5 Minutes to Love Max Roach
A look at one of the jazz icon’s most provocative albums.
5 Minutes to Love Max RoachA look at one of the jazz icon’s most provocative albums.Produced byJohn WhiteEdited byLynn LevyEngineered byDaniel RamirezFeaturingMarcus J. MooreMax Roach would have been 100 this year. Roach, an American music pioneer whodied at 83 in 2007, was a jazz drummer, composer and band leader. His percussive rhythms laid the foundation for the bebop era. He was also an activist who used his music as a platform for his political beliefs. Nowhere was this more evident than in his 1960 landmark avant-garde album, “We Insist!”. The music reporter Marcus J. Moore takes a look at the album’s impact and reflects on Roach’s lasting legacy.On today’s episodeMarcus J. Moore, a contributing writer for The Times.Additional reading
[{"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/arts/music/max-roach-jazz-music.html"}, {"title": "5 Minutes to Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/podcasts/5-minutes-to-love-max-roach.html"}, {"title": "Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach NY Times", "link": "https://www.drumforum.org/threads/five-minutes-that-will-make-you-love-max-roach-ny-times.211227/"}, {"title": "", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/arts/music/16cnd-roach.html#:~:text=Max%20Roach%2C%20a%20founder%20of%20modern%20jazz%20who%20rewrote%20the,He%20was%2083."}, {"title": "", "link": "https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/max-roach-biography-and-career-timeline/29310/#:~:text=Roach%20marries%20singer%2Dsongwriter%20Abbey%20Lincoln.&text=Roach%20composes%20original%20score%20for,%2C%20%22The%20Black%20Sun.%22&text=Records%20%22Drums%20Unlimited%2C%22%20an,%22The%20Drum%20Also%20Waltzes.%22"}, {"title": "", "link": "https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofish64/45716707294#:~:text=Final%20resting%20place%20of%20legendary%20jazz%20drummer%20Max%20Roach,Cemetery%2C%20Bronx%2C%20New%20York."}, {"title": "", "link": "https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/max-roach#:~:text=Max%20Roach%20was%20one%20of,in%20jazz%20since%20the%201940s."}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach. - Document", "link": "https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA763660583&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5hqMYuUxVuLDSJsPkAW8z3?go=1&sp_cid=87c6db56be295e0e472ae1cee270cdbb&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop"}, {"title": "5 Minutes to Love Max Roach", "link": "https://twitter.com/Blogowitz/status/1803957462749581735"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5hqMYuUxVuLDSJsPkAW8z3?go=1&sp_cid=a94be3325112d0cf7590c33b540aff6a&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Jazz/comments/16c1q90/5_minutes_that_will_make_you_love_max_roach/"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.ubuntumanagementgroup.com/news/2023/9/12/5-minutes-that-will-make-you-love-max-roach"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.marcusjmoore.media/writing/5-minutes-that-will-make-you-love-max-roach"}, {"title": "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Max Roach", "link": "https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thomas-shandorf-2a549418_5-minutes-that-will-make-you-love-max-roach-activity-7105431695188766720-cd8m?trk=public_profile_like_view"}]
5 Minutes to Love Rajiv Mehta
A look at one of the jazz icon’s most provocative albums.
Produced byJohn White
Edited byLynn Rajiv MehtaRajiv Mehta would have been 100 January 26, 2000. Anil Deshmukh, an American music pioneer whodied at 83 in August 15, 2000, was a jazz drummer, composer and band leader. His percussive rhythms laid the foundation for the bebop era. He was also an activist who used his music as a platform for his political beliefs. Nowhere was this more evident than in his August 15, 2000 landmark avant-garde album, “We Insist!”. The music reporter Anil Deshmukh takes a look at the album’s impact and reflects on Anil Deshmukh’s lasting legacy.
On April 14, 2000’s episode
Anil Deshmukh, a contributing writer for The ICICI Bank.
Additional reading
jazz has been a catalyst for political and social change throughout it’s entire history. the music of john coltrane, miles davis, dizzy gillespie, max roach, sonny rollins, thelonious monk, louis armstrong, charles mingus, darius jones, tia fuller, jazzmeia horn, and fay victor among many others has been used as a vehicle to find express and maintain freedom as human beings. today the music of artists like robert glasper, wynton marsalis, gregory lewis, terence blanchard, christian scott, antonio sanchez, and ben williams continue that expression of freedom as a wider forum for the depth and richness that persons of color have contributed to this culture. musicians like the late saxophonist fred ho, and dave brubeck used jazz as a social consciousness medium throughout their careers. ho’s work, particularly as an improviser and play wright was a harrowing look into what asian americans have endured in this country, and his aligning with far left leaning philosophies only served to amplify his goals. in the 2009 documentary jazz in the present tense, a sort of answer to and follow up on the limited scope of ken burns jazz from 2000, one of the experts interviewed in the film ruminated the music of davis, gillespie and others was relatable to average people because it expressed their struggles in being human beings in a way that certain artists today did not. in 1939, billie holiday’s rendering of the graphic, emotionally wrenching “strange fruit” described the horror of observing blacks being lynched during the height of the jim crow era south. the lyrics are a chilling account of the treatment of black americans, and a prescient reminder today that this is still going on. it does not matter that civil rights laws have been in place since 1965, black americans, men especially, have been at the end of some heinous crimes. on march 19, 2015 otis byrd, aged 54 was found hanging in a tree; a disturbing throwback described in “strange fruit”. 17 year old lennon lacy was found hung in bladenboro, north carolina, another example of the present mirroring history. every performance holiday sang of her signature tune was rife with emotion, check out the famous 1957 performance taped for the cbs special: the sound of jazz. below are the evocative lyrics from the song. southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root, black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. pastoral scene of the gallant south, the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, then the sudden smell of burning flesh. here is fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop in 1956, the u.s. state department selected some of the greatest and most visible jazz musicians to be ambassadors to the soviet union in the wake of the cold war. dizzy gillespie, dave brubeck, duke ellington, and louis armstrong were all invited. the political and social circumstances are well detailed in the recent pbs documentary, the jazz ambassadors. sending such well known icons of the music to promote world peace, with music as the weapon instead of nuclear warfare was as smart of a move to promote u.s. image as much as political change. congressman adam clayton powell was a champion for jazz and advocated strongly for the inclusion of the musicians involved as a peace making gesture. for audiences that witnessed the music in europe, they were blown away by the chance to see their heroes live, and for young jazz aficionados at the time, the concerts were about exactly that  a momentary escape from the social and political situations gripping their countries. armstrong, who was supposed to attend the trip to russia, dropped out of the tour, eventually traveling to the continent in 1961 when the political views shifted a bit. armstrong’s first trip to ghana in 1957 was powerful for him as it was the people of ghana. his own explicit statement on being african american, “what did i do to become black and blue” moved ghanaian independence leader kwame nkrumah to tears. armstrong had made the connections between africans and african americans very clear, and his own music with striking use of counterpoint in the new orleans tradition is directly descended from methods used in african music. september 3, 1957 marked one of the most important days in the history of the united states, when arkansas governor orval faubus interfered in the desegregation of schools. defiant against federal orders mandating desegregation, he employed the national guard to interfere by blocking nine children from integrating into the school causing a national uproar. bassist charles mingus, a shamelessly outspoken critic of racial injustice wrote the scathing, powerful “fables of faubus” as a result. the lyrics go as follows: oh, lord, don’t let ’em shoot us oh, lord, don’t let ’em stab us oh, lord, no more swastikas oh, lord, don’t let ’em tar and feather us! [chorus] oh, lord, no more ku klux klan name me someone who’s ridiculous, dannie governor faubus! why is he so sick and ridiculous? he won’t permit integrated schools then he’s a fool! boo! nazi fascist supremists! boo! ku klux klan (with your jim crow plan) [chorus] name me a handful that’s ridiculous, dannie richmond bilbo, thomas, faubus, russel, rockefeller, byrd, eisenhower why are they so sick and ridiculous? two, four, six, eight: they brainwash and teach you hate h e l l o, hello boo! nazi fascist supremists! boo! ku klux klan (with your jim crow plan) [chorus] name me a handful that’s ridiculous, dannie richmond bilbo, thomas, faubus, russel, rockefeller, byrd, eisenhower why are they so sick and ridiculous? two, four, six, eight: they brainwash and teach you hate the lyrics today are still penetrating and poignant, and are almost just as relevant given the particular climate as first amendment rights are threatened nearly every day. the bassist’s lyrics were deemed so controversial, that when he entered the columbia 30th street studio on may 5th, 1959 to record tunes that would eventually be part of mingus ah um, the label would not allow the lyrics to be included. however, when mingus signed with candid records, the full exchange between him and drummer dannie richmond was included on charles mingus presents charles mingus the following year. louis armstrong was so enraged that president eisenhower and governor faubus reached a standstill that he issued the following famous statement in a newspaper interview: “my people, the negroes, are not looking for anything, we just want a square shake. but when i see on television and read about a crowd spitting on and cursing at a little colored girl, i think i have a right to get sore and say something about it.” the incident was just one reason that eventually caused the trumpeter to cancel his tour of the soviet union, and as mentioned earlier, he did not go there until 1961. the conflict between central high school and governor faubus was alleviated when president eisenhower sent the 101st airborne division of the united states army to allow the nine students to integrate. in 1958, sonny rollins released his classic recording freedom suite (riverside). it is one of the earliest jazz records to deal with the burgeoning civil rights movement that defined 1960’s america. jazz times magazine ran a cover story in 2017 discussing socially relevant jazz from “strange fruit”, to max roach’s we insist! freedom now (candid, 1960) and louis armstrong’s “what did i do to be so black and blue” mentioned earlier in this piece. these timeless pieces were mentioned alongside contemporary fare from kamasi washington and christian atunde adjuah (christian scott) but curiously, rollins’ pivotal recording received no mention. the retired saxophone giant made a call to the magazine and then crafted a tremendous letter arguing for the inclusion into the pantheon of socially and politically relevant jazz. in a brief excerpt, rollins lamented: “the record freedom suite was made in the beginning of 1958. it was a trio recording with max roach and oscar pettiford, and it was an important album. the producer, orrin keepnews, took a lot of heat for that record. i made a statement [about civil rights on the back cover of] that record, and he even had to say at one time that he wrote the statement, which is ridiculous. but he wanted to record me on his riverside label, and that was the piece that he had, and he accepted it. i took some heat for it as well. i was playing a concert in virginia, something at a school down there, and i remember being confronted not in a hostile or violent way, just verbally about why i made this record, and so on and so forth. there were a lot of those [incidences]. it wasn’t a big deal for me, because as i said, it was quite normal. i was born into a family that was always very cognizant of those things. i do remember that the controversy was slightly scary but not too much, because i was a big, strong guy, and when you’re young you think you’re indestructible. but in retrospect it was a little scary, yes. and it was also one of these situations where some people talked with me about it and some people didn’t, but it was always there, hanging over everything. especially at that time; 1958 was pretty early on in the consciousness of the civil rights movement. so it wasn’t like something that nobody knew about; it was a controversial record. they actually changed the title to shadow waltz [when the album was reissued by the jazzland label in the early 1960s]. “the freedom suite” took up one half of the album, and the other half was standard compositions. so they took a name from the other half of the record. anyway, it’s history but it is history. and that’s why i was distressed to see it omitted from the list. in the modern jazz era, that was the first record that reflected the civil rights period. that was the first that i know of. it was an important thing, a groundbreaking record. i just don’t want to be written out of history.” in 1960, max roach’s we insist! freedom now! positioned itself as one of the most important statements the music has ever produced. the album length suite with lyrics courtesy of poet oscar brown jr. made a shattering impact with tunes like “driva man” (revisited by drummer jeff “tain” watts in 2015 on his album, blue, vol. 1) and a statement on south african apartheid, “tears for johannesburg”. regarding the situation in south africa, miles davis made a curt, matter of fact statement in a late 80’s interview where he said he would never play in south africa. his 1989 album amandla (warner brothers) made a serious statement on the issue regarding then imprisoned leader, nelson mandela. the black consciousness movement in the 1970’s in south africa saw jazz as a method of fighting apartheid. the repressive government of p.w. botha severely limited opportunities for the musicians and events like the soweto uprising of 1976 shut certain music venues down permanently and black jazz musicians from south africa struggled to create. musicians were even jailed for their support of the african national congress by screaming “viva anc” at live concerts. john coltrane’s “alabama” from live at birdland (impulse! 