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Help in finding great Jazz thats well recorded

Im a old school rocker that was converted to the world of jazz about 5 years ago.Ive aquired a small library of approx 200+ titles and growing every week.Im running redbook/SACD only and have no desire to try the LP thing again or venture into downloads.The other day another audio friend wanted to come hear my system as its been redone the past 6 months,I started to go through my jazz in search of great recordings before he arrived.Keep in mind he was coming to hear the system really not the tunes.Im guessing I had a handful of what I would call great recordings that would show case my system, the rest wasnt.I know what my system is capable of and most of the 50s/60s recordings I have seem "HIFI" at best and thats OK,but what Im asking or seeking is this.Really great recorded jazz..Im open to any suggestions..labels/artist/redbook/sacd examples etc
missioncoonery
tubegroover
2,279 posts
 
Speaking about Patricia Barber, highly recommend "A fortnight in France" a live recording on Blue Note. She does a couple standards on this set including "Witchcraft" and "Laura". While I liked Cafe Blue, I really love this recording and the performance is excellent!

The Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio's "Midnight Sugar" is worth its weight in gold, actually more than its weight in gold. There is a rare copy of it on e-bay now for a lofty $450.00!
jameswei
795 posts
 
Both Gz3827 and Tubegroover mentioned Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio's Midnight Sugar. This was originally recorded by the Three Blind Mice ("TBM")label. I have found that all of the TBM albums are high quality recordings, and there are a goodly number of them to choose from.

I also second the nomination of Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue.

And I have to add in also the well-known Jazz at the Pawnshop by Domnerus, Hallberg, and Riedel. The recording quality and ambient noises of the cafe can create a "you are there" illusion on a good system.
cfluxa's avatar
cfluxa
125 posts
 
Personally, I think the late 50s and early 60s represented a kind of peak in the recording industry, as tube technology was at its peak in the studio and transistors hadn't yet taken hold. Studios that did a good job pulled out some very sweet, organic sounds that to my ears make a lot of the recordings today sound sterile and lifeless.

Blue Note label is most often good, which represents a heck of a lot of important stuff, as is anything recorded by Orrin Keepnews for Riverside. Just about anything recorded at Columbia in those years sounds pretty darned amazing.
hifimaniac
507 posts
 
Autumn in Seattle is superb; Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue is amazing. A couple not mentioned; Dick Hyman's From the Age of Swing on Reference Recordings. This is a Professor Keith Johnson recording; excellent.

The Poll Winners; Barney Kessel; Ray Brown, Shelley Manne

Four; Hampton Hawes and others.
nicotico
107 posts
 
Keeping in mind the "want to hear the system and not the tunes" criteria: Allen Toussaint "The Bright Mississippi" (whose sound quality was touted in another recent thread here); Larry Carlton "Collection" (particularly the cut Smiles and Smiles To Go); Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour "Larry & Lee" (particularly the cut Up and Adam); Lee Ritenour "Wes Bound" and "Alive in L.A."; Najee "Plays Songs In The Key Of Life"; Charles Lloyd "The Water Is Wide" and "Hyperion with Higgins" (ECM label); Miles Davis "Tutu"; Olu Dara "In The World: From Natchez To New York"; Phil Upchurch "Tell The Truth!" Just a few.
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