Three or four favorite jazz albums of the 60's?

[Chuck Nessa]

Thinking back to my school days, these were most often on the turntable.

Mal Waldron "The Quest"

Steve Lacy "Evidence"

John Coltrane "Africa Brass"

Ornette Coleman "Town Hall 1962"

Duke Ellington "Afro-Bossa"

Are they STILL your favourites, Chuck?

I never got 'Star bag' until 1996, but I'd still put that in with other stuff I bought at the time.

MG

I still think they are wonderful recordings and listen to them. Nice to see my favorites from back then still hold up for me. I could have added Blakey's BN record of "A Night In Tunisia" and "Jazz Samba".

[xybert]

Mingus presents Mingus

Oh, hell yes, forgot about this some how, definitely a favourite.

[Chuck Nessa]

Mingus presents Mingus

Oh, hell yes, forgot about this some how, definitely a favourite.

I will never forget - I was at a drunken campus party circa 1962 and spotted the lp on the floor, out of the jacket and the crowd was dancing on it. In my stupor, I rescued the badly scuffed record and went on a search for the jacket. After about 15 minutes I found it and ran home with my treasure. Never felt good or bad about my actions, but loved having some version of the music no matter how battered.

[paul secor]

Five records I listened to in the 1960s and still do:

Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity

Ornette Coleman Trio: Golden Circle Vol. 1

Thelonious Monk: Criss Cross

Cecil Taylor: Into the Hot

Sonny Rollins: Our Man in Jazz

I have to list a few more:

Mingus X 5

Eric Dolphy: Far Cry

Coltrane

Ellington: "... and his mother called him Bill"

[Steve Reynolds]

I forgot Mingus at Antibes, Monk Big Band & Quartet and Ayler's Vibrations

Let alone Far East Suite and another batch of Coltrane albums - Plays...., Transition, A Love Supreme, Crescent and maybe Interstellar Space

[Guy Berger]

Filles de Kilimanjaro, A Love Supreme, Out to Lunch

[MartyJazz]

Andrew Hill - Point of Departure

Chick Corea - Tones for Joan's Bones

Art Blakey - Mosaic

Charles Mingus - Live at Antibes

John Coltrane - Live at Birdland

Sonny Rollins - Alfie soundtrack

Bobby Hutcherson - Spiral/Medina

McCoy Tyner - Today and Tomorrow

Horace Silver - Cape Verdean Blues

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

[jlhoots]

I saw Proof Positive (J.J. Johnson) on a couple of the lists.

I've never had that one, so I ordered it.

Everything else (that I want) I'm happy to have.

[colinmce]

Tough! Without thinking too too much:

Out to Lunch!

The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady

Complete Communion

Spirits Rejoice

Black Fire

Nefertiti

Can't do any less than that.

Geez, though, this is almost dumb it's so hard.

Glad to see Iyer give some love to Smokestack. And interesting to see Dan Morgenstern mention The Space Book (though I like Freedom Book much more).

[Head Man]

Ornette Coleman - Golden Circle Vol. 1

Oliver Nelson - Blues and the Abstract Truth

Sonny Rollins - Alfie

Miles Davis E.S.P.

...played all of those to death at the time!

[sidewinder]

A wee bit single-minded but:

The Max Roach Trio featuring the Legendary Hasaan

Wow - I've seen so many negative reviews of this but when I see this appear in Larry's list my curiosity to hear it increases enormously. If ever a session attracted diverse opinions it is this one !

It's an AWESOME record...can't imagine anyone being equivocal about it!

Thanks for that ! Had my eyes on the 1000 Yen version in the racks and will pick up a copy forthwith !

[BillF]

Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band, Live at the Village Vanguard

Dizzy Gillespie, Have Trumpet Will Excite

Miles Davis, In Person at the Blackhawk

John Coltrane, Crescent

Ornette Coleman, This Is Our Music

Presenting Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra

[David Ayers]

I also like that Iyer singled out Live in Seattle.

Also find it sort of sweet that some of the contributors in the article have such belief in the meaning and purpose of the history of their own taste.

I guess the idea of the 'album' is itself dating. In fact, choosing an 'album' can be hard as one great track does not an album make.

Some people struggle to count to four. Those people must never be the banker in a game of Monopoly.

[sidewinder]

Presenting Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra

Good choice. Certainly up there with my 60s favourites as well.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Strange no one put down...

I'd lose too much sleep to play this game I think...but strangely, the first which came to mind was Hampton Hawes' 'The Green Leaves of Summer'!

On the JJM site, one of the comments began with: "I find it strange that no one else included “Rah,” the first album by Mark Murphy". WTF?

Anyway, I don't get all the "strange" references. There's nothing strange going on here. As Clunky said above, "Just like the polls here, ask 100 people get a hundred answers....."

It's bizarre that someone would find it "strange" that one of their personal favorites wasn't mentioned, unless it was some universally-recognized classic (and even then, it might be too subjective to voice an objection). What was more surprising to me was that two of the participants in the linked story selected JJ's "Proof Positive". That's not to say I don't think it's worthy, but what were the odds? Even in one decade, the number of choices is immense.

I might have chosen a Hawes Contemporary title too, btw, but probably "I'm All Smiles" or "Here And Now" over "Green Leaves", particularly because the material was generally more "contemporary" to the 60's.

Completely agree in the sense you mean it - I think what I meant was just that I found it curious that the first one which came into my mind was the Hawes...forced to bet on it, I'd have had to put the money on the first thing popping into my mind being some Ellington, probably

p.s. Love those two Hawes too! Just something about the title track which gets to me about Green Leaves...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Strange no one put down...

