Still a Jazz Newbie

October 11, 2007 in Music by Carsten Pötter | 6 comments

If you are not as absent-minded as I am sometimes you probably remember my blog post on purchasing some Jazz albums last Saturday. Well, although my Jazz collection spans more than 70 albums (yep, it’s small) by now I don’t know much about Jazz. I don’t know notes, don’t play any instrument, and don’t know much about styles like Hard Bop, Cool Jazz, Modal, Free Jazz,… It’s probably safe to say I haven’t got a clue about Jazz. Though considering that I still hated Jazz about five years ago I am surprised that I listen quite often to it by now. There is a lot of musicality and beauty in the music, even in the solos which I used to dismiss as self-absorbed show-offs back then.

While some people told me that it’s not important to know details about the music - hey, just listen to it and love it - I want to know more about Jazz now. I want to get a glimpse on the history and styles, on important recordings, and much more. I have discovered All About Jazz which seems to be a pretty good online resource, All Music Guide is a decent source of information as well.

Does anybody know other good sites on Jazz or some books (English or German) worth reading? Any recommendations on albums I should listen to? All info is much appreciated.

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  1. Matthias’s avatar

    Matthias on October 12, 2007 at 11:04

    There are a couple of blogs (*ahem*) covering Jazz and Jazz related topics (though many of them aren’t updated very frequently), and there is the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt (jazzinstitut.de) with news and links to all things jazz. If you want it on dead wood, check out the books of author and journalist Christian Bröcking who always receives favorable reviews. There are some print magazines, too, but I reckon you’re rather looking for some background knowledge. There might even be some good books at Zweitausendeins, by the way (Ekkehard Jost, maybe).

    As for album recommendations: There’s just too much good stuff out there, and there are too many varieties of what is generally called “Jazz”. Finding out what you like is a longish process. But, of course, there is nothing that compares to listening to Jazz played live ;-) So you might check your local event calendar for any Jazz gigs. Frankfurt is not a bad starting point for an exploration of Jazz!

  2. marcel weiss’s avatar

    marcel weiss on October 12, 2007 at 15:26

    this blogpost nicely reminded me to listen to coltrane again. haven’t done so in ages. very nice.

    oh, and I hope you own ‘a kind of blue’. As I made the decision years ago not to talk to people who don’t. ;D

    If you dig free jazz check ornette colemans “free jazz”-lp. pure madness. in a good way. :)

  3. marcel weiss’s avatar

    marcel weiss on October 12, 2007 at 15:44

    eh, cut that ‘a’ out..

  4. cygn’s avatar

    cygn on October 12, 2007 at 18:02

    I’m not a big jazz fan myself, but I really love the album “God Bless The Child” by Kenny Burrell. Burrell is supposed to be one of the best jazz guitarists.
    Also Ahmad Jamal - Jamalca is very good. I found out about this by looking for samples used in some of my favorite hip hop tracks. Actually most good jazz albums I know about I’ve found by tracing samples. For example David Axelrod - Innocence which is sampled heavily by DJ Shadow and got recommended by Kirk Degiorgio here. Axelrod is not strictly jazz though. More like a mixture of jazz, psychedelic rock and classic.
    Another example would be Bob James, who is sampled heavily in many DnB Records. For example in Adam F’s Circles or many High Contrast tracks. I have his “Essential Collection” which is very good. I’ve also got a lot of Jazz-Funk productions by the Mizell Brothers after hearing a special on them by Marc Mac from 4Hero.
    Another fantastic album is My Funny Valentine by Chet Baker. This was in Calibre’s top 10 favorite albums.

    btw, there’s a jazz festival in heidelberg at the moment:
    http://www.enjoyjazz.de/

  5. Carsten Pötter’s avatar

    Carsten Pötter on October 12, 2007 at 23:56

    Yes, I have a copy of “A Kind of Blue”. I like it a lot but it’s not my favourite Davis’ album. That’s probably “In a Silent Way” or “Filles de Kilimanjaro”.
    I don’t have “Free Jazz” but “The Shape of Jazz to Come”. :)
    @Matthias: Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll check Zweitausendeins and Amazon. Maybe we can talk more at pl0gbar next Thursday? Hopefully I can make it to Mainz.

  6. Carsten Pötter’s avatar

    Carsten Pötter on October 13, 2007 at 10:36

    Ah Cygn, just discovered your comment. It was marked as spam, don’t know why, though. Sorry.

    Well, it was D&B which sparked my interest in Jazz as well. Samples and all the talk by people like Macc on Subvert Central. :)