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Posted

MUSIC - HEADLINES

GOLD STANDARDS

LARRY BLUMENFELD

PRINT

135 words

7 July 2007

Billboard

English

Copyright 2007, VNU eMedia Inc. All rights reserved.

When it comes to iconic jazz studio recordings with broad and enduring sales appeal, nothing touches Miles Davis' 1959 gem, "Kind of Blue" (Columbia). In the Nielsen SoundScan era alone (since 1991), the album has tallied 2.9 million units—currently, well more than 1,000 per week.

Buoyed by the No. 25 pop hit "Take Five," Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" (Columbia), also from 1959, has topped 1 million sold in the SoundScan era, and averages at least 500 per week. John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" (1964, Impulse), which has moved more than 500,000 units since 1991, also consistently tallies several hundred copies per week.

Charles Mingus' best seller in the SoundScan era is 1959's "Mingus Ah Um" (Columbia), with 166,000 sold.

Posted

Now that's peanuts compared to the sales of rock icons, isn't it?

Any other jazz record selling more than 250.000 copies? George Benson's Breezin'? Some Hancock?

Posted

I would be curious to see the full data, not such a terse article.

Pay for a subscription to SoundScan and you will know everything.

It's strictly an idle and miserly curiosity.

Posted

KH,

Thanks for posting that.

I am guessing that amazon.com's sales rankings are probably not a bad indicator of non-smooth jazz sales these days.

Guy

Here are the top 10 sellers in the "modern Post Bop' category at Amazon today. Typical mix of new releases from the major labels combined with Miles, Coltrane, Getz.... I have no idea who Taylor Swift is, btw. The selling power that comes from being released by a major label is evident.

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1. Kind of Blue

~ Miles Davis

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2. Taylor Swift

~ Taylor Swift (Artist)

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3. A Love Supreme

~ John Coltrane

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4. Metheny Mehldau Quartet

~ Pat Metheny (Artist), Brad Mehldau (Artist)

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5. Getz/Gilberto

~ Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim

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6. John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman

~ Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman, McCoy Tyner

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7. Back East

~ Joshua Redman Trio (Artist)

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8. Live at the Village Vanguard

~ The Bill Charlap Trio (Artist), Bill Charlap (Performer), Peter Washington (Performer), Kenny Washington (Performer)

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9. Nightmoves

~ Kurt Elling (Artist)

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10. 75th Birthday Bash Live!

~ Kenny Burrell (Artist)

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