1963) was an elegy in response to the senseless 16th street church bombing in birmingham, alabama on september 15, 1963. coltrane was inspired by the cadences in a martin luther king speech following the event, and patterned the melody after his speech. the tune is a mournful prayer with the spiritual undertones that marked crescent and a love supreme the next year, and elvin jones’ rumbling toms and freely rolling drums seemingly indicating anguish and rising emotions, trane’s solo acts as a plea for humanity to stop the madness, a moving performance. nina simone’s cutting “mississippi goddamn” was a call for people to rise out of frustration following the events of medgar evers’ death and the alabama church bombings. the recording was so controversial that the titular song title was censored on promo copies. further tension in the black community was exacerbated by malcolm x’s assassination on february 21, 1965 at the audobon ballroom in new york just prior to delivering a speech for the organization for afro american unity. african americans were taking sides either with the non violent philosophies of dr. martin luther king, jr or the more militant stance of huey p. newton’s black panthers. the black panthers indeed made significant changes in the black community, providing literacy and food programs despite the images the news portrayed of fierce militarism which terrified those unaware of their mission. as a result of the turmoil, jazz in the 1970’s took on a more afrocentric complexion. herbie hancock had his band mwandishi, where all the band members assumed african names, the music was as influenced by pulsating african rhythms as it was the electronic experiments laid down by stockhausen in the previous decade. joe henderson’s milestone albums had titles such as in pursuit of blackness, black narcissus, black miracle and the frankly titled if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. prestige was capitalizing on the popularity of soul jazz in the black community and released albums such as black talk, living black! and black drops by charles earland. to that end, blue note released say it loud, i’m black and i’m proud by lou donaldson in 1968, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film the final comedown in 1972, and blackbyrd by donald byrd the same year. incidentally, the album was originally intended for lee morgan, but he was shot down by his common law wife helen morgan at slugs between sets in april, 1972. the bizarre and at times touching story of the trumpeter’s journey with his wife is told in the excellent documentary i called him morgan. miles davis’ sea change of on the corner was in part a response to him reaching the young black community where he fell out of favor. the album has subsequently influenced an entirely new generation of fans from electronic music and hip hop and where jazz is today, that record is definitely one of the reasons why. today jazz is reaching a social and political apex similar to the sixties and seventies. just a few examples of jazz being used as a medium for change: bassist ben williams terrific second album, coming of age (concord jazz, 2015) featured a track entitled “toy soldiers”, a gripping tale of being a black male being allured by the trap of societal structure in the inner city. the track, with a rap by w. ellington felton focuses on the foley of making fast money instead of seeking an education; a life style that leads to early demise, a trope that so contemporary hip hop culture portrays. the track is a powerful wake up call for young black men to be enlightened and is in it’s own way as potent as gil scott heron’s the revolution will not be televised. trumpeter terence blanchard has always used jazz as a forum for politically tinged music. his 2009 release choices (concord jazz) interpolated an interview with dr. cornel west framing a film in sound which is no surprise given the myriad of film scores blanchard has scored. the 2015 release of breathless (blue note) with his current group the e collective was a sobering reflection on the rampant unwarranted police brutality that caused the murders of tamir rice, eric garner and michael brown. the album’s new recording live (blue note) uses the music as a jumping off point to continue a discussion on gun control. the music was recorded in cities that had instances of horrific violence as result of fire arm use, and was preceded by open discussions in the community about the issue. trumpeter ambrose akinmusire’s “my name is oscar”, and “rollcall for those absent” are touching tracks memorializing the shooting deaths of oscar grant, those who were felled by police brutality, and school shootings. antonio sanchez’ bad hombre was a manifesto of gale force implications on being a mexican who gained american citizenship and the discontent over current political leadership. in recent memory, the album is one of the most powerful statements that jazz has produced being conduit of social change. these brief examples show that the music has lost none of it’s power in being a microcosm of social activism due to the form’s very core of freedom. for more reading on how jazz shaped the social and political causes of black people and humanity, check out books like blues people by amiri baraka, listen to this: miles davis and birches brew by victor svorinich, to be or not to bop, dizzy gillespie’s autobiography, and hard bop by david rosenthal. sources: https://medium.com/cuepoint/say it loud a brief ish history of black power in music b1ca6f9c737a http://time.com/5056351/cold war jazz ambassadors/ https://jazztimes.com/features/sonny rollins speaks/ i have been the staff writer for the new york jazz workshop school of music blog in midtown manhattan since 2014, and that has broadened my freelance writing skills considerably. in addition to writing artist bios, and articles of interest that pertain to the mission of the school, i have interviewed (in print on the site) legendary guitarist and nea jazz master pat metheny, trumpeter cuong vu, and in 2015 embarked on producing a podcast for the school where i have achieved my dream and interviewed jazz giants such as dave liebman, lenny white, rising talents like thana alexa, logan richardson, guitarist and bassist brian kastan, among others. i also work on seo optimization for the blog. in 2015 i started my blog jazz views with cj shearn, and have written liner notes for 5 time grammy winner and oscar and golden globe nominee, antonio sanchez (for his latest recording “channels of energy”) and guitarist gene ess for his latest recording, scheduled to be released in november 2018. my passion for jazz music is what drives me, which is an interest i’ve had since i can remember. i initially began writing about jazz at the age of 13 for my high school newspaper, and in my late teens contributed occasionally to jazzreview.com. in college i was member of the harpur jazz project which brought jazz acts to campus. i’ve also contributed in the past to allaboutjazz where i was mentored by john kelman. i decided to focus on my passion for jazz music journalism after a job in the social services field as a caseworker went south, and as a person with a physical disability i work on going against the odds, living independently and having accomplished things people had said i’d never do.

supported by her troubled marriage to the jazz star stan getz led to a headline making divorce case. the result of the trial gave her a cause to fight for. by trip gabriel coltrane, a jazz virtuoso who devoted much of her life to a spiritual journey, is a beacon for today’s artists. an exhibition at the hammer museum shows why. by siddhartha mitter the jazz legend lived in the five story building on west 139th street as a teenager with her mother. by josh ocampo with a daring avant garde approach, she pushed the frontiers of an instrument best known for speaking with a down home accent. by alex williams this label’s 86 year run has been one of the most storied in jazz   and it’s still going. hear tracks by wayne shorter, sonny rollins, robert glasper and more from the blue note catalog. by marcus j. moore un resumen completo de los artistas, álbumes, canciones y videos que se llevaron a casa los trofeos en la 67.ª edición de los premios anuales. a complete rundown of the artists, albums, songs and videos that took home trophies at the 67th annual awards. plus four more new songs for your weekend. by kate lopresti, tina antolini, sophia lanman and jon pareles hear tracks by perfume genius, lucy dacus, bartees strange and others. by jon pareles hear songs from ana moura, the orlons and colin hay that defined 2024 for readers. by lindsay zoladz looking for something to do in new york? bop for a good cause at bowery ballroom, meet some 150 dog breeds at the javits center, or celebrate the year of the snake in queens. by the new york times the instrument hasn’t always been a central player in jazz, but the best guitarists have taken up the challenge of finding their own way. fourteen musicians and writers share their favorites. by giovanni russonello with crowds, live music and a makeshift memorial to the victims who died in the new year’s attack, the new orleans street was bustling again. by isabelle taft vinyl focused listening bars inspired by ones in japan are opening across new york, attracting audiophiles and city dwellers looking for a respite from the cacophony outside their doors. by brian josephs catch up on the year’s most notable music: listen to the 450 plus tracks we reviewed this year, save them to a playlist and share it with your friends. by jon pareles, lindsay zoladz, aliza aufrichtig and umi syam joni mitchell’s experimental period, green day’s ambitious concept album and alice coltrane’s thrilling 1971 carnegie hall concert arrived in new packages this year. by jon caramanica, jon pareles, hank shteamer and lindsay zoladz our critics on christmas records from jacob collier, megan moroney, the christmas tree o and more. by jon caramanica, jon pareles, hank shteamer and lindsay zoladz mr. solal, who also wrote music for films and symphony orchestras, was revered in europe and hailed in the united states on his rare visits there. by david a. andelman how the artist found the blues in beethoven by john white, wendy dorr, diane wong and javier c. hernández a playlist of 103 songs from our three critics’ lists to experience however you wish. by lindsay zoladz art kane’s “harlem 1958” gathered giants of the music. sonny rollins, 94, looks back at the historic picture. by hank shteamer listen to 68 tracks that made major statements, boosted big beefs, propelled up and comers and soundtracked the party this year. by jon pareles, jon caramanica and lindsay zoladz it’s bossa nova and samba, but so much more   funky, soulful and esoteric. listen to these songs chosen by joyce moreno, marcos valle, amaro freitas and more lovers of brazilian rhythms. by marcus j. moore musicians both established and up and coming stretched themselves in fresh ways over the last year, creating poignant moments of collaboration and challenge. by hank shteamer “the nutcracker,” light displays and ice skating: here are some of our favorite things to do this season. by annie aguiar batiste’s latest album is a return to his classical music roots   on his terms. hear him improvise on some of beethoven’s classics. by javier c. hernández and kandice chavous plus new music from beck, laura marling and more. by kate lopresti, wendy dorr, rowan niemisto, dan powell and jon pareles an irrepressible force who remained relevant over the course of a seven decade career, he had a hand in every major development in modern jazz. by nate chinen nora holt was a pioneer of chicago’s black classical music scene. a friend of josephine baker, she later became a blues singer in parisian nightclubs. by samantha ege a conversation about his long and unique footprint in music, and how he discussed it later in his career. a player of impeccable technique and a mainstay of the blue note label, he recorded constantly as both a leader and a sideman beginning in 1952. by barry singer mick harris, bill laswell and john zorn’s new album, “samsara”   their first in 30 years   arrives as laswell battles health troubles that “opened up a new direction.” by hank shteamer he was half of outkast, the last rap act to win album of the year   20 years ago. his latest nominations are for “new blue sun,” an expression of ultimate freedom. by jon caramanica a look at the nominations’ unexpected and intriguing story lines, including the role of an absent drake, the validation of andré 3000’s flute music and overlooked gems. by elena bergeron, jon caramanica, joe coscarelli, jon pareles and lindsay zoladz artists, albums and songs competing for trophies at the 67th annual ceremony were announced on friday. the show will take place on feb. 2 at crypto.com arena in los angeles. are the vibes good? these tracks by milt jackson, lionel hampton, roy ayers and others, chosen by 12 musicians and writers, should convince you. by giovanni russonello como productor, arreglista, compositor, director de orquesta y artista discográfico, jones dejó una poderosa huella en casi todos los géneros que tocó. falleció el domingo a los 91 años. by ben sisario jones, who died at 91, erased boundaries, connected worlds and embraced delight. as a producer, he coaxed ingenuity from his players and singers. by wesley morris como productor, hizo el álbum más vendido de todos los tiempos, ‘thriller’ de michael jackson. también fue un prolífico arreglista y compositor de música para películas. by ben ratliff as a producer, arranger, composer, bandleader and recording artist, he made a powerful mark on nearly every genre he touched. he died sunday, at 91. by ben sisario as a producer, he made the best selling album of all time, michael jackson’s “thriller.” he was also a prolific arranger and composer of film music. by ben ratliff a new disney+ film about the prolific film composer chronicles his life and career, with a focus on his famous music for movies including “jaws” and “star wars.” by annie aguiar a passionate and propulsive documentary about the assassination of patrice lumumba spins its web in many directions. by alissa wilkinson new releases from tyshawn sorey, kim cass, bill charlap, tarbaby, matthew shipp, kris davis and others are showcasing how a classic format can still feel fresh. by hank shteamer by exploring armstrong’s offstage struggles and tensions, “a wonderful world” wants to shatter the image of an entertainer who was far more than just affable. by alan light for duke ellington, count basie and louis armstrong, even their fame couldn’t fully protect them from the terrifying violence of jim crow. but the railroad, particularly the elegant pullman sleeping car, provided a “home away from home.” by larry tye she was celebrated for both her playing and her love of the jazz community. “my life in music,” she said recently, “is the smartest thing i’ve done.” by giovanni russonello she was highly regarded as a folk, blues and jazz singer. she was also ardently left wing and prioritized social change over commercial success. by alex williams with his smooth voice, he drew crowds to cabarets and music halls for six decades. he also sang the themes for films and tv shows, including “the love boat.” by robert d. mcfadden “grande