Top 10 jazz tracks of all times

Music Room
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My own top 10 jazz tracks of all times, what about yours?

  1. Miles Davis — So What — the opening statement of Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz album ever
  2. John Coltrane — A Love Supreme Pt. I — the spiritual and artistic peak of jazz
  3. Bill Evans Trio — Waltz for Debby — intimate piano trio perfection, live at the Village Vanguard
  4. Dave Brubeck Quartet — Take Five — the most recognisable jazz recording ever made, in 5/4 time
  5. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers — Moanin’ — the hard bop benchmark
  6. Thelonious Monk — 'Round Midnight — the most recorded jazz standard of the 20th century
  7. Stan Getz, Gilberto & Jobim — The Girl from Ipanema — the song that brought bossa nova to the world
  8. John Coltrane — My Favorite Things — the soprano sax reinvention that changed jazz improvisation
  9. Keith Jarrett — Köln Concert Pt. I — the greatest solo piano improvisation ever recorded
  10. Charles Mingus — Goodbye Pork Pie Hat — a eulogy for Lester Young and one of jazz’s most beautiful compositions
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I like your list

I can’t come up with my own but a few comments

I like Flaminco Sketches over So What

Pursuance parts 3 and 4 over A Love Supreme

I’d add dexter gordon Body and Soul and Ornette’s Lonely Woman. Not sure what 2 I’d remove.

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Also Her by Stan Getz

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Yes, that’s a great track, but also I was struggling to figure out what would be my top 10.

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Black Market - Weather Report, will always be in my top ten.

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@sean86

A big thanks for sharing your top 10 Jazz tracks. I recently bought Keith Jarrett Koln Concert and found it one of the best albums I had listened to (based on a forum recommendation) in a long time.

I have a few of your top 10 and made up a Jazz playlist. I will use this to explore Jazz further to expand my knowledge.

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Don’t know about a top 10 but 3 tracks I love are

Dexter Gordon - Tanya from One flight Up

Sonny Rollins - Freedom Suite

Art Blakey - A Night in Tunisia

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Yes there was jazz before BlueNote.

Louis Armstrong Fatha Hines Weatherbird
Jones Smith featuring Lester Young Oh lady be good.
Johnny Hodges Small group 1941 Good Queen Bess
Basie Taxi War Dance
Ellington Cotton Tail
Tatum/Webster Night and Day
Parker/Gillespie/Powell/Mingus/Roach Salt Peanuts from Massey Hall
Buck Clayton Jam Sessions Huckelbuck
Monk Bright Mississippi
Wardell Grey/Errol Garner Blue Lou

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Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Oscar Peterson - You look good to me
Cannonball Adderley - Autumn Leaves
Sonny Rollins - Alfie
Duke Ellington & Count Basie - Duke’s Place

Plus all the ones mentioned

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There is a vast choice, and many of my favourite tracks are not the most famous tracks. My greatest tracks are these.

1 Pat Metheny: San Lorenzo, my entry point into Jazz and one track I still think is sublime.

2 EST ( Esbjörn Svensson Trio) : Behind The Yashmack (The live in Hamburg version is the best)

3 Chick Corea, with Gary Burton: The Crystal Silence

4 Weather Report: Birdland. Never tire of this one.

5 Miles Davis: Human Nature.

6 Kyle Shepherd Trio: Teardrop. This interpretation of a Massive Attack piece left me speechless when I first heard it.

7 John Coltrane: The Inch Worm from “Coltrane”

8 Neil Ardley: Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows. Rainbow 1 is brilliant, but listen to Barbara Thompson on Rainbow 4

9 Pat Metheny: As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls. Years ahead of its time and still wonderful to listen to.

10 Steve Lehman: Mise en Abîme. A sonic masterpiece.

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A very solid list. Those are my favourites as well.

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I could agree with those but I’d have to have some Ornette Coleman, probably European Echoes from the Golden Circle album. So the Getz would go.

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You find the list on Wiki ? Because these are all very well known standarts, replayed and replayed by so many musicians.

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I did check some popular lists online, but some of them are way off my own taste. Actually, the true purpose of this thread is to share our own favorite jazz tracks.

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Put your personnal , it will be much more interesting

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  1. Billy cobham Red Baron
  2. Stanley Clarke Lopsy Lu
  3. Herbie Hancock Spider
  4. Miles Davis That’s right
  5. Jeff Beck Pork pie hat
  6. Joe Henderson Las Palmas
  7. Kamaal Williams Hold on
  8. Ramsey Lewis. Sun Goddess
  9. George Duke. Prépare yourself
  10. Johnny Hammond. Higher Ground
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Tracks I play a lot:

Miles - Shhh/Peaceful (In A Silent Way)

Coltrane - Moment’s Notice (Blue Train)

Bill Evans - Detour Ahead (Waltz for Debby)

Art Blakey and the JM - A Night in Tunisia (A Night in Tunisia)

Thelonious Monk - Monk’s Dream (Monk’s Dream)

Keith Jarrett — Köln Concert Pt. I (Koln)

Charles Mingus - II B.S. (Mingus x5)

Ornette Coleman - European Echoes (Golden Circle vol 1)

Sonny Rollins - East Broadway Run Down (East Broadway Run Down)

Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments (Blues and the Abstract Truth)

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Thank you; these choices also match my preferences well.

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It appears that an online Wiki search for top 10 tracks of all time yields these selections; as expected, several overlap with my own favorites. Hwever, I am not a fan of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, or Count Basie.

Maybe I will need to explore more modern, comtempory Jazz.

  1. Take Five – The Dave Brubeck Quartet
  2. So What– Miles Davis
  3. The Girl from Ipanema – Stan Getz, João Gilberto & Astrud Gilberto
  4. My Favorite Things – John Coltrane
  5. Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk
  6. What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
  7. Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
  8. Fly Me to the Moon – Frank Sinatra (with Count Basie)
  9. Take the A Train – Duke Ellington Orchestra
  10. Autumn Leaves – Cannonball Adderley (featuring Miles Davis)
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I don’t know. I prefer modern jazz, after 1969 .

Try for example Al Jarreau, live in Europe.

Miles Davis, In a Silent Way

Maybe you will like . The most important is to enjoy yourself, be it known or not known or even bad rated on Allmusic for example.

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