TOP 5 JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
I'm a huge fan of Open Studio, an online network/platform for Jazz musicians across the globe, and recently watched co-founder Peter Martin's top 10 Jazz album choices with interest. I'm holding back from committing my own top, 10 preferring instead to narrow it down to a top 5 instead. There is an appalling omission of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Louis Armstrong here which is crazy as I could pretty much do a top 5 for all of those three just on their own. Nevertheless, this is as close to a focused top 5 as I can reduce my choices down to for now.
1. My Song - Keith Jarrett Quartett (ECM)
I would probably need to do a separate top ten to do justice to Keith Jarrett's iconic discography/legacy with his trio mostly devoted to the American Songbook and so instead, I've made it easy for myself and chosen 'My Song' (1977) with his quartet.
I've always maintained that Jazz at its best is the sound of freedom. It seems unlikely that such music would be born out of a highly classified/repressed society and back in the 1970's, Jazz, especially on Manfred Eicher's ECM label was really flying high having gone through the looking glass of spiritual jazz/free jazz into a new paradigm where both past, present and future were combined in a form of transcendent timelessness that some thought was pretentious and others thought too clean.
I'll admit I've always been somewhat of a skeptic about Jan Garbarek but here his musical chemistry with Jarrett is infectious and undeniably joyous. Highlights of the album have to be 'My Song', 'Country', and 'The Journey Home' where I could even imagine a 1970s re-incarnation of Jay Gatsby looking out for that green light across the bay listening to this ECM treasure.
2. We Get Requests - Oscar Peterson (Verve)
Oscar Peterson's piano playing reminds me of that hilarious episode of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (HBO) where Larry David raises money for the Groats Disease Foundation a condition whereby a sufferer becomes increasingly hyperactive and spastic though in Peterson's case he always keeps his hyperactivity and spasticity under control with exceptional musicianship and nuance which is why of course he's one of the great geniuses in the history of jazz. Incidentally, for the record, I'm not offering my layman's diagnosis here as an official evaluation of the late, great Oscar Peterson's musical condition just merely hypothesizing as a fellow Groats sufferer. ^^
'We Get Requests' in particular seems to perfectly distill the essence of what Peterson and his trio achieved at the height of their abilities with their unique sort of three-way telepathic dexterity that could swing like hell but also lull like a lullaby.
Right from the first track 'Quiet Night Of Quiet Stars' you sense that the trio is like a group of elite pilots navigating their way through boundless melodies of invention and re-invention all the while keeping a tight beat to make sure they don't fly off-course. This high standard of quality is maintained right through to the final track 'Goodbye J.D' and before you know it you feel immediately compelled to start the record all over again right from the beginning.
3. Eastern Sounds - Yusef Lateef
This album is like a cool night in the Arabian desert sat beneath the vast night sky with stars sparkling high above. I especially like when albums start with a statement of intent and this one begins with the classic 'The Plum Blossom' which is both beautifully understated yet with a clear sense of forward propulsion that creates its own unique head nodding groove.
Over the decades of loving jazz, I've talked to many fanatics from different tribes of the genre. Some love insanely hectic free jazz, others love their semi-pretentious spiritual jazz. Speaking for me, I just like effortless jazz where the music is as naturally flowing as water and 'Eastern Sounds' by Yusef Lateef perfectly exemplifies this personal criteria of mine.
Other favourites on this classic album are 'Love Theme From Spartacus', 'Love Theme From The Robe' and 'The Three Faces Of Balal'.
4. African River - Abdullah Ibrahim
Great musicians have the unique ability to transport you to both what's inside their heart and mind but yet also reflect their external background and environment simply through the atmospherics and soul of their playing. Abdullah Ibrahim manages to score on all of these points conjuring a unique sound world that can only be his and that of his native home of Cape Town, South Africa.
Along with Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim is a hugely significant figure of South Africa's cultural identity in the history of jazz especially during the many decades of ongoing social and political turmoil in his home country during the second half of the twentieth century.
One of the greatest jazz concerts I ever saw (perhaps even the best ever) was Abdullah playing at Bath Jazz Festival with his band where he delivered a non-stop improvisation/meditation (with no intervals aside from those on the piano) charting a journey through his entire career of heaven sent tracks including 'Mannenberg', 'The Wedding', 'Water From An Ancient Well' and many others. It was such a perfectly focused and emotionally centered concert that beautifully wrapped up an entire life of music that it was impossible not to be profoundly moved. Perhaps as a consequence of attending that extra special gig, Abdullah has become to sound even more transcendental when I play his records now.
'African River' has become one of his many masterpiece albums I've returned to over the years and along with 'The Mountain' and 'Water From An Ancient Well' the one I probably play the most these days.
6. Artie Shaw & His Grammercy Five
Although I like to think I'm half decent at playing jazz piano (what I've often called a musical bullshitter) jazz clarinet has always tempted me as an instrument to try and learn no doubt due to my love of listening to Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman over the many years. I think this love was further compounded after hearing Goodman's 'How High The Moon' accompanying the title sequence of a favorite comedy movie of mine 'Biloxi Blues' starring Matthew Broderick. Chasing that mellow, earthy sound ever since I like to think I've become a somewhat connoisseur of great jazz clarinet recordings. The Godfather of them all though has to be 'Artie Shaw And His Grammercy Five' recordings which are the jazz equivalent to my mind of Beethoven's late string quartets and the final chapter of that coolly enigmatic musician's career.