Essential Jazz Albums to Own On Vinyl
Starting a record collection may appear daunting, but it’s pretty enjoyable, particularly in the world of jazz. To help, I compiled a few essential jazz albums to own on vinyl. Even if you’re not the most significant jazz fan, it’s worth giving these albums a listen. Click on their respective links or image if interested. Let’s get started!
1. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
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Arguably the most recognizable record in Jazz, Kind of Blue changed jazz and music for years to come. The record popularized a new approach to improvisation, with Davis and Evans writing pieces with a more limited set of scales in different modes. It’s a fine listen, particularly in the fall.
2. John Coltrane - Blue Train
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Coltrane had a natural ability to play with dense improvisational and patterned lines with incredibly quick arpeggios and scale patterns through rapid successions. Blue Train was Coltrane’s second record as a leader and his only recording under his own name for Blue Note Records.
3. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
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1959 was a special year for jazz, with Charles Mingus’s iconic Mingus Ah Um being more overlooked than Kind of Blue and Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come. Truthfully, the genre would never be the same again after this year, and it’s remarkable to look back on.
4. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin'
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For a recent release, Blue Note Records released Just Coolin’ in 2020, a never-before-released studio album by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers that was recorded on March 8, 1959, in Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. Releases for unreleased material are always great to discuss, and this is one of the best.
5. Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
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Saxophone Colossus is Sonny Rollins’s breakthrough record and is a top-tier option to check out. It’s a fantastic exploration of surprises through music, captivating every listener through its nearly 40-minute run-time.
Conclusion
Getting started with an essential jazz albums list may seem silly, but it’s fun to talk music. As corny or odd as articles like this are, I hope to do more to highlight some iconic or lesser-known records. Hopefully, my procrastination doesn’t get the best of me.
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I’m 24 from Buffalo, NY, and graduated from SUNY Buffalo State in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. I play guitar in SPACED and Funeral Coat.
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