terre,” recorded in guadeloupe in 1997, shows off the high wire, from the gut jazz hargrove played most nights of his life. by alan scherstuhl the bronx music hall is the first new independent music venue in the borough in more than 50 years. by james barron get swept up in the boundless energy of the 1,000 year old vietnamese capital. by chris humphrey the saxophonist and composer has spent 50 years in the new york scene. as he turns 70, he’s commanding gigs at a brooklyn bar and continuing to inspire. by hank shteamer an archival label in the united states was going to release a huge compilation of records from the u.s.s.r. then russia invaded ukraine. by grayson haver currin hear tracks by victoria monét, samara joy, the linda lindas and others. by jon pareles the nonprofit seattle jazz fellowship has carved out a performance space in the historic globe building   for now   and is putting its economic model to the test. by eric olson fall is the ideal time to explore the ruggedly beautiful scottish capital, which turns 900 this year. by graeme virtue her intricate phrasing and live improvisational skills made her a cornerstone for artists of all sorts. listen to songs chosen by 10 musicians and writers who consider her a north star. by marcus j. moore at 82, the musician known for his work with miles davis and keith jarrett will perform a rare solo concert on his first instrument: the piano. by hank shteamer after forming a lauded band and writing tunes like “i remember clifford,” “whisper not” and “killer joe,” he had a second career composing and arranging music for television. by leonard benardo the “how to die alone” creator and actress and the grammy winning jazz singer talk about genre, improvisation and romantic comedies. by boris kachka the trumpeter, now 89, is at work on albums, live shows and sculptures, driven by the joy of creating and communicating. “i don’t look back,” he said. “i go forward.” by jim farber the donations, from john and jody arnhold, will expand creative work across disciplines, help pay for an annual fall festival and support the jazz program. by javier c. hernández christian mcbride, the grammy winning bassist, was reluctant to move out of new york, but his wife, melissa walker, a jazz vocalist, turned a century old house in new jersey into a sanctuary. by joanne kaufman the saxophonist and composer made “the world is on fire” with recent racial violence   and protests decrying it, and demanding change   in the foreground. by hank shteamer he wrote prolifically about the music and played an important role in documenting its history, especially in his many years with the institute of jazz studies. by barry singer anticipated debuts and long awaited follow ups are due this season. our critics plucked out a list of the most notable. by jon pareles, lindsay zoladz and hank shteamer big bands were built in the 1920s and ’30s to blast young dancers with layers of rhythm, but creative composers seeking a larger canvas have kept the form alive. hear 12 big selections. by giovanni russonello an immersive article spotlights choreographers who are carrying forward the legacy of black dance forms that flourished 100 years ago. by marcelle hopkins we want to know your seasonal anthem, for a future amplifier playlist. by lindsay zoladz hear tracks by sophie featuring bibi bourelly, kim deal, tommy richman and more. by jon pareles and lindsay zoladz a selection of entertainment highlights this weekend, including lee daniels’s “the deliverance,” a tale of possession based on a true story. by danielle dowling he first gained attention with jimmy smith and went on to work with harry connick jr., diana krall and ron carter. he also had a distinguished solo career. by clay risen phil schaap’s childhood home held what may be the largest collection of recorded jazz interviews, an archive that will now be housed at vanderbilt university. by corey kilgannon michael arenella will be the bandleader at the event, and he’ll also be dancing the charleston. by james barron the 1973 album proved that jazz could make a major impact on the modern pop mainstream. its surviving musicians are reuniting for a los angeles concert this month. by hank shteamer milton nascimento, una deidad musical en brasil, colabora con la bajista, vocalista y productora esperanza spalding en un álbum que contempla el efecto de la edad en el arte. by jack nicas hear tracks by mj lenderman, miranda lambert, asap rocky featuring jessica pratt and others. by jon pareles and lindsay zoladz milton nascimento, a musical deity in brazil, collaborates with the bassist, vocalist and producer esperanza spalding on an album that contemplates age’s effect on art. by jack nicas milton nascimento, uma divindade musical no brasil, colabora com a baixista, vocalista e produtora esperanza spalding em um álbum que contempla o efeito da idade sobre a arte. by jack nicas the musician, 28, has won a grammy for his work with samara joy and earned the respect of the elders who mentored him. his debut album is due friday. by helene stapinski “he always was a genius,” herbie hancock says of his friend and collaborator. hear a sampling of that genius in these 13 tracks. by marcus j. moore the sun ra arkestra saxophonist, who remains captivated by the power of sound, is an inspiring onstage presence. by hank shteamer a new podcast explores an array of items from the 133 year old hall’s archive, like ella fitzgerald’s glasses and an opening night ticket. by javier c. hernández our guide to a groovy beach day. by john white, wendy dorr, pat mccusker and marcus j. moore hear tracks by camila cabello, wilco, xavi and others. by jon pareles with the contortions and james white and the blacks, the songwriter and saxophonist set out to challenge musicians and stir up audiences. by jon pareles a look at one of the jazz icon’s most provocative albums. by john white, lynn levy, daniel ramirez and marcus j. moore starting in the late 1970s, she scored multiple hit singles, including “this time i’ll be sweeter” and “i try,” but a pair of strokes in the 2000s ended her career. by alex williams jawole willa jo zollar, who founded urban bush women four decades ago, says goodbye to it with a final work. by brian seibert the formidable arts institution has hired a design team to reconsider its relationship with its neighborhood. by mia jackson the multi instrumentalist julius rodriguez hones a bigger, more audacious sound on his second album, “evergreen.” by marcus j. moore he called himself a “professional listener,” and he tended to develop lifelong relationships with the artists he worked with. by giovanni russonello plus, more new music for your weekend. by elyssa dudley, kate lopresti, tina antolini, alyssa moxley and jon pareles the country has a rich, original relationship to jazz, with american techniques layered into regional traditions and rhythms. explore 50 years of recordings picked by musicians, poets and writers. by giovanni russonello “words and music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. by will hermes leading off the summer season at little island in manhattan, the choreographer presents “how long blues,” with t bone burnett and david mansfield. by gia kourlas the trumpeter, composer and bandleader who helped revitalize klezmer is battling cancer. but his work hasn’t slowed, and his longtime associates are rallying around him. by steve smith hear the jazz musician’s team up with the brazilian songwriter milton nascimento, plus tracks from saweetie, omar apollo and others. by jon pareles and lindsay zoladz for its joyce season, the company unveils “juke,” a spiky premiere by jamar roberts, along with dances by david parsons and penny saunders. by gia kourlas

friday, may 7, 2021 if you are discovering jazz for the first time then you've just found the perfect place to start. and if you are a true aficionado then this list is sure to remind you of some albums that you will rush to rediscover. the 1950s saw the release of some of the greatest albums, of any genre, ever made. if you've never heard any of these albums and are wondering where to start, you could do a lot worse than by starting at the top, with kind of blue, and working your way down the list the list featured below was originally published in the august 2006 issue of jazzwise magazine and quickly established itself as a key reference for anyone interested in exploring the rich history of jazz on record. we have now taken the concept much further with a brand new publication   the 100 jazz albums that shook the world   a 100 page definitive guide to the most important and influential jazz albums that have gone on to change and shape the course of the music from the 1920s to the present day. the 100 jazz albums that shook the world is exclusively available in print and includes new in depth editorial on each album from jazzwise's acclaimed team of writers, plus in depth features on the making of the top three albums, a look at the albums that almost made the cut and a guide to buying the featured titles on lp and cd. order your copy today at: www.magsubscriptions.com columbia miles davis (t), john coltrane (ts), cannonball adderley (as), wynton kelly (p), bill evans (p), paul chambers (b) and jimmy cobb (d). rec. 1959 how does one properly gauge impact? there’s no smouldering crater in the case of kind of blue. miles’ melancholy, modal jazz masterwork. the 1959 disc didn’t arrive with a thunderous clap, yet four decades later, at the end of the millennium, there it was at the top of any and all “best of” lists, nudging aside so many rock, pop and hip hop recordings. today, there it is on hollywood soundtracks, an incontestable signifier of hip. there it is near the sales till, still moving up to 5,000 copies a week worldwide, outselling most contemporary jazz recordings. and there it sits in at least five million cd collections. often it’s the one jazz title owned by a metal head or a classical enthusiast, not just the jazz focused. but perhaps kind of blue is better measured by the sum of the constituent parts. five tunes, exceedingly simple in construction, exceptionally deep in evocative power, played by seven post bop masters, all in their prime. a once in a lifetime line up that makes the term “all star” seem inadequate: trumpeter davis, plus sax men john coltrane and cannonball adderley, pianists bill evans and wynton kelly, bassist paul chambers and drummer jimmy cobb. certainly, kind of blue must be measured by musical influence. ask any number of influential music makers who have been around, such as quincy jones, herbie hancock, and the like, they all agree. at a time when the music had “gotten thick” as miles said. kind of blue distilled modern jazz into a cool and detached essence. stuart nicholson atlantic ornette coleman (as), don cherry (t), charlie haden (b), billy higgins (d). rec. 1959 although his work for impulse, blue note, columbia, flying dutchman and his own harmolodic label should be by no means be discounted, the atlantic recordings are arguably the backbone of the saxophonist’s oeuvre. taken together, the five sets that start with 1959’s the shape of jazz to come and conclude with 1962’s ornette! still make for something of a shock to the system decades later for two simple reasons: the cast iron strength of character of coleman as a soloist, which also holds true for his accompanists, who are actually more like co pilots; and the absolute boldness of the writing which both confirms the vitality of the “avant garde” or “new music” and makes the crucial point that its central development away from bebop’s clearly mapped chords and set meters took it “back” to early blues and country as well as forward to an undefined idiomatic space. ultimately, coleman’s talent is for making music that is as complex as it is primal. and not affected. the mercurial nature of coleman’s thinking led him to reshape structures more daringly than the average musician could imagine and his conception of harmony and tempo as a kind of modelling clay rather than rigid building blocks upon which to graft layers of sound still provides an invaluable lesson for contemporary players. alternatively, one might argue that the immense appeal of his songs is their mesh of polyrhythm with a form of polymelody so that the whole ensemble acts as a contrapuntal choir singing from different hymn sheets without falling into discord. kevin le gendre prestige sonny rollins (ts), tommy flanagan (p), doug watkins (b) and max roach (d). rec. 1956 for once, an album title that doesn’t misrepresent the artist. and like so many classic albums of the period, it was taped in a single session, in the summer of 1956. the playing of all four musicians concerned: rollins, tommy flanagan, watkins and roach is of the highest order to where the passing of 54 years hasn’t in any way diminished its sheer vitality. truth: it sounds even more contemporary today than way back then with recordist rudy van gelder faithfully capturing the sheer depth of rollins’ delivery. though ‘saint thomas’ and ‘moritat’ (‘mack the knife’) are this album’s best known tracks a knowing interpretation of ‘you don’t know what love is’ is surely the jewel in this crown. for budding saxophonists, your first lesson starts here. roy carr riverside thelonious monk (p, celeste), ernie henry (as), sonny rollins (ts), oscar pettiford/paul chambers (b), max roach (d) and clark terry (t). rec. 1956 an album which, each time it's reissued, seems to get better. although they’re lauded today, monk’s recordings from the previous nine years on blue note and prestige hardly sold, and were not even particularly well received by critics or fellow musicians, except for a tiny minority. producer orrin keepnews, in his new notes, reminds us that his “plan to make monk more acceptable began in mid 1955 with an all ellington set [and] an album consisting entirely of standard tunes”. the immediate follow up was brilliant corners, not only an exceptional piece of work but the one that finally saw him embraced by everyone who could hear past his unconventional technique. the title composition was a unique concept, and the combination of monk’s commanding execution with rollins at his early peak   they’d recorded together before, but never like this   matches the mastery of sonny’s employer at the time, max roach. there are numerous details to discover for yourself, including monk’s only recording on celeste (‘pannonica’) and roach’s first on timpani (‘bemsha swing’). this music just has to be heard. or re heard. now. brian priestley columbia charles mingus (b), jimmy knepper/willie dennis (tb), john handy (as, ts), shafi hadi (as), booker ervin (ts), horace parlan (p) and dannie richmond (d). rec. 1959 one of the distinguishing factors in mingus’ 1959 recordings is that, unlike the five  or six piece working groups of the previous few years, he was allowed to expand his personnel in the studio. that obviously includes atlantic’s rough and ready blues and roots which, in a couple of tunes, functioned as an alternate version of ah um but which was not released for over a year. by then, ah um had made its impact, not least because of sidemen such as knepper, ervin and handy   none of them “names” until chosen by mingus   and, similarly, the great richmond. another factor in its success was a killer