Essential Studio Albums

[VinylGuy]

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - B.A. Jazz

This is an interesting album from the Argentine jazz bassist. Much of this swings nicely, and the songs fly by, a departure from the norm in this era of longer tracks. The sax here really seems to be up front and getting the most play, but there’s no doubt Ruiz’s bass is acting as conductor. There’s no weak track here, all killer stuff that harkens back to an earlier time in this journey, likely prior to the jazz musicians having been so influenced by the LP and the creation of lengthier pieces, making this a refreshing listen.

The Essential Track: Village Blues

Up Next: Sonny Rollins - The Bridge

I love this one so much. Of course, its being listened among true classic so, its not going to do it any favors. But its just such a cool gem.

[liebzz]

Jorge Lopez Ruiz - B.A. Jazz

This is an interesting album from the Argentine jazz bassist. Much of this swings nicely, and the songs fly by, a departure from the norm in this era of longer tracks. The sax here really seems to be up front and getting the most play, but there’s no doubt Ruiz’s bass is acting as conductor. There’s no weak track here, all killer stuff that harkens back to an earlier time in this journey, likely prior to the jazz musicians having been so influenced by the LP and the creation of lengthier pieces, making this a refreshing listen.

The Essential Track: Village Blues

Up Next: Sonny Rollins - The Bridge

I love this one so much. Of course, its being listened among true classic so, its not going to do it any favors. But its just such a cool gem.

One of the trickiest parts of these efforts is to just appreciate a great album for what it is rather than try to find a narrative of what it brings to the overall arc of the discussion. Sometimes a great album is just a great album, as this one is. It is actually an interesting marker in that it has more in common with early recorded jazz in a lot of ways.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, totally. And that album was really ahead of lots of stuff that was happening here, in 1961. So impressive really.

[liebzz]

Bob Dylan

Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is surely quite a bit of a stretch on the whole essential thing, but I thought he would be one of the few artists where starting at the beginning would advance whatever disjointed arc we’re chasing here. The album isn’t bad by any means, the guitar work and harmonica is pretty damn good in spots, Baby Let Me Follow You Down is a real hint at the greatness shortly to follow. So there’s stuff here, though essential it’s probably not.

The Essential Performance: Baby Let Me Follow You Down

Up Next: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane

[liebzz]

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane

These guys approach jazz from very different angles. Ellington is a composer and conductor, in complete control of the proceedings, while Coltrane hews at least a bit more toward improvisation, and can really play off any style. That’s put to the test here, where Ellington and Coltrane’s influence mesh together nicely through both ballads and uptempo romps. Take the Coltrane and Stevie were predictably my favorites here, but In a Sentimental Mood also went down nicely.

The Essential Track: Take the Coltrane

Up Next: John Coltrane - Impressions

[VinylGuy]

Ohh impressions is next oh fuck get ready

[liebzz]

Well that’s got me excited.

[Happy Trees]

Bob Dylan

Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is surely quite a bit of a stretch on the whole essential thing, but I thought he would be one of the few artists where starting at the beginning would advance whatever disjointed arc we’re chasing here. The album isn’t bad by any means, the guitar work and harmonica is pretty damn good in spots, Baby Let Me Follow You Down is a real hint at the greatness shortly to follow. So there’s stuff here, though essential it’s probably not.

It's not really an indicator of a lack of greatness. It's safe and vanilla like a lot of debut albums, especially around that time. The demo tape that he recorded in Minnesota is far more accurate.

Consider the The Beatles early albums - the controlled sound and the covers chosen compared to their playing and repertoire in Hamburg and at The Cavern.

Or even Aerosmith's debut album, where Steven Tyler sings like he had constipation because he was uncomfortable and the band sounds like they're playing in a closet scared shitless. An earlier demo tape was recently released that surprised a lot of people because it actually sounds like typical Aerosmith on a good night.

[liebzz]

Bob Dylan

Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is surely quite a bit of a stretch on the whole essential thing, but I thought he would be one of the few artists where starting at the beginning would advance whatever disjointed arc we’re chasing here. The album isn’t bad by any means, the guitar work and harmonica is pretty damn good in spots, Baby Let Me Follow You Down is a real hint at the greatness shortly to follow. So there’s stuff here, though essential it’s probably not.

