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Article: Building a Jazz Library

The Best of Basie

by Bob Bernotas
August 21, 2023

In 1935, pianist William “Count" Basie (born August 21, 1904), a fixture on the Kansas City jazz scene since the late 1920s, organized his own rocking, riffing, blues-based big band. The following year this freewheeling unit came east and took New York by storm. For the next decade and a half, Basie's stellar cast--which included such ...

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Article: Building a Jazz Library

The Best of Tony Bennett

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 23, 2023

"Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song," Frank Sinatra once said. “He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more. There's a feeling in back of it." Tony Bennett began his career as a singing waiter in his ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Celebrating Don Sebesky, Part 1

by Dan McClenaghan
May 17, 2023

The passing of composer/arranger Don Sebesky in April 2023, invites a revisitation of his artistry. A Manhattan School of Music-trained trombonist, Sebesky played in the big bands of Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey and Maynard Ferguson. But by 1960, he found that his true passion was arranging and conducting. For this, he was nominated for ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Ron Miles: The Best Of The Denver Jazz Doyen

by Ian Patterson
March 8, 2023

Ron Miles left the planet all too soon, but the Denver cornetist and trumpeter has left a lasting mark, both in terms of the music he made and in the people whose lives he touched. This list, a guide to ten of Miles' most significant recordings as both leader and as a sideman, reflects his playing ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Influential John Zorn

by AAJ Staff
March 2, 2023

John Zorn is a highly influential American composer and musician who has released over 200 recordings spanning a wide range of genres, including jazz, rock, classical, and experimental music. His work is highly regarded for its innovation, eclecticism, and improvisation. It's difficult to pinpoint a single “most important" album by John Zorn, as his ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Michel Legrand: Hollywood Hitmaker And Jazz Genius

by Chris May
February 13, 2023

For many jazz fans, Michel Legrand is celebrated, if he is celebrated at all, for one album only: the masterpiece Legrand Jazz (Columbia, 1958). But Legrand's jazz legacy is more extensive than that, including other historic recordings, with large and small ensembles, under his own name and by Stan Getz and Phil Woods, whose Images (RCA, ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

ECM Records Touchstones: Part 3

by Dan McClenaghan
February 8, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 This third edition of “ECM Touchstones" explores more of the label's early recordings, repackaged and offered up as a way to present music that had perhaps slipped through time's cracks, into the hard-to-find category. Of these, four were re-released in 2019, one in 2008--24 to 47 ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

ECM Records Touchstones: Part 2

by Dan McClenaghan
February 1, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 This second edition of “ECM Touchstones" explores more of the label's early recordings, repackaged and offered up as a way to present music that had perhaps slipped through time's cracks, into the hard-to-find category. Of these, four were re-released in 2019, one in 2008--32 to 43 ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

ECM Records Touchstones: Part 1

by Dan McClenaghan
January 25, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Every album ever released by ECM Records would be readily available in a better world. But that, understandably, is not the case. The German label, founded by Manfred Eicher—who still holds the helm—debuted in 1969 with pianist Mal Waldron's Free At Last. In the ensuing five-plus ...

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Ten Essential Keith Jarrett Solo Recordings

by Karl Ackermann
January 10, 2023

Keith Jarrett is a perfectionist. Perfection and innovation are, more often than not, mutually exclusive qualities and that is where Jarrett reveals his unique strain of genius. He remains the most respected and influential figure in the world of jazz, improvisation, and beyond. Despite two strokes that have permanently left him unable to play piano, his ...