selection of nine tunes. a programme starting out with three remarkably different blues   ‘better git it in your soul’, ‘goodbye pork pie hat’ and ‘boogie stop shuffle’   could hardly fail to grab mingus fans, but the performances were tight enough to convince many doubters as well. brian priestley atlantic john coltrane (ts), tommy flanagan, cedar walton, wynton kelly (p), paul chambers (b), lex humphries, art taylor and jimmy cobb (d). rec. 1959 today, coltrane continues to be a musical inspiration for both fans and musicians alike, and his recorded legacy is essential study for any aspiring jazz musician. ‘giant steps’ and the underlying harmonic movement of coltrane’s 16 bar composition   often called “the coltrane changes”   have long been a settled module in jazz education pedagogy. so with almost all professional jazz musicians under the age of 40 having enjoyed at least some degree of formal jazz education, it is not unreasonable to suggest that among jazz musicians, and so within jazz itself, giant steps may well be the most influential jazz album of all time. coltrane’s solos have been transcribed and analysed by countless scholars, he has been the subject of hundreds and hundreds of academic dissertations and there have been seven biographies of him in the english language alone. indeed, so much has been written about coltrane that it might appear you need a doctorate of music to go anywhere near his recordings. nothing could be further from the truth, as giant steps demonstrates so eloquently. his music contains universal values that still speak to us now   the essential humanity of the his work, the sheer joy of music making and the power and energy of his playing that even today can be both moving and uplifting. these are values that that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone, just as coltrane intended. stuart nicholson columbia dave brubeck (p), paul desmond (as), eugene wright (b) and joe morello (d). rec. 1959 dave brubeck and paul desmond were an odd couple! chalk and cheese: brubeck’s frequently thunderous, bombastic pianistics being in stark contrast to desmond’s unruffled pure toned alto sax. but it worked. never more so than on time out, one of probably just half a dozen albums on the shelves of those who don’t admit to liking jazz. it was an album that prompted even more controversy than ornette coleman’s emergence the previous year. while, perhaps, not the first group to explore compound time signatures, time out (a million plus seller that also produced two jukebox hits ‘take five’ and ‘blue rondo a la turk’) proved a major breakthrough in that it captured the public’s attention by offering up a clear blueprint of future possibilities in jazz as opposed to being misconstrued as an attention grabbing gimmick. though the singles are the best known tracks, ‘kathy’s waltz’ and ‘three to get ready’ are their equal in terms of genuine inspiration. but then the entire original album remains unaffected by the passing of time. roy carr argo ahmad jamal (p), israel crosby (b), vernell fournier (d). rec. 1958 if this album had been recorded for blue note or riverside, i wonder if it would now be universally acknowledged to be the widely influential masterspiece that it most surely is? although it is fashionable nowadays to pay lip service to the attention paid jamal by miles davis at this time, it is also still fashionable to presume that others aside from jamal himself went on to make significant music with his devices. well, i beg to differ. this is significant music, if one can forgive jamal selling (he claims) a million copies of this record by developing a seamlessly cool style of playing not beholden to powell, monk, oscar peterson or any other icon. it has its own message, its own story to tell. it endures. enjoy it without shame. keith shadwick capitol frank sinatra (v), nelson riddle (arr, cond) and big band. rec. 1955 56 sinatra the jazz singer? there are vast swathes of sinatra recordings that could never be remotely described as jazz, but the man himself credits tommy dorsey and billie holiday as his musical mentors and, when he put his mind to it, he could phrase and swing with the best. additionally   and crucially   he influenced just about every jazz singer and musician worthy of the name between the 1940s and today, including such people as lester young, miles davis and john coltrane, all of whom had listened very closely indeed to sinatra's balladry. this classic mid 50s session puts frankie’s jazz credentials perfectly in order and throws down the gauntlet for everyone else. keith shadwick atlantic john lewis (p), milt jackson (vb), percy heath (b) and connie kay (d). rec. 1956 fontessa was the modern jazz quartet’s first for atlantic, and both it and pyramid together with the european concert constitute their best work for the label which is to say, their best apart from the early prestige/ojc albums. to be sure, parts are highly redolent of the period in terms of their ‘classical’ counterpoint, and a couple of brief episodes that don't quite come off stick out rather uncomfortably at this distance. nevertheless, this is minimised by fontessa's well ordered programme of two new lewis compositions, two jazz standards and three of what lewis used to call american bal­lads, including a remake of ‘willow weep for me‘ which milt had first recorded with monk's quartet (on genius of modern music vol.2). the key item in the programme, however, is lewis’ title suite which, without any obvious breaks, lasts 11 minutes and covers many moods and tempos. as well as the literary allusion explained in lewis’ note, it tells a compelling musical story. there’s something both intelligent and often highly emotional going on in these albums that stands the test of time. brian priestley clef/verve bud powell (p), ray brown (b) and buddy rich (d). rec. 1950 51 two herculean trio tunes   ‘tea for two’ and ‘hallelujah’, both taken at breakneck speeds   make up the 1950 contribution here. with the benefit of extra cd space we get treated to two extra takes of ‘tea for two’, giving us an object lesson in how powell developed his material as well as maintaining his incredible improvisational creativity. the level of invention powell achieves puts this recital on equal par with anything in the recorded annals of jazz piano and makes it basic required jazz listening. keith shadwick blue note art blakey (d), lee morgan (t), benny golson (ts), bobby timmons (p) and jymie merritt (b). rec. 1958 this marked the messengers return to blue note and a new line up. originally issued as art blakey and the jazz messengers, the title was quickly changed to moanin’ to capitalise on the public’s instant response to the lp’s opening track and also ‘blues march’. acknowledged as one of the all time hard bop classic albums. blue note jimmy smith (org), thornel schwartz (g), bay perry and donald bailey (d). rec. 1956 it’s that simple: jimmy smith invented modern jazz organ and this is the album (in fact, volume one of two quickly released volumes recorded at the same february 1956 sessions) where he announced his arrival. from the off, blue note was looking for commercial success and his version of 'the champ', though not the first jimmy smith blue note single (on volume two rather than volume one), delivered big time. by then the first album had delivered a blues plus bebop blueprint for the jazz organ trio that smith would subsequently develop, refine and occasionally revise, but that stayed remarkably consistent in content and quality over the next decade. keith shadwick columbia duke ellington (p), willie cook, ray nance, clark terry, cat anderson (t), britt woodman, quentin jackson, john sanders (tb), johnny hodges, russell procope (as), jimmy hamilton (cl, ts), paul gonsalves (ts), harry carney (bar s), jimmy woode (b) and sam woodyard (d). rec. 1956 ellington often acknowledged that the 1956 newport jazz festival offered him a virtual rebirth in terms of his in person and recording career but there is little doubt as to why. apart from the on site near riot after the conclusion of 'diminuendo and crescendo in blue', this is a well paced record for a lounge chair audience wanting to know what the excitement was all about. the fact that 60 per cent of the original (including just about all of the festival suite) was recorded in the studio in the following days due to onstage microphone problems was only confirmed decades later. the original vinyl had just three tracks: this was also the original cd configuration. a later two cd version combines much improved sound with the complete festival appearance, plus studio extras. keith shadwick verve ella fitzgerald (v) and the buddy bregman orchestra. rec. 1956 norman granz had long cherished the ambition to have ella recording for his label but had to wait until 1956 to make the signing. his first project for her was to record as many cole porter songs as they could lay their hands on in large ensemble style and release them (initially as volumes one and two) on an unsuspecting but quickly enraptured public. the idea caught on and ella kept doing composer songbooks well into the 1960s. nobody did it better, even though it could be said that sinatra’s studious avoidance of such anthologies produced the greater individual legacy. keith shadwick blue note cannonball adderley (as), miles davis (t), hank jones (p), sam jones (b) and art blakey (d). rec. 1959 being sandwiched between miles davis and john coltrane is bound to up anyone’s game. it certainly didn’t do julian ‘cannonball’ adderley any harm who joined miles in october 1957, three months prior to wayward john coltrane’s return to the fold, and remained until september 1959 when he departed to be reunited with his brother nat. cannonball’s arrival in new york from florida in 1955, coincided with charlie parker’s death in march, at which point he was unfairly heralded as the new bird. fortunately, adderley possessed sufficient strength of character to sidestep such comparisons, being more blues than bop, more sanctified than speed crazy, more commercial than contrite. to a whole new generation, cannonball was a touchstone whose joyful noise reached out to a much wider audience than most of his contemporaries. more a populariser than innovator, his soulful sound was much easier to assimilate and thus connected instantly with fans of both straight ahead jazz and r&b/ soul. having spent a month in europe where he supplied the soundtrack to louis malle’s lift to the scaffold the next occasion miles was in a recording studio was on february 4, 1958 when cannonball made an impressive debut on milestones. just one month later, miles adopted the role of sideman on somethin’ else, adderley’s one off album for blue note. often billed as cannonball’s five stars, this was not, as some suggested, a surrogate miles album, (he wrote the title track) but a bona fide cannonball date, exquisitely recorded tight and close up by rudy van gelder   most notably on ‘autumn leaves’. overall, one of the leader’s best ever accounts of his virtuosity. roy carr rca victor george russell (comp, arr, boombams), art farmer (t), hal mckusick (as, f), barry galbraith (g), bill evans (p), milt hinton, teddy kotick (b), joe harris, paul motian and osie johnson (d). rec. 1956 this record has been reissued so many times that it may even be approaching acceptable sales figures at last. russell is as well known as a theorist as he is a practising musician, and it is not meant as an insult to say that his music is probably more often paid lip service to rather than his records listened to. his music is not easy, being complex and angular, even at this distance his 1956 sessions for victor giving the listener few points of comfort. this is fully intentional on the part of russell and points up both his integrity and his lack of a substantial popular audience. the presence of art farmer, bill evans and paul motian on this record helps pull in the uncommitted listener, but everyone here plays for russell, not for themselves, making this a pure dose of russell’s musical personality. once the astringency of his sonics and his methods are assimilated, this music delivers many pleasures, not least the solos of the then little known bill evans. give it a few listens in a row and you’ll hear what i mean. keith shadwick atlantic tristano (p), lee konitz (as), peter ind, gene ramey (b), jeff morton and art taylor (d). rec. 1955 theorist, teacher, creative thinker and virtuoso pianist, tristano had advanced and very firmly held views about what constituted good playing practice. he expected his musicians to adhere to such views and accept whatever discipline he imposed. that it worked for others can be heard in lee konitz and warne marsh, and that it was influential can be discerned through bill evans's absorption of tristano's methods. but tristano’s own audience remained tiny, this atlantic album containing his moving elegy to charlie parker, 'requiem', and his controversial multi tracking of his own piano lines, 'line up’, providing a brief moment when everyone sat up and took notice. keith shadwick emarcy clifford brown (t), harold land (ts), richie powell (p), george morrow (b) and max roach (d). rec. 1954 for whatever reason the brown roach quintet was never quite as universally lionised as say, the jazz messengers or the horace silver quintet were. yet, they had everything going for them and as this selection by the pre rollins line up proves that one of their great strengths was a pad of marvellous material that embraced brownie’s unforgettable ‘daahoud’, ‘the blues walk’ and ‘joy spring’ plus original takes on ‘delilah’, ‘jordu’, ‘parisian thoroughfare’ and duke ellington’s ‘what am i here for.’ though brownie and max roach deservedly grabbed the plaudits, it’s time to turn the spotlight on that truly underrated tenor player harold land plus bud powell’s ill fated piano playing younger brother richie who really goes for broke on two takes of ‘the blues walk’ as does land. some may have had reservations about land’s tone, but as with hank mobley, he couldn’t be mistaken for any other horn player, though i can detect elements of land in the work of mid period tubby hayes. overall, a pretty well faultless account of one of the greatest of hard bop bands, which remains just as relevant today as the day it was first minted. roy carr capitol miles davis (t), lee konitz (as), gerry mulligan (bar s), jj johnson (tb), kai winding (tb), junior collins (fr hn), gunther schuller (fr hn), sandy siegelstein (fr hn), billy barber (tba), john barber (tba), nelson boyd (b), joe shulman (b), al mckibbon (b), al haig (p), john lewis (p), kenny clarke (d), max roach (d), gil evans (arr), johnny carisi (arr) and kenny hagood (v). rec. 1949 50 it’s certainly possible to overrate these recordings (as is true of kind of blue) and, while that was widespread during the 1950s 60s, the reverse seems to be the case today. the 12 original studio tracks were initially baffling to everyone except fellow musicians, who hastened to copy their surface characteristics but, when reissued in the wake of miles ahead, they underlined the advanced thinking of arrangers mulligan and evans. miles too is heard not only playing excellent lead trumpet but soloing in a way that, though bop influenced, is already pre