers of TIME, but not for us.

[BruceH]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

[RDK]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

Well, anything prior to 1950 or so would almost have to be comps. They didn't have "albums" back then (at least not in the way you're apparently suggesting). Unless you'd have them replace Pops' "Hot Fives" with "Hello Dolly."

[B. Clugston]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

Well, anything prior to 1950 or so would almost have to be comps. They didn't have "albums" back then (at least not in the way you're apparently suggesting). Unless you'd have them replace Pops' "Hot Fives" with "Hello Dolly."

And if you watched Ken Burns' Jazz, you might get the impression "Hello Dolly" was one of the greatest jazz albums ever.

[BruceH]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

Well, anything prior to 1950 or so would almost have to be comps. They didn't have "albums" back then (at least not in the way you're apparently suggesting). Unless you'd have them replace Pops' "Hot Fives" with "Hello Dolly."

True enough. But why only seven? Do they assume the readers of Time are so ADD-ridden that they can't deal with a list of 10 or 20?

[RDK]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

Well, anything prior to 1950 or so would almost have to be comps. They didn't have "albums" back then (at least not in the way you're apparently suggesting). Unless you'd have them replace Pops' "Hot Fives" with "Hello Dolly."

True enough. But why only seven? Do they assume the readers of Time are so ADD-ridden that they can't deal with a list of 10 or 20?

I think 7 is just an arbitrary number. The editor called the writer or the writer pitched the editor with the piece, and there was only one page available and the writer had to do his thing in 600 words (or whatever it was), and 5 was too few and 10 was too many given the space he had. I think it's as simple (or as foolish) as that. Also, Time isn't an Arts/music/jazz mag, so they ain't gonna devote a lot of space to it and their readers most likely want something concise.

[BruceH]

So five of the seven best jazz CD's are actually compilations (six if you count The Complete Birth of the Cool)...is that kosher? What about albums? Well, lists like this are always unintentionally hilarious.

Well, anything prior to 1950 or so would almost have to be comps. They didn't have "albums" back then (at least not in the way you're apparently suggesting). Unless you'd have them replace Pops' "Hot Fives" with "Hello Dolly."

True enough. But why only seven? Do they assume the readers of Time are so ADD-ridden that they can't deal with a list of 10 or 20?

I think 7 is just an arbitrary number. The editor called the writer or the writer pitched the editor with the piece, and there was only one page available and the writer had to do his thing in 600 words (or whatever it was), and 5 was too few and 10 was too many given the space he had. I think it's as simple (or as foolish) as that. Also, Time isn't an Arts/music/jazz mag, so they ain't gonna devote a lot of space to it and their readers most likely want something concise.

All the more reason to not take it seriously at all.

[RDK]

Agreed. And yet, if only as an intellectual exercise, if one had to come up with a list of the "Seven Greatest" jazz CDs, those aren't bad choices. It's one thing to argue that a list of only 7 is silly, but given that "7 CD" restriction how can one not include discs by Armstrong, Ellington, Holiday, Davs, Parker, Coltrane, etc.?