Top 25 Jazz Albums of All Time

The jazz albums listed below are legendary. Many have completely revolutionized the way jazz is played. These can be listened to many times without getting old!

Yes it is probably the number one selling jazz album of all time. Some say it is THE best jazz album of all time. Did you know the musicians didn't even rehearse for the recording session? Miles just showed up to the Columbia Records session with some melodies and chords and proceeded to record each song in one take... that's how Miles liked to do it... he wanted everything to be spontaneous which is a cornerstone of jazz. He had the best musicians in the game so everyone played brilliantly. There was so much talent and feeling that there was just no need for more takes. The songs consist of simple melodies and there is so much space yet also deep emotion. It is a pleasure to listen to and feel the raw excitement of this album.

This album completely changed the jazz world in 1965 and even today its effects can be found in many musical styles. Coltrane evolves from the extremely complex and dense harmonic language he had mastered with Miles Davis and Monk and just plays with pure, raw passion. The four songs on this album are simultaneously filled emotions of anger, joy, sadness, ecstasy, tragedy and triumph. I know of many different types of artists such as writers or painters who use this album to inspire energy and passion from within themselves for their own personal art. This album also marked the beginning of a revolution in Coltrane's playing as he ventured into a freer world less based on dense harmonic language.

This was the first instrumental jazz album to sell over a million copies. 'Take Five' was even a number one hit on Billboard's charts which is a serious feat for any jazz song (and any song in 5/4!). Brubeck used the rhythmic influences from Eastern Europe to create a very fresh sound previously unfound in jazz. The complex rhythms he uses sound very natural and are easy to listen to, probably the reason for his success. This one is guaranteed to please and intrigue its listeners.

Here's a historic concert that has a wonderful background story... It was 1956 and many big bands were failing because of the rise of bebop and modern small group jazz. So at the 3rd annual Newport Jazz Festival, Ellington tried hard to please the crowd with new suites and new arrangements, but the crowd was very sedated as usual. Then finally on a two-section song, Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue, Duke had the two sections connect with a sax solo by Paul Gonzalves and allowed him to play the solo as long as felt like playing. He only usually took a couple choruses but this time Gonzalves took a 27 chorus solo that eventually had the crowd off its feet and dancing! This changed the face of jazz solos and as well as gave Duke some new found success. Duke's band continued in this popularity for 18 more years.

This album often appears reissued under the name "The Greatest Concert Ever". It is an all star lineup of Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach. These guys were all involved in the creation of bebop about 15 years before this concert date (1953) and thus were all seasoned veterans by the time of the concert. Also this was the only time these five would record together and everyone plays brilliantly. A lot of earlier bebop recordings suffered from sound quality but this one sounds very good for a live concert.

When I first heard this album I felt I had finally found that perfect "sound" I had been searching for my whole life. Herbie had come very well known in Miles Davis second quintet and now was doing his own thing applying those concepts to funk. His experimentation on a multitude of analog synths has tremendously influenced what I do on synthesizers in my band, Gentlemen Hall. As well as numerous other groups ever since. Some critics and pure acoustic jazz-heads said this album is not jazz, but I beg to differ cause it is full of jazz improvisation and concepts. This album was so popular that it quickly sold over a million copies after its release in 1973. It's simple, funky, extremely enjoyable, and AMAZING! Listen to it over and over for maximum satisfaction.

Recorded in 1957, this album was Coltrane's first album as a leader. It's very interesting to hear how Coltrane was playing before he started heading to the freer, passionate playing that he evolved to in the mid 60's. Did you know that ten years earlier, Coltrane was considered just a mediocre player? He studied with others and performed SO MUCH with Miles that he became an icon of discipline. He was known to constantly practice after gigs late into the night to become the player he was on this album... and he still continued to improved after this recording! I love this album because it has such a solid, quintessential jazz sound.

So my favorite, Herbie Hancock, won a Grammy for 'Album of the Year' in 2008, no album has done that since 1965 and it was this album. It created the bossa nova craze in the United States and is one of the best selling jazz records of all time. Stan Getz, Joao and Astrud Gilberto are extremely graceful and intimate as they float along through this wonderful material composed by the famous Antonio Carlos Jobim. I think the best word to describe this album is relaxing.

Charles Mingus had a way of making his bands sound lush, original, and of course swing like crazy. This album features many tribute songs to former jazz legends that are guaranteed to get your foot tapping and your fingers snapping! Also there are some amazing ballads filled with highly colorful and emotional horn arrangements. I love to listen to and jam the song Fables of Faubus, a track dedicated to the infamous former governor of Arkansas who took a stand against integration in schools in 1957. It's great to see an artform like jazz make a strong political statement.

Errol Garner is a beast. This may be because he can't read a note of written music and therefore must rely on his hearing to guide him to what sounds good. Well he certainly knows what that is because this album is incredibly interesting both harmonically and rhythmically. His left hand swings so hard that it really is on another level of most all pianists. His playing is natural and full of joy. He is quite technically fluent and plays extremely extravagant arrangements of many well-loved standards like Autumn Leaves and I'll Remember April.

Pretty much everything about this album was controversial. Before 1970, no major record label had ever used the word "Bitches" on a release by a major artist. The recording has some very long songs and consists mostly of free spontaneous electric improvisation. Also for the first time, the recording tape was sliced and diced a bit in studio post-production to make certain snippets repeat and to add effects which was unheard of on a jazz record. Yet even with all that... or maybe because of all that... it is Miles' second best selling album of all time behind Kind of Blue. Be warned... this album is pretty "out there" and could take a few listens to understand what Miles was able to achieve.

This is as classic jazz gets. It is one of, if not the biggest record for Sonny Rollins. Recorded in 1956, every song is feels so sophisticated yet soulful and smooth. It only has five songs but each one is a hit and Sonny's playing never fails. Sonny plays complex bebop that is very accessible because it is obvious that every note he plays has a purpose and meaning.