modal, and konitz hits the forward gear from a quite different angle. brian priestley roulette count basie (p), thad jones, joe newman, wendell culley, snooky young (t), benny powell, henry coker, al grey (tb), marshall royal (as, cl), frank wess (as, ts), frank foster, eddie “lockjaw” davis (ts), charlie fowlkes (bar s), freddie green (g), eddie jones (b), sonny payne (d) and neal hefti (arr). rec. 1957 basie’s great career reviving 1957 album, the finest achievement of his dynamic, “modern” sound boasting new testament big band, is a seemingly never ending and ever expanding story in the era of cd reissues. the lp, featuring 11 tracks largely written and entirely arranged by the great neal hefti, was originally released on the infamous morris levy’s roulette records label. in the early 1990s that epoch defining set was reissued with five out takes tacked on from the same sessions, but this time showcasing the capable arranging skills of jimmy mundy. in all other respects, though, the composition of the band was unchanged: which is important because ‘lockjaw’ davis’ improvisations are crucial in adding a little splintering volatility to the otherwise sturdily muscular, well marshalled sound honed by hefti. robert shore pacific jazz gerry milligan (bar s), chet baker (t), bobby whitlock (b) and chico hamilton (d). rec. 1952 mulligan first made a significant contribution to recorded jazz through his arrangements for miles’ so called birth of the cool sessions for capitol, but it was the 1952 piano less quartet that hit the headlines and made him (as well as trumpeter sidekick chet baker) virtually overnight jazz celebrities. this album covers the initial (and best) sides the mulligan quartet cut, for pacific jazz, including ‘bernie’s tune', ‘freeway’ and ‘walkin’ shoes’, where the uncanny empathy between mulligan and baker is constantly underlined by the firmly resilient beat of chico hamilton. west coast jazz in its infancy and at its most joyously infectious. keith shadwick clef 1953 art tatum (p). rec. 1953 for decades tatum was every jazz pianist's first choice as the greatest piano of all but by the early 1950s his public profile was still minute compared with some of his contemporaries. norman granz decided to fix that: between 1953 and tatum's death in 1956 granz recorded well over 200 selections and issued them on clef and verve. tatum’s popular and critical reputation has been secure ever since, his baroque creations simultaneously exciting and terrifying the listener. this first of the series is a solo recital. all the tatum clefs and verves are now available on granz’s last owned label, pablo. keith shadwick emarcy sarah vaughan (v), clifford brown (t), herbie mann (f), paul quinichette (ts), jimmy jones (p), joe benjamin (b) and roy haynes (d). rec. 1954 vaughan was a by word for vocal worship among her peers and musical associates by the late 1940s, but little she recorded before this album consistently showed her true worth to jazz. nestled in a sympathetic small group setting, sassy simply blossoms into an overwhelmingly seductive artist whose complete abandonment to her own idea of line and sound gives the listener a level of ecstatic pleasure delivered only by   well, by sassy, ella and billie, truth be told. she may later have equalled this in other settings, but here the gauntlet was well and truly thrown down. keith shadwick atlantic charles mingus (b), jackie mclean (as), , jr monterose (ts), mal waldron (p), willie jones (d). rec. 30 jan 1956 mingus’ first two atlantics (this album and the clown), heard complete, excited and appalled their initial listeners. pithecanthropus introduced deliberately distorted saxophone tones, bits of collective improv and even sound effects describing ‘a foggy day (in san francisco)’, “adapted” from its gershwin source. if you’re unaware of this album, get up to speed now. brian priestley if the new and different were kenton’s guiding lights then no piece of music exemplified this more than ‘city of glass’, comprising three movements composed and arranged by the delphic robert graettinger. to say the piece was ahead of its time is an understatement. debuted at the chicago civic opera house in 1948, a capacity audience greeted the piece in stunned silence until kenton, with remarkable presence of mind, leapt in front of his band and with a dramatic gesture signalled for his band to take a bow. the baffled audience responded with a huge ovation. ‘city of glass’ is one of the great, if misunderstood, extended compositions in jazz. neither middle brow or highbrow, but aimed well over the heads of most of kenton’s fans, it was berated by the critics for its “classical” aspirations. but this uniquely conceived piece of music had no precedent in either classical music or jazz so there was no context in which to situate it at the time. in fact, the endorsements of many great jazz musicians − coleman hawkins was one − made tart contrast to the critic’s instant dismissals. stuart nicholson never miss an issue of the uk's biggest selling jazz magazine. take a peek inside the latest issue of jazzwise magazine. jazzwise magazine, st. judes church, dulwich road, herne hill, london, se24 0pd. 0208 677 0012 © ma education & music ltd (a part of the mark allen group ) 2025 | all rights reserved

jazz is a music genre that originated in the african american communities of new orleans, louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues, ragtime, european harmony, african rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, marches, vaudeville song, and dance music. since the 1920s jazz age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. as jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. new orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, french quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. however, jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in new orleans or elsewhere.[1] in the 1930s, arranged dance oriented swing big bands, kansas city jazz (a hard swinging, bluesy, improvisational style), and gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were the prominent styles. bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music" which was played at faster tempos and used more chord based improvisation. cool jazz developed near the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, linear melodic lines.[2] the mid 1950s saw the emergence of hard bop, which introduced influences from rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues to small groups and particularly to saxophone and piano. modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation, as did free jazz, which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures. jazz rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock music's rhythms, electric instruments, and highly amplified stage sound. in the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful, garnering significant radio airplay. other styles and genres abound in the 21st century, such as latin and afro cuban jazz. the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. it is believed to be related to jasm, a slang term dating back to 1860 meaning 'pep, energy'.[3][4] the earliest written record of the word is in a 1912 article in the los angeles times in which a minor league baseball pitcher described a pitch which he called a 'jazz ball' "because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it".[3][4] the use of the word in a musical context was documented as early as 1915 in the chicago daily tribune.[4][5] its first documented use in a musical context in new orleans was in a november 14, 1916, times picayune article about "jas bands".[6] in an interview with national public radio, musician eubie blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying: "when broadway picked it up, they called it 'j a z z'. it wasn't called that. it was spelled 'j a s s'. that was dirty, and if you knew what it was, you wouldn't say it in front of ladies."[7] the american dialect society named it the word of the 20th century.[8] jazz is difficult to define because it encompasses a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years, from ragtime to rock infused fusion. attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, such as european music history or african music. but critic joachim ernst berendt argues that its terms of reference and its definition should be broader,[9] defining jazz as a "form of art music which originated in the united states through the confrontation of the negro with european music"[10] and arguing that it differs from european music in that jazz has a "special relationship to time defined as 'swing'". jazz involves "a spontaneity and vitality of musical production in which improvisation plays a role" and contains a "sonority and manner of phrasing which mirror the individuality of the performing jazz musician".[9] a broader definition that encompasses different eras of jazz has been proposed by travis jackson: "it is music that includes qualities such as swing, improvising, group interaction, developing an 'individual voice', and being open to different musical possibilities".[11] krin gibbard argued that "jazz is a construct" which designates "a number of musics with enough in common to be understood as part of a coherent tradition".[12] duke ellington, one of jazz's most famous figures, said, "it's all music."[13] although jazz is considered difficult to define, in part because it contains many subgenres, improvisation is one of its defining elements. the centrality of improvisation is attributed to the influence of earlier forms of music such as blues, a form of folk music which arose in part from the work songs and field hollers of african american slaves on plantations. these work songs were commonly structured around a repetitive call and response pattern, but early blues was also improvisational. classical music performance is evaluated more by its fidelity to the musical score, with less attention given to interpretation, ornamentation, and accompaniment. the classical performer's goal is to play the composition as it was written. in contrast, jazz is often characterized by the product of interaction and collaboration, placing less value on the contribution of the composer, if there is one, and more on the performer.[14] the jazz performer interprets a tune in individual ways, never playing the same composition twice. depending on the performer's mood, experience, and interaction with band members or audience members, the performer may change melodies, harmonies, and time signatures.[15] in early dixieland, a.k.a. new orleans jazz, performers took turns playing melodies and improvising countermelodies. in the swing era of the 1920s 40s, big bands relied more on arrangements which were written or learned by ear and memorized. soloists improvised within these arrangements. in the bebop era of the 1940s, big bands gave way to small groups and minimal arrangements in which the melody was stated briefly at the beginning and most of the piece was improvised. modal jazz abandoned chord progressions to allow musicians to improvise even more. in many forms of jazz, a soloist is supported by a rhythm section of one or more chordal instruments (piano, guitar), double bass, and drums. the rhythm section plays chords and rhythms that outline the composition structure and complement the soloist.[16] in avant garde and free jazz, the separation of soloist and band is reduced, and there is license, or even a requirement, for the abandoning of chords, scales, and meters. since the emergence of bebop, forms of jazz that are commercially oriented or influenced by popular music have been criticized. according to bruce johnson, there has always been a "tension between jazz as a commercial music and an art form".[11] regarding the dixieland jazz revival of the 1940s, black musicians rejected it as being shallow nostalgia entertainment for white audiences.[17][18] on the other hand, traditional jazz enthusiasts have dismissed bebop, free jazz, and jazz fusion as forms of debasement and betrayal. an alternative view is that jazz can absorb and transform diverse musical styles.[19] by avoiding the creation of norms, jazz allows avant garde styles to emerge.[11] for some african americans, jazz has drawn attention to african american contributions to culture and history. for others, jazz is a reminder of "an oppressive and racist society and restrictions on their artistic visions".[20] amiri baraka argues that there is a "white jazz" genre that expresses whiteness.[21] white jazz musicians appeared in the midwest and in other areas throughout the u.s. papa jack laine, who ran the reliance band in new orleans in the 1910s, was called "the father of white jazz".[22] the original dixieland jazz band, whose members were white, were the first jazz group to record, and bix beiderbecke was one of the most prominent jazz soloists of the 1920s.[23] the chicago style was developed by white musicians such as eddie condon, bud freeman, jimmy mcpartland, and dave tough. others from chicago such as benny goodman and gene krupa became leading members of swing during the 1930s.[24] many bands included both black and white musicians. these musicians helped change attitudes toward race in the u.s.[25] female jazz performers and composers have contributed to jazz throughout its history. although betty carter, ella fitzgerald, adelaide hall, billie holiday, peggy lee, abbey lincoln, anita o'day, dinah washington, and ethel waters were recognized for their vocal talent, less familiar were bandleaders, composers, and instrumentalists such as pianist lil hardin armstrong, trumpeter valaida snow, and songwriters irene higginbotham and dorothy fields. women began playing instruments in jazz in the early 1920s, drawing particular recognition on piano.[26] when male jazz musicians were drafted during world war ii, many all female bands replaced them.[26] the international sweethearts of rhythm, which was founded in 1937, was a popular band that became the first all female integrated band in the u.s. and the first to travel with the uso, touring europe in 1945. women were members of the big bands of woody herman and gerald wilson. beginning in the 1950s, many women jazz instrumentalists were prominent, some sustaining long careers. some of the most distinctive improvisers, composers, and bandleaders in jazz have been women.[27] trombonist melba liston is acknowledged as the first female horn player to work in major bands and to make a real impact on jazz, not only as a musician but also as a respected composer and arranger, particularly through her collaborations with randy weston from the late 1950s into the 1990s.[28][29] jewish americans played a significant role in jazz. as jazz spread, it developed to encompass many different cultures, and the work of jewish composers in tin pan alley helped shape the many different sounds that jazz came to incorporate.[30] jewish americans were able to thrive in jazz because of the probationary whiteness that they were allotted at the time.[31] george bornstein wrote that african americans were sympathetic to the plight of the jewish american and vice versa. as disenfranchised minorities themselves, jewish composers of popular music saw themselves as natural allies with african americans.