It's not really an indicator of a lack of greatness. It's safe and vanilla like a lot of debut albums, especially around that time. The demo tape that he recorded in Minnesota is far more accurate.

Consider the The Beatles early albums - the controlled sound and the covers chosen compared to their playing and repertoire in Hamburg and at The Cavern.

Or even Aerosmith's debut album, where Steven Tyler sings like he had constipation because he was uncomfortable and the band sounds like they're playing in a closet scared shitless. An earlier demo tape was recently released that surprised a lot of people because it actually sounds like typical Aerosmith on a good night.

I agree with that take. I don’t think the early Beatles albums are as controlled as they are a singles band putting a lot of them in one place, and at that point even, an easy way for retailers to double down on kids that would buy anything associated with the Beatles. That said, we will get to the Beatles shortly, many of those same albums are essential because they almost unintentionally drive a narrative of the Beatles of that moment in time - and there’s a lot of great songs sitting in there.

Dylan’s first album in a lot of ways seems safe, but it’s not totally. He’s not totally out of the lane of say Joan Baez, except her voice is pretty spectacular and he’s selling a nasal voice that’s captivating for totally different reasons that I think are most evident on his second album.

[liebzz]

John Coltrane - Impressions

This is a bit of a disjointed wild ride. India and Impressions are live versions that serve as the heart of this, the former with extended focus on the clarinet, and the latter a very chaotic performance that really features Coltrane going bonkers on sax for quite a while. It’s fascinating to wonder whether Coltrane wondered in reaction to other projects, choosing to showcase his playing in various contexts as a reaction to what he had just been working on, or whether he held these multitudes all at once. Impressions is a short form version of putting much of it in one place, since the live songs are buttressed with two studio tracks, with After the Rain a ballad. There’s a sense with Coltrane that there’s nothing he can’t do, leading to a fascination on what he then chooses to do without the limitations of form or signature holding him down.

The Essential Track: Impressions

Up Next: John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent

[liebzz]

John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent

If Impressions has a disjointed and manic feel to it, especially the title track, Crescent is once again a reaction to that. Much more measured and composed, Coltrane spends the first half of the album beautifully playing, and in turn providing lead direction for the band to play in a more controlled environment that doesn’t resemble a ballad so much as a middle ground. There’s fluidity of the band takes a step up in the first half, while Coltrane takes a step back in the second half, letting the band flex its muscles a bit, particularly with a wonderful bass solo on Lonnie’s Lament, and the mind blowing drumming on The Drum Thing. All of this will stick with me, but the trip to start of Crescent, the beautiful Wise One, and the uptempo Bessie’s Blues are all keepers. This is a real good one.

The Essential Track: Crescent

Up Next: Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder

[liebzz]

We have a couple more jazz albums before we stroll right into Beatlemania, so I was going to take this moment to see if folks wanted to make a few suggestions on classics I might have missed. There’s still plenty of jazz to go of course since the format didn’t stop with the Beatles arrival, and I got those recs in that thread, so we’re looking at early age of classic rock, and for that I will focus us on ‘63-‘66, where there’ll be focus on early Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc. - here’s what I got so far, and let me know if I am missing anything in this era:

The Beatles - Please Please Me
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA
The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe
The Beatles - With the Beatles
The Rolling Stones - England’s Newest Hitmakers
The Animals
The Beach Boys - Shut Down, Vol. 2
The Beach Boys - All Summer Long
The Rolling Stones - 12x5
The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You
The Rolling Stones - No. 2
The Rolling Stones - Now
The Beatles - Help!
The Who - My Generation
The Rolling Stones - Out of Our Heads
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Who - A Quick One
Grateful Dead
Buffalo Springfield
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - The Bluesbreakers
Cream - Fresh Cream
Otis Redding - The Dictionary of Soul
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
The Beatles - Revolver
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

(Note that there’s the next progression in albums and sound after Revolver and Pet Sounds I will account for, but this period from the arrival of the Beatles to likely the proper beginning of the prime of the album era is the first focus - I did not include in this list a bunch of jazz and blues albums that will be included but they will be there).

