Friday, January 08, 2021

A Jazz Drummer's Listening List

Happy New Year, everyone.

A current student of mine is preparing to head of to a music conservatory next year and asked for a list of important jazz records to listen to over Christmas break.  So, I put this list together.  Given the extra time we all have on our hands at the moment, I think some deep, active listening could do us all some good.

I've broken it down into two sections, roughly by style and time period.  The first list covers mostly bebop and hard bop of the late 40's and 1950's.  The second is the more modern sound that developed the 1960s, covering mostly the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  Both lists are organized by band leader to make them easier to find.  But be aware that different albums by the same band leader may have different drummers, so whatever you listen to be sure to look up who the drummer is.

Obviously, there is a ton of great music that is not on this list, including material from before and after these periods, as nothing on here is from the 20's and 30's, or 90's and 2000's.  Also, there's no mention here of "Latin" styles, etc.  But the albums on this list cover the styles that have been canonized as "jazz drumming", and have had some of the biggest impact on the way we play now.  Also, the music on this list probably best represents that which one would most likely be spending a considerable amount of time with in jazz school.

This is not a “best” list.  As I said, there are countless other records that could easily be included, but I wanted it to be a manageable size, so I’ve chosen albums that are historically important, can be found easily, and that I’m personally very familiar with and/or have meaning to me.

Happy listening.

Bebop/Hard bop


Clifford Brown and Max Roach

Clifford Brown and Max Roach


Art Blakey

Moanin’


We Three

We Three


Miles Davis

Workin’

Cookin’

Steamin’

Relaxin’

Milestones

Bag’s Groove

Kind of Blue


Dizzy Gillespie

The Giant

Sonny Side Up


Art Pepper

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section

Art Pepper +11


Thelonios Monk

Monk’s Dream

Brilliant Corners


Hank Mobley

Soul Station

Roll Call

No Room for Squares


Wynton Kelly

Smokin’ at the Half Note


Wes Montgomery

Full House


Ahmad Jamal

Live at the Pershing


John Coltrane

Blue Trane

Giant Steps


Bill Evans

Everybody Digs Bill Evans


Sonny Rollins

Way Out West

Saxophone Colossus

Freedom Suite


Oscar Peterson

Affinity



“Modern” - 60s, 70s, early 80s


Miles Davis

Four & More

My Funny Valentine

ESP

Miles Smiles

Nefertiti

Filles de Kilimanjaro

In a Silent Way

Bitches Brew


McCoy Tyner

The Real McCoy


Ornette Coleman

The Shape of Jazz to Come


John Coltrane

A Love Supreme


Herbie Hancock

Maiden Voyage

Empyrean Isles


Cecil Taylor

Conquistador


Joe Henderson

Inner Urge

The Kicker


Kenny Dorham

Una Mas


Eric Dolphy

Out To Lunch


Chick Corea

Now He Sings Now He Sobs

Return to Forever

Light As A Feather


Keith Jarrett

Standards vol 1 & 2

Changes


Dave Holland

Conference of the Birds


Pat Metheny

Bright Size Life

80/81

Question & Answer


Wayne Shorter

Night Dreamer

Speak No Evil


Wynton Marsalis

Standard Time vol. 1


Larry Young

Unity


Bill Evans

Sunday at the Village Vanguard

Trio 64

Trio 65

Waltz for Debby

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for a great playlist, Adam. I can feel the sound.
    Please check out Akili Bradley. You might also like it

    ReplyDelete