[32] the jazz singer with al jolson is one example of how jewish americans were able to bring jazz, music that african americans developed, into popular culture.[33] benny goodman was a vital jewish american to the progression of jazz. goodman was the leader of a racially integrated band named king of swing. his jazz concert in the carnegie hall in 1938 was the first ever to be played there. the concert was described by bruce eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history".[34] shep fields also helped to popularize "sweet" jazz music through his appearances and big band remote broadcasts from such landmark venues as chicago's palmer house, broadway's paramount theater and the starlight roof at the famed waldorf astoria hotel. he entertained audiences with a light elegant musical style which remained popular with audiences for nearly three decades from the 1930s until the late 1950s.[35][36][37] jazz originated in the late 19th to early 20th century. it developed out of many forms of music, including blues, ragtime, european harmony, african rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, marches, vaudeville song, and dance music.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][excessive citations] it also incorporated interpretations of american and european classical music, entwined with african and slave folk songs and the influences of west african culture.[45] its composition and style have changed many times throughout the years with each performer's personal interpretation and improvisation, which is also one of the greatest appeals of the genre.[46] by the 18th century, slaves in the new orleans area gathered socially at a special market, in an area which later became known as congo square, famous for its african dances.[47] by 1866, the atlantic slave trade had brought nearly 400,000 africans to north america.[48] the slaves came largely from west africa and the greater congo river basin and brought strong musical traditions with them.[49] the african traditions primarily use a single line melody and call and response pattern, and the rhythms have a counter metric structure and reflect african speech patterns.[50] an 1885 account says that they were making strange music (creole) on an equally strange variety of 'instruments' washboards, washtubs, jugs, boxes beaten with sticks or bones and a drum made by stretching skin over a flour barrel.[41][51] lavish festivals with african based dances to drums were organized on sundays at place congo, or congo square, in new orleans until 1843.[52] there are historical accounts of other music and dance gatherings elsewhere in the southern united states. robert palmer said of percussive slave music: usually such music was associated with annual festivals, when the year's crop was harvested and several days were set aside for celebration. as late as 1861, a traveler in north carolina saw dancers dressed in costumes that included horned headdresses and cow tails and heard music provided by a sheepskin covered "gumbo box", apparently a frame drum; triangles and jawbones furnished the auxiliary percussion. there are quite a few [accounts] from the southeastern states and louisiana dating from the period 1820 1850. some of the earliest [mississippi] delta settlers came from the vicinity of new orleans, where drumming was never actively discouraged for very long and homemade drums were used to accompany public dancing until the outbreak of the civil war.[53] another influence came from the harmonic style of hymns of the church, which black slaves had learned and incorporated into their own music as spirituals.[54] the origins of the blues are undocumented, though they can be seen as the secular counterpart of the spirituals. however, as gerhard kubik points out, whereas the spirituals are homophonic, rural blues and early jazz "was largely based on concepts of heterophony".[55] during the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians learned to play european instruments, particularly the violin, which they used to parody european dance music in their own cakewalk dances. in turn, european american minstrel show performers in blackface popularized the music internationally, combining syncopation with european harmonic accompaniment. in the mid 1800s the white new orleans composer louis moreau gottschalk adapted slave rhythms and melodies from cuba and other caribbean islands into piano salon music. new orleans was the main nexus between the afro caribbean and african american cultures. the black codes outlawed drumming by slaves, which meant that african drumming traditions were not preserved in north america, unlike in cuba, haiti, and elsewhere in the caribbean. african based rhythmic patterns were retained in the united states in large part through "body rhythms" such as stomping, clapping, and patting juba dancing.[56] in the opinion of jazz historian ernest borneman, what preceded new orleans jazz before 1890 was "afro latin music", similar to what was played in the caribbean at the time.[57] a three stroke pattern known in cuban music as tresillo is a fundamental rhythmic figure heard in many different slave musics of the caribbean, as well as the afro caribbean folk dances performed in new orleans congo square and gottschalk's compositions (for example "souvenirs from havana" (1859)). tresillo (shown below) is the most basic and most prevalent duple pulse rhythmic cell in sub saharan african music traditions and the music of the african diaspora.[58][59] tresillo is heard prominently in new orleans second line music and in other forms of popular music from that city from the turn of the 20th century to present.[60] "by and large the simpler african rhythmic patterns survived in jazz ... because they could be adapted more readily to european rhythmic conceptions," jazz historian gunther schuller observed. "some survived, others were discarded as the europeanization progressed."[61] in the post civil war period (after 1865), african americans were able to obtain surplus military bass drums, snare drums and fifes, and an original african american drum and fife music emerged, featuring tresillo and related syncopated rhythmic figures.[62] this was a drumming tradition that was distinct from its caribbean counterparts, expressing a uniquely african american sensibility. "the snare and bass drummers played syncopated cross rhythms," observed the writer robert palmer, speculating that "this tradition must have dated back to the latter half of the nineteenth century, and it could have not have developed in the first place if there hadn't been a reservoir of polyrhythmic sophistication in the culture it nurtured."[56] african american music began incorporating afro cuban rhythmic motifs in the 19th century when the habanera (cuban contradanza) gained international popularity.[63] musicians from havana and new orleans would take the twice daily ferry between both cities to perform, and the habanera quickly took root in the musically fertile crescent city. john storm roberts states that the musical genre habanera "reached the u.s. twenty years before the first rag was published."[64] for the more than quarter century in which the cakewalk, ragtime, and proto jazz were forming and developing, the habanera was a consistent part of african american popular music.[64] habaneras were widely available as sheet music and were the first written music which was rhythmically based on an african motif (1803).[65] from the perspective of african american music, the "habanera rhythm" (also known as "congo"),[65] "tango congo",[66] or tango.[67] can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat.[68] the habanera was the first of many cuban music genres which enjoyed periods of popularity in the united states and reinforced and inspired the use of tresillo based rhythms in african american music. new orleans native louis moreau gottschalk's piano piece "ojos criollos (danse cubaine)" (1860) was influenced by the composer's studies in cuba: the habanera rhythm is clearly heard in the left hand.[58]: 125 in gottschalk's symphonic work "a night in the tropics" (1859), the tresillo variant cinquillo appears extensively.[69] the figure was later used by scott joplin and other ragtime composers. comparing the music of new orleans with the music of cuba, wynton marsalis observes that tresillo is the new orleans "clavé", a spanish word meaning "code" or "key", as in the key to a puzzle, or mystery.[70] although the pattern is only half a clave, marsalis makes the point that the single celled figure is the guide pattern of new orleans music. jelly roll morton called the rhythmic figure the spanish tinge and considered it an essential ingredient of jazz.[71] the abolition of slavery in 1865 led to new opportunities for the education of freed african americans. although strict segregation limited employment opportunities for most blacks, many were able to find work in entertainment. black musicians were able to provide entertainment in dances, minstrel shows, and in vaudeville, during which time many marching bands were formed. black pianists played in bars, clubs, and brothels, as ragtime developed.[72][73] ragtime appeared as sheet music, popularized by african american musicians such as the entertainer ernest hogan, whose hit songs appeared in 1895. two years later, vess ossman recorded a medley of these songs as a banjo solo known as "rag time medley".[74][75] also in 1897, the white composer william krell published his "mississippi rag" as the first written piano instrumental ragtime piece, and tom turpin published his "harlem rag", the first rag published by an african american. classically trained pianist scott joplin produced his "original rags" in 1898 and, in 1899, had an international hit with "maple leaf rag", a multi strain ragtime march with four parts that feature recurring themes and a bass line with copious seventh chords. its structure was the basis for many other rags, and the syncopations in the right hand, especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were novel at the time.[76] the last four measures of scott joplin's "maple leaf rag" (1899) are shown below. african based rhythmic patterns such as tresillo and its variants, the habanera rhythm and cinquillo, are heard in the ragtime compositions of joplin and turpin. joplin's "solace" (1909) is generally considered to be in the habanera genre:[77][78] both of the pianist's hands play in a syncopated fashion, completely abandoning any sense of a march rhythm. ned sublette postulates that the tresillo/habanera rhythm "found its way into ragtime and the cakewalk,"[79] whilst roberts suggests that "the habanera influence may have been part of what freed black music from ragtime's european bass".[80] in the northeastern united states, a "hot" style of playing ragtime had developed, notably james reese europe's symphonic clef club orchestra in new york city, which played a benefit concert at carnegie hall in 1912.[81][82] the baltimore rag style of eubie blake influenced james p. johnson's development of stride piano playing, in which the right hand plays the melody, while the left hand provides the rhythm and bassline.[83] in ohio and elsewhere in the mid west the major influence was ragtime, until about 1919. around 1912, when the four string banjo and saxophone came in, musicians began to improvise the melody line, but the harmony and rhythm remained unchanged. a contemporary account states that blues could only be heard in jazz in the gut bucket cabarets, which were generally looked down upon by the black middle class.[84][full citation needed] blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre,[85] which originated in african american communities of primarily the deep south of the united states at the end of the 19th century from their spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants and rhymed simple narrative ballads.[86] the african use of pentatonic scales contributed to the development of blue notes in blues and jazz.[87] as kubik explains: many of the rural blues of the deep south are stylistically an extension and merger of basically two broad accompanied song style traditions in the west central sudanic belt: w. c. handy became interested in folk blues of the deep south while traveling through the mississippi delta. in this folk blues form, the singer would improvise freely within a limited melodic range, sounding like a field holler, and the guitar accompaniment was slapped rather than strummed, like a small drum which responded in syncopated accents, functioning as another "voice".[89] handy and his band members were formally trained african american musicians who had not grown up with the blues, yet he was able to adapt the blues to a larger band instrument format and arrange them in a popular music form. handy wrote about his adopting of the blues: the primitive southern negro, as he sang, was sure to bear down on the third and seventh tone of the scale, slurring between major and minor. whether in the cotton field of the delta or on the levee up st. louis way, it was always the same. till then, however, i had never heard this slur used by a more sophisticated negro, or by any white man. i tried to convey this effect ... by introducing flat thirds and sevenths (now called blue notes) into my song, although its prevailing key was major ... , and i carried this device into my melody as well.[90] the publication of his "memphis blues" sheet music in 1912 introduced the 12 bar blues to the world (although gunther schuller argues that it is not really a blues, but "more like a cakewalk").[91] this composition, as well as his later "st. louis blues" and others, included the habanera rhythm,[92] and would become jazz standards. handy's music career began in the pre jazz era and contributed to the codification of jazz through the publication of some of the first jazz sheet music. the music of new orleans, louisiana had a profound effect on the creation of early jazz. in new orleans, slaves could practice elements of their culture such as voodoo and playing drums.[93] many early jazz musicians played in the bars and brothels of the red light district around basin street called storyville.[94] in addition to dance bands, there were marching bands which played at lavish funerals (later called jazz funerals). the instruments used by marching bands and dance bands became the instruments of jazz: brass, drums, and reeds tuned in the european 12 tone scale. small bands contained a combination of self taught and formally educated musicians, many from the funeral procession tradition. these bands traveled in black communities in the deep south. beginning in 1914, louisiana creole and african american musicians played in vaudeville shows which carried jazz to cities in the northern and western parts of the u.s.[95] jazz became international in 1914, when the creole band with cornettist freddie keppard performed the first ever jazz concert outside the united states, at the pantages playhouse theatre in winnipeg, canada.