12 jazz albums that made a difference for me

By Jack Brummet

On Facebook, a friend asked us to come up with 12 jazz albums thatr stuck with us, or made a difference. Here are mine. [Note: a couple of these are compilations, because we don't really buy or listen to the haphazard collections released by many of the older artist's record companies. The Louis Armstrong and Bird sets in particular].

1. Forest Flower — Charles Lloyd. This was the album that got me hooked on jazz when I was around 20.
2. The Legendary Dial Masters — Charlie Parker. [It's kind of cheating —maybe—to use a compilation like this.]
3. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall —Thelonious Monk. [This tape of this 1957 concert was long lost and then found in 2005 at the library of congress. It was mastered and released a few years ago, and became a jazz best seller. It’s great.]
4. The Complete Atomic Basie — Count Basie
5. Live at Antibes — Charles Mingus. [Ah Um, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Oh Yeah were close contenders.]
6. Blue Train — John Coltrane [I was tempted to put Live in Seattle, which as some critics noted, contains some of his best, and worst, playing ever.]
7. Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band — Duke Ellington [This is peak Ellington which = peak jazz.]
8. Milestones — Miles Davis [this one was really hard…so many fantastic albums.]
9. Bug Music — Don Byron
10. Love Devotion and Surrender — John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana [Odd choice? Yes. I love each guitar player on their separate stereo channels and their rocking take on Coltrane].
11. Hot Fives and Sevens- Louis Armstrong
12. Visiting Dignitaries — Milo Petersen and The Jazz Disciples [by my oldest friend Milo and some really talented sidemen. I dig this out pretty often. Beautiful songwriting and arrangements. It includes a song, “The Good,” he wrote for our wedding.]

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