[VinylGuy]

John Coltrane - Impressions

This is a bit of a disjointed wild ride. India and Impressions are live versions that serve as the heart of this, the former with extended focus on the clarinet, and the latter a very chaotic performance that really features Coltrane going bonkers on sax for quite a while. It’s fascinating to wonder whether Coltrane wondered in reaction to other projects, choosing to showcase his playing in various contexts as a reaction to what he had just been working on, or whether he held these multitudes all at once. Impressions is a short form version of putting much of it in one place, since the live songs are buttressed with two studio tracks, with After the Rain a ballad. There’s a sense with Coltrane that there’s nothing he can’t do, leading to a fascination on what he then chooses to do without the limitations of form or signature holding him down.

The Essential Track: Impressions

Up Next: John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent

What a fucking crazy album right? Its the definition of loose sometimes


Dude was brilliant

[liebzz]

“Impressions” the song left a mark (pun intended). Yeah, that is a wild album in part because it pulls from disparate places. The idea that half of it is live and half isn’t kind of underscores the no rules aspect of this.

[liebzz]

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder

Okay, this one is REALLY good. I expected to freshen up a little on this based on there not being the usual players so a little less familiarity. But this thing is unconscionably catchy, and the playing on this is outstanding. Granted this at least feels like the first trumpet/piano based jazz in a little while with all the Coltrane, but it’s more than that: this thing has a snap and a groove to it that’s undeniable. One of the more engaging listens, even among all these legendary jazz albums.

The Essential Track: The Sidewinder

Up Next: Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

[liebzz]

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

From a purely creative standpoint, this is the most mind blowing album I have ever heard. It is intense, jarring, stunning, maybe even playful in parts despite a tortured mind clearly directing this effort. The performances fit the mood perfectly. This is Mingus’s creativity with the dial turned all the way the hell up. If we’re gonna shift from here to greater emphasis on rock music, what a way to cap things off at the present moment. Granted, there are more jazz records to come, but this one captured every bit of my imagination and then exceeded anything I could have conjured for expectations. This was, in a word, insane.

The Essential Track: every goddamn second of this

Up Next: The Beatles - Please Please Me

[VinylGuy]

damn, thats a great choice.

Ill download it now.

[liebzz]

Alright. My pre-Beatles top 25 so far (favorites, I am not smart enough to claim an album is greater per se than another) - in countdown order:

25. Robert Johnson - The Complete Robert Johnson Recordings
24. Duke Ellington - Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band 1940-42
23. Chuck Berry - One Dozen Berrys
22. Louis Armstrong - Plays W.C. Handy
21. Muddy Waters - Sings Big Bill Bronzy
20. Bo Diddley
19. Buddy Holly
18. Miles Davis - Milestones
17. Chuck Berry - Berry is On Top
16. Howlin’ Wolf - Moanin’ in the Moonlight
15. John Coltrane - Giant Steps
14. John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent
13. Miles Davis - The Birth of the Cool
12. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
11. Cannonball Adderley - Somethin’ Else
10. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
9. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
8. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
7. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
6. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
5. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1
4. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2
3. Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
2. John Coltrane - Blue Train
1. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

[Kevin Davis]

It’s fascinating to wonder whether Coltrane wondered in reaction to other projects, choosing to showcase his playing in various contexts as a reaction to what he had just been working on, or whether he held these multitudes all at once.

If you've never read it, I highly recommend reading the Coltrane biography The Story of a Sound by Ben Ratliff, who was the NYT's jazz critic at the time. It's a really accessible, conversational look at Coltrane's work, and does a really nice job talking about how the different albums released during Coltrane's lifetime play off each other, with the early '60's period in particular being a somewhat unique mixture of more abrasive, harder-to-swallow releases (specifically Live at the Village Vanguard from 1961) and more deliberately accessible records (the Ballads album, the Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman collaborations) conceived at least in part to placate those who were put off by the freer stuff.

Really enjoying your trek through these various jazz records, by the way.

[liebzz]

Thanks. I don’t know if it’s less jazz, but obviously more rock records for sure. Not sure if and how anything is gonna top that last Mingus album. I mean, it was probably my 10th+ f—- yeah! moment this far, but I really loved that.