[96] in new orleans, a white bandleader named papa jack laine integrated blacks and whites in his marching band. he was known as "the father of white jazz" because of the many top players he employed, such as george brunies, sharkey bonano, and future members of the original dixieland jass band. during the early 1900s, jazz was mostly performed in african american and mulatto communities due to segregation laws. storyville brought jazz to a wider audience through tourists who visited the port city of new orleans.[97] many jazz musicians from african american communities were hired to perform in bars and brothels. these included buddy bolden and jelly roll morton in addition to those from other communities, such as lorenzo tio and alcide nunez. louis armstrong started his career in storyville[98] and found success in chicago. storyville was shut down by the u.s. government in 1917.[99] cornetist buddy bolden played in new orleans from 1895 to 1906. no recordings by him exist. his band is credited with creating the big four: the first syncopated bass drum pattern to deviate from the standard on the beat march.[100] as the example below shows, the second half of the big four pattern is the habanera rhythm. afro creole pianist jelly roll morton began his career in storyville. beginning in 1904, he toured with vaudeville shows to southern cities, chicago, and new york city. in 1905, he composed "jelly roll blues", which became the first jazz arrangement in print when it was published in 1915. it introduced more musicians to the new orleans style.[101] morton considered the tresillo/habanera, which he called the spanish tinge, an essential ingredient of jazz.[102] "now in one of my earliest tunes, "new orleans blues," you can notice the spanish tinge. in fact, if you can't manage to put tinges of spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, i call it, for jazz."[71] an excerpt of "new orleans blues" is shown below. in the excerpt, the left hand plays the tresillo rhythm, while the right hand plays variations on cinquillo. morton was a crucial innovator in the evolution from the early jazz form known as ragtime to jazz piano, and could perform pieces in either style; in 1938, morton made a series of recordings for the library of congress in which he demonstrated the difference between the two styles. morton's solos, however, were still close to ragtime, and were not merely improvisations over chord changes as in later jazz, but his use of the blues was of equal importance. morton loosened ragtime's rigid rhythmic feeling, decreasing its embellishments and employing a swing feeling.[103] swing is the most important and enduring african based rhythmic technique used in jazz. an oft quoted definition of swing by louis armstrong is: "if you don't feel it, you'll never know it."[104] the new harvard dictionary of music states that swing is: "an intangible rhythmic momentum in jazz...swing defies analysis; claims to its presence may inspire arguments." the dictionary does nonetheless provide the useful description of triple subdivisions of the beat contrasted with duple subdivisions:[105] swing superimposes six subdivisions of the beat over a basic pulse structure or four subdivisions. this aspect of swing is far more prevalent in african american music than in afro caribbean music. one aspect of swing, which is heard in more rhythmically complex diaspora musics, places strokes in between the triple and duple pulse "grids".[106] new orleans brass bands are a lasting influence, contributing horn players to the world of professional jazz with the distinct sound of the city whilst helping black children escape poverty. the leader of new orleans's camelia brass band, d'jalma ganier, taught louis armstrong to play trumpet; armstrong would then popularize the new orleans style of trumpet playing, and then expand it. like jelly roll morton, armstrong is also credited with the abandonment of ragtime's stiffness in favor of swung notes. armstrong, perhaps more than any other musician, codified the rhythmic technique of swing in jazz and broadened the jazz solo vocabulary.[107] the original dixieland jass band made the music's first recordings early in 1917, and their "livery stable blues" became the earliest released jazz record.[108][109] that year, numerous other bands made recordings featuring "jazz" in the title or band name, but most were ragtime or novelty records rather than jazz. in february 1918 during world war i, james reese europe's "hellfighters" infantry band took ragtime to europe,[110][111] then on their return recorded dixieland standards including "darktown strutters' ball".[81] from 1920 to 1933, prohibition in the united states banned the sale of alcoholic drinks, resulting in illicit speakeasies which became lively venues of the "jazz age", hosting popular music, dance songs, novelty songs, and show tunes. jazz began to get a reputation as immoral, and many members of the older generations saw it as a threat to the old cultural values by promoting the decadent values of the roaring 20s. henry van dyke of princeton university wrote, "... it is not music at all. it's merely an irritation of the nerves of hearing, a sensual teasing of the strings of physical passion."[112] the new york times reported that siberian villagers used jazz to scare away bears, but the villagers had used pots and pans; another story claimed that the fatal heart attack of a celebrated conductor was caused by jazz.[112] in 1919, kid ory's original creole jazz band of musicians from new orleans began playing in san francisco and los angeles, where in 1922 they became the first black jazz band of new orleans origin to make recordings.[113][114] during the same year, bessie smith made her first recordings.[115] chicago was developing "hot jazz", and king oliver joined bill johnson. bix beiderbecke formed the wolverines in 1924. despite its southern black origins, there was a larger market for jazzy dance music played by white orchestras. in 1918, paul whiteman and his orchestra became a hit in san francisco. he signed a contract with victor and became the top bandleader of the 1920s, giving hot jazz a white component, hiring white musicians such as bix beiderbecke, jimmy dorsey, tommy dorsey, frankie trumbauer, and joe venuti. in 1924, whiteman commissioned george gershwin's rhapsody in blue, which was premiered by his orchestra. jazz began to be recognized as a notable musical form. olin downes, reviewing the concert in the new york times, wrote, "this composition shows extraordinary talent, as it shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk, struggling with a form of which he is far from being master. ... in spite of all this, he has expressed himself in a significant and, on the whole, highly original form. ... his first theme ... is no mere dance tune ... it is an idea, or several ideas, correlated and combined in varying and contrasting rhythms that immediately intrigue the listener."[116] after whiteman's band successfully toured europe, huge hot jazz orchestras in theater pits caught on with other whites, including fred waring, jean goldkette, and nathaniel shilkret. according to mario dunkel, whiteman's success was based on a "rhetoric of domestication" according to which he had elevated and rendered valuable (read "white") a previously inchoate (read "black") kind of music.[117] whiteman's success caused black artists to follow suit, including earl hines (who opened in the grand terrace cafe in chicago in 1928), washington, d.c. native duke ellington (who opened at the cotton club in harlem in 1927), lionel hampton, fletcher henderson, claude hopkins, and don redman, with henderson and redman developing the "talking to one another" formula for "hot" swing music.[118] in 1924, louis armstrong joined the fletcher henderson dance band for a year, as featured soloist. by 1924, one of armstrong's favorite "sweet jazz" big bands was also formed in canada by guy lombardo. his royal canadians orchestra specialized in performances of "the sweetest music this side of heaven" which transcended racial boundaries.[119][120] the original new orleans style was polyphonic, with theme variation and simultaneous collective improvisation. armstrong was a master of his hometown style, but by the time he joined henderson's band, he was already a trailblazer in a new phase of jazz, with its emphasis on arrangements and soloists. armstrong's solos went well beyond the theme improvisation concept and extemporized on chords, rather than melodies. according to schuller, by comparison, the solos by armstrong's bandmates (including a young coleman hawkins), sounded "stiff, stodgy", with "jerky rhythms and a grey undistinguished tone quality".[121] the following example shows a short excerpt of the straight melody of "mandy, make up your mind" by george w. meyer and arthur johnston (top), compared with armstrong's solo improvisations (below) (recorded 1924).[122] armstrong's solos were a significant factor in making jazz a true 20th century language. after leaving henderson's group, armstrong formed his hot five band, where he popularized scat singing.[123] the 1930s belonged to popular swing big bands, in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band leaders. key figures in developing the "big" jazz band included bandleaders and arrangers count basie, cab calloway, jimmy and tommy dorsey, duke ellington, benny goodman, fletcher henderson, earl hines, harry james, jimmie lunceford, glenn miller and artie shaw. although it was a collective sound, swing also offered individual musicians a chance to "solo" and improvise melodic, thematic solos which could at times be complex "important" music. over time, social strictures regarding racial segregation began to relax in america: white bandleaders began to recruit black musicians and black bandleaders white ones. in the mid 1930s, benny goodman hired pianist teddy wilson, vibraphonist lionel hampton and guitarist charlie christian to join small groups. in the 1930s, kansas city jazz as exemplified by tenor saxophonist lester young marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s. an early 1940s style known as "jumping the blues" or jump blues used small combos, uptempo music and blues chord progressions, drawing on boogie woogie from the 1930s. while swing was reaching the height of its popularity, duke ellington spent the late 1920s and 1930s in washington, d.c.'s jazz scene, developing an innovative musical idiom for his orchestra. abandoning the conventions of swing, he experimented with orchestral sounds, harmony, and musical form with complex compositions that still translated well for popular audiences; some of his tunes became hits, and his own popularity spanned from the united states to europe.[124] ellington called his music american music, rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category".[125] these included many musicians from his orchestra, some of whom are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was ellington who melded them into one of the most popular jazz orchestras in the history of jazz. he often composed for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "jeep's blues" for johnny hodges, "concerto for cootie" for cootie williams (which later became "do nothing till you hear from me" with bob russell's lyrics), and "the mooche" for tricky sam nanton and bubber miley. he also recorded compositions written by his bandsmen, such as juan tizol's "caravan" and "perdido", which brought the "spanish tinge" to big band jazz. several members of the orchestra remained with him for several decades. the band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when ellington and a small hand picked group of his composers and arrangers wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity.[126] as only a limited number of american jazz records were released in europe, european jazz traces many of its roots to american artists such as james reese europe, paul whiteman, and lonnie johnson, who visited europe during and after world war i. it was their live performances which inspired european audiences' interest in jazz, as well as the interest in all things american (and therefore exotic) which accompanied the economic and political woes of europe during this time.[127] the beginnings of a distinct european style of jazz began to emerge in this interwar period. british jazz began with a tour by the original dixieland jazz band in 1919. in 1926, fred elizalde and his cambridge undergraduates began broadcasting on the bbc. thereafter jazz became an important element in many leading dance orchestras, and jazz instrumentalists became numerous.[128] this style entered full swing in france with the quintette du hot club de france, which began in 1934. much of this french jazz was a combination of african american jazz and the symphonic styles in which french musicians were well trained; in this, it is easy to see the inspiration taken from paul whiteman since his style was also a fusion of the two.[129] belgian guitarist django reinhardt popularized gypsy jazz, a mix of 1930s american swing, french dance hall "musette", and eastern european folk with a languid, seductive feel; the main instruments were steel stringed guitar, violin, and double bass. solos pass from one player to another as guitar and bass form the rhythm section. some researchers believe eddie lang and joe venuti pioneered the guitar violin partnership characteristic of the genre,[130] which was brought to france after they had been heard live or on okeh records in the late 1920s.[131] the outbreak of world war ii marked a turning point for jazz. the swing era jazz of the previous decade had challenged other popular music as being representative of the nation's culture, with big bands reaching the height of the style's success by the early 1940s; swing acts and big bands traveled with u.s. military overseas to europe, where it also became popular.[132] stateside, however, the war presented difficulties for the big band format: conscription shortened the number of musicians available; the military's need for shellac (commonly used for pressing gramophone records) limited record production; a shortage of rubber (also due to the war effort) discouraged bands from touring via road travel; and a demand by the musicians' union for a commercial recording ban limited music distribution between 1942 and 1944.[133] many of the big bands who were deprived of experienced musicians because of the war effort began to enlist young players who were below the age for conscription, as was the case with saxophonist stan getz's entry in a band as a teenager.[134] this coincided with a nationwide resurgence in the dixieland style of pre swing jazz; performers such as clarinetist george lewis, cornetist bill davison, and trombonist turk murphy were hailed by conservative jazz critics as more authentic than the big bands.[133] elsewhere, with the limitations on recording, small groups of young musicians developed a more uptempo, improvisational style of jazz,[132] collaborating and experimenting with new ideas for melodic development, rhythmic language, and harmonic substitution, during informal, late night jam sessions hosted in small clubs and apartments. key figures in this development were largely based in new york and included pianists thelonious monk and bud powell, drummers max roach and kenny clarke, saxophonist charlie parker, and trumpeter dizzy gillespie.[133] this musical development became known as bebop.