I'd lose too much sleep to play this game I think...but strangely, the first which came to mind was Hampton Hawes' 'The Green Leaves of Summer'!

On the JJM site, one of the comments began with: "I find it strange that no one else included “Rah,” the first album by Mark Murphy". WTF?

Anyway, I don't get all the "strange" references. There's nothing strange going on here. As Clunky said above, "Just like the polls here, ask 100 people get a hundred answers....."

It's bizarre that someone would find it "strange" that one of their personal favorites wasn't mentioned, unless it was some universally-recognized classic (and even then, it might be too subjective to voice an objection). What was more surprising to me was that two of the participants in the linked story selected JJ's "Proof Positive". That's not to say I don't think it's worthy, but what were the odds? Even in one decade, the number of choices is immense.

I might have chosen a Hawes Contemporary title too, btw, but probably "I'm All Smiles" or "Here And Now" over "Green Leaves", particularly because the material was generally more "contemporary" to the 60's.

Sorry Jim, you missed the joke. I don't think it's strange at all.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Been thinking about LOTS of others. That was a good decade for music.

I agree. But it was the first full decade for 12" LPs. And some jazz labels weren't issuing much until latish in the fifties. SOme time in the late fifties, jazz labels found that jazz 12" LPs SOLD and the floodgates opened. And when floodgates open, there are usually floods. By the seventies, rock was ruling the LP market so, while many many great jazz albums were made then, they weren't such a prevalent item in shops' racks.

MG

[Milestones]

It's a pretty wild idea, since the 1960s is either the second-best decade for jazz or the best (1950s). Of course, that's my opinion, but I think a lot of people would agree with me.

My list would certainly contain Miles, Coltrane, and Mingus.

If you are a fan of mainstream guitar (I am), then how can you leave off Wes, Grant Green, and Kenny Burrell?

If you are a fan of free jazz, then you will include Ornette, Cecil, etc.

Of course, it does say "favorite."

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Blue Note records from the era. There is so much great stuff from Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Horace Silver, et al. How much would go into top 5 or top 10, maybe not much; but in terms of current listening favorites, they are well up there.

[Larry Kart]

Like the idea of also mentioning ones that I played the crap out of at the time:

Bill Evans -- Live at the Village Vanguard

Gil Evans -- Out of the Cool (the title track, over and over)

Coltrane -- Live at the Village Vanguard ("Chasin' the Trane,” over and over)

Tina Brooks — True Blue

Steve Lacy — Evidence

Ornette — The Shape of Jazz To Come

Freddie Redd — Music from ‘The Connection'

[John Tapscott]

Duke Ellington - The Great Paris Concert (rec. '63, not released until '73)

(if that doesn't count I would choose between The Far East Suite and His Mother Called Him Bill)

Mingus - Black Saint and Sinner Lady

Miles Davis in Europe

Coltrane Live at Birdland

Edited April 15, 2014 by John Tapscott

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Like the idea of also mentioning ones that I played the crap out of at the time:

Bill Evans -- Live at the Village Vanguard

Gil Evans -- Out of the Cool (the title track, over and over)

Coltrane -- Live at the Village Vanguard ("Chasin' the Trane,” over and over)

Tina Brooks — True Blue

Steve Lacy — Evidence

Ornette — The Shape of Jazz To Come

Freddie Redd — Music from ‘The Connection'

Yes - that's a good 'un.

In addition to the James Brown and 'Go power' I'd have to mention

Ray Charles at Newport

The great Ray Charles

David Newman - Fathead

Nat Adderley - Work song

Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack and

A love supreme (oops, should I have said that? )

MG

[Larry Kart]

Like the idea of also mentioning ones that I played the crap out of at the time:

Bill Evans -- Live at the Village Vanguard

Gil Evans -- Out of the Cool (the title track, over and over)

Coltrane -- Live at the Village Vanguard ("Chasin' the Trane,” over and over)

Tina Brooks — True Blue

Steve Lacy — Evidence

Ornette — The Shape of Jazz To Come

Freddie Redd — Music from ‘The Connection'

Sorry -- the track from "Out of the Cool" I kept playing is "La Nevada" of course. BTW, contrary to what many might think, I believe that I read somewhere that the drummer on that track is Charli Persip, not Elvin Jones, who is instead on miscellaneous percussion.

[John Tapscott]

Presenting Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra

Good choice. Certainly up there with my 60s favourites as well.

Agreed. Great album.

[johnblitweiler]

Ornette Ornette, Ornette on Tenor, the two Golden Circle albums, Crisis

The Nessa-produced Roscoe Mitchell-Lester Bowie-Art Ensemble-Joseph Jarman releases

Ayler: Spirits Rejoice, Bells

The first Magic Sam Delmark and the Percy Mayfield Tangerines also became favorites. A bunch of Blue Notes and Prestiges also - what a decade it was for great music.

In the 1960s, among '60s recordings, I may have most often played Spirits Rejoice, Coltrane's Transition, G. Evans' 2nd La Nevada, several Howling Wolf 45s; also, reissues and the older records from my college years when I was discovering jazz.

[Clunky]

mine could be....

John McLaughlin------ Extrapolation-----(Polydor)

Coltrane-----Plays Chim Chim....------ (Impulse)

Miles----------Bitches Brew------(CBS)

Lucky Thompson------Lucky Strikes----(Prestige)

Being a child of the 60s I've approached the music of the decade in hindsight. I've known the above LPs the longest and they all had a big impact on my listening in the late 80s. Had I heard Sound then rather than last year then I've little doubt it would have wormed its way into my affections.

The point being that what we list here probably has as much to do when we heard it in our development of jazz appreciation as it does it's absolute value.