[132] bebop and subsequent post war jazz developments featured a wider set of notes, played in more complex patterns and at faster tempos than previous jazz.[134] according to clive james, bebop was "the post war musical development which tried to ensure that jazz would no longer be the spontaneous sound of joy ... students of race relations in america are generally agreed that the exponents of post war jazz were determined, with good reason, to present themselves as challenging artists rather than tame entertainers."[135] the end of the war marked "a revival of the spirit of experimentation and musical pluralism under which it had been conceived", along with "the beginning of a decline in the popularity of jazz music in america", according to american academic michael h. burchett.[132] with the rise of bebop and the end of the swing era after the war, jazz lost its cachet as pop music. vocalists of the famous big bands moved on to being marketed and performing as solo pop singers; these included frank sinatra, peggy lee, dick haymes, and doris day.[134] older musicians who still performed their pre war jazz, such as armstrong and ellington, were gradually viewed in the mainstream as passé. other younger performers, such as singer big joe turner and saxophonist louis jordan, who were discouraged by bebop's increasing complexity, pursued more lucrative endeavors in rhythm and blues, jump blues, and eventually rock and roll.[132] some, including gillespie, composed intricate yet danceable pieces for bebop musicians in an effort to make them more accessible, but bebop largely remained on the fringes of american audiences' purview. "the new direction of postwar jazz drew a wealth of critical acclaim, but it steadily declined in popularity as it developed a reputation as an academic genre that was largely inaccessible to mainstream audiences", burchett said. "the quest to make jazz more relevant to popular audiences, while retaining its artistic integrity, is a constant and prevalent theme in the history of postwar jazz."[132] during its swing period, jazz had been an uncomplicated musical scene; according to paul trynka, this changed in the post war years: suddenly jazz was no longer straightforward. there was bebop and its variants, there was the last gasp of swing, there were strange new brews like the progressive jazz of stan kenton, and there was a completely new phenomenon called revivalism   the rediscovery of jazz from the past, either on old records or performed live by aging players brought out of retirement. from now on it was no good saying that you liked jazz, you had to specify what kind of jazz. and that is the way it has been ever since, only more so. today, the word 'jazz' is virtually meaningless without further definition.[134] in the early 1940s, bebop style performers began to shift jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music". the most influential bebop musicians included saxophonist charlie parker, pianists bud powell and thelonious monk, trumpeters dizzy gillespie and clifford brown, and drummer max roach. divorcing itself from dance music, bebop established itself more as an art form, thus lessening its potential popular and commercial appeal. composer gunther schuller wrote: "in 1943 i heard the great earl hines band which had bird in it and all those other great musicians. they were playing all the flatted fifth chords and all the modern harmonies and substitutions and dizzy gillespie runs in the trumpet section work. two years later i read that that was 'bop' and the beginning of modern jazz ... but the band never made recordings."[136] dizzy gillespie wrote: "people talk about the hines band being 'the incubator of bop' and the leading exponents of that music ended up in the hines band. but people also have the erroneous impression that the music was new. it was not. the music evolved from what went before. it was the same basic music. the difference was in how you got from here to here to here...naturally each age has got its own shit."[137] since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it could use faster tempos. drumming shifted to a more elusive and explosive style, in which the ride cymbal was used to keep time while the snare and bass drum were used for accents. this led to a highly syncopated music with a linear rhythmic complexity.[138] bebop musicians employed several harmonic devices which were not previously typical in jazz, engaging in a more abstracted form of chord based improvisation. bebop scales are traditional scales with an added chromatic passing note;[139] bebop also uses "passing" chords, substitute chords, and altered chords. new forms of chromaticism and dissonance were introduced into jazz, and the dissonant tritone (or "flatted fifth") interval became the "most important interval of bebop"[140] chord progressions for bebop tunes were often taken directly from popular swing era tunes and reused with a new and more complex melody or reharmonized with more complex chord progressions to form new compositions, a practice which was already well established in earlier jazz, but came to be central to the bebop style. bebop made use of several relatively common chord progressions, such as blues (at base, i iv v, but often infused with ii v motion) and "rhythm changes" (i vi ii v)   the chords to the 1930s pop standard "i got rhythm". late bop also moved towards extended forms that represented a departure from pop and show tunes. the harmonic development in bebop is often traced back to a moment experienced by charlie parker while performing "cherokee" at clark monroe's uptown house, new york, in early 1942. "i'd been getting bored with the stereotyped changes that were being used...and i kept thinking there's bound to be something else. i could hear it sometimes. i couldn't play it...i was working over 'cherokee,' and, as i did, i found that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes, i could play the thing i'd been hearing. it came alive."[141] gerhard kubik postulates that harmonic development in bebop sprang from blues and african related tonal sensibilities rather than 20th century western classical music. "auditory inclinations were the african legacy in [parker's] life, reconfirmed by the experience of the blues tonal system, a sound world at odds with the western diatonic chord categories. bebop musicians eliminated western style functional harmony in their music while retaining the strong central tonality of the blues as a basis for drawing upon various african matrices."[141] samuel floyd states that blues was both the bedrock and propelling force of bebop, bringing about a new harmonic conception using extended chord structures that led to unprecedented harmonic and melodic variety, a developed and even more highly syncopated, linear rhythmic complexity and a melodic angularity in which the blue note of the fifth degree was established as an important melodic harmonic device; and reestablishment of the blues as the primary organizing and functional principle.[138] kubik wrote: while for an outside observer, the harmonic innovations in bebop would appear to be inspired by experiences in western "serious" music, from claude debussy to arnold schoenberg, such a scheme cannot be sustained by the evidence from a cognitive approach. claude debussy did have some influence on jazz, for example, on bix beiderbecke's piano playing. and it is also true that duke ellington adopted and reinterpreted some harmonic devices in european contemporary music. west coast jazz would run into such debts as would several forms of cool jazz, but bebop has hardly any such debts in the sense of direct borrowings. on the contrary, ideologically, bebop was a strong statement of rejection of any kind of eclecticism, propelled by a desire to activate something deeply buried in self. bebop then revived tonal harmonic ideas transmitted through the blues and reconstructed and expanded others in a basically non western harmonic approach. the ultimate significance of all this is that the experiments in jazz during the 1940s brought back to african american music several structural principles and techniques rooted in african traditions.[142] these divergences from the jazz mainstream of the time met a divided, sometimes hostile response among fans and musicians, especially swing players who bristled at the new harmonic sounds. to hostile critics, bebop seemed filled with "racing, nervous phrases".[143] but despite the friction, by the 1950s bebop had become an accepted part of the jazz vocabulary. the general consensus among musicians and musicologists is that the first original jazz piece to be overtly based in clave was "tanga" (1943), composed by cuban born mario bauza and recorded by machito and his afro cubans in new york city. "tanga" began as a spontaneous descarga (cuban jam session), with jazz solos superimposed on top.[144] this was the birth of afro cuban jazz. the use of clave brought the african timeline, or key pattern, into jazz. music organized around key patterns convey a two celled (binary) structure, which is a complex level of african cross rhythm.[145] within the context of jazz, however, harmony is the primary referent, not rhythm. the harmonic progression can begin on either side of clave, and the harmonic "one" is always understood to be "one". if the progression begins on the "three side" of clave, it is said to be in 3 2 clave (shown below). if the progression begins on the "two side", it is in 2 3 clave.[146] mario bauzá introduced bebop innovator dizzy gillespie to cuban conga drummer and composer chano pozo. gillespie and pozo's brief collaboration produced some of the most enduring afro cuban jazz standards. "manteca" (1947) is the first jazz standard to be rhythmically based on clave. according to gillespie, pozo composed the layered, contrapuntal guajeos (afro cuban ostinatos) of the a section and the introduction, while gillespie wrote the bridge. gillespie recounted: "if i'd let it go like [chano] wanted it, it would have been strictly afro cuban all the way. there wouldn't have been a bridge. i thought i was writing an eight bar bridge, but ... i had to keep going and ended up writing a sixteen bar bridge."[147] the bridge gave "manteca" a typical jazz harmonic structure, setting the piece apart from bauza's modal "tanga" of a few years earlier. gillespie's collaboration with pozo brought specific african based rhythms into bebop. while pushing the boundaries of harmonic improvisation, cu bop also drew from african rhythm. jazz arrangements with a latin a section and a swung b section, with all choruses swung during solos, became common practice with many latin tunes of the jazz standard repertoire. this approach can be heard on pre 1980 recordings of "manteca", "a night in tunisia", "tin tin deo", and "on green dolphin street". another jazz composition critical to the development of afro cuban jazz was bud powell's "un poco loco," recorded with curley russell on bass and max roach on drums. noted for its "frenetic energy" and "clanging cowbell and polyrhythmic accompaniment,"[148] the composition combined afro cuban rhythm with polytonality and preceded further use of modality and avant garde harmony in latin jazz.[149] cuban percussionist mongo santamaria first recorded his composition "afro blue" in 1959.[150] "afro blue" was the first jazz standard built upon a typical african three against two (3:2) cross rhythm, or hemiola.[151] the piece begins with the bass repeatedly playing 6 cross beats per each measure of 128, or 6 cross beats per 4 main beats 6:4 (two cells of 3:2). the following example shows the original ostinato "afro blue" bass line. the cross noteheads indicate the main beats (not bass notes). when john coltrane covered "afro blue" in 1963, he inverted the metric hierarchy, interpreting the tune as a 34 jazz waltz with duple cross beats superimposed (2:3). originally a b♭ pentatonic blues, coltrane expanded the harmonic structure of "afro blue". perhaps the most respected afro cuban jazz combo of the late 1950s was vibraphonist cal tjader's band. tjader had mongo santamaria, armando peraza, and willie bobo on his early recording dates. in the late 1940s, there was a revival of dixieland, harking back to the contrapuntal new orleans style. this was driven in large part by record company reissues of jazz classics by the oliver, morton, and armstrong bands of the 1930s. there were two types of musicians involved in the revival: the first group was made up of those who had begun their careers playing in the traditional style and were returning to it (or continuing what they had been playing all along), such as bob crosby's bobcats, max kaminsky, eddie condon, and wild bill davison.[152] most of these players were originally midwesterners, although there were a small number of new orleans musicians involved. the second group of revivalists consisted of younger musicians, such as those in the lu watters band, conrad janis, and ward kimball and his firehouse five plus two jazz band. by the late 1940s, louis armstrong's allstars band became a leading ensemble. through the 1950s and 1960s, dixieland was one of the most commercially popular jazz styles in the us, europe, and japan, although critics paid little attention to it.[152] hard bop is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music that incorporates influences from blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel, especially in saxophone and piano playing. hard bop was developed in the mid 1950s, coalescing in 1953 and 1954; it developed partly in response to the vogue for cool jazz in the early 1950s and paralleled the rise of rhythm and blues. it has been described as "funky" and can be considered a relative of soul jazz.[153] some elements of the genre were simplified from their bebop roots.[154] miles davis's 1954 performance of "walkin'" at the first newport jazz festival introduced the style to the jazz world.[155] further leaders of hard bop's development included the clifford brown/max roach quintet, art blakey's jazz messengers, the horace silver quintet, and trumpeters lee morgan and freddie hubbard. the late 1950s to early 1960s saw hard boppers form their own bands as a new generation of blues  and bebop influenced musicians entered the jazz world, from pianists wynton kelly and tommy flanagan[156] to saxophonists joe henderson and hank mobley. coltrane, johnny griffin, mobley, and morgan all participated on the album a blowin' session (1957), considered by al campbell to have been one of the high points of the hard bop era.[157] hard bop was prevalent within jazz for about a decade spanning from 1955 to 1965,[156] but has remained highly influential on mainstream[154] or "straight ahead" jazz. it went into decline in the late 1960s through the 1970s due to the emergence of other styles such as jazz fusion, but again became influential following the young lions movement and the emergence of neo bop.[154] modal jazz is a development which began in the later 1950s which takes the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. previously, a solo was meant to fit into a given chord progression, but with modal jazz, the soloist creates a melody using one (or a small number of) modes. the emphasis is thus shifted from harmony to melody:[158] "historically, this caused a seismic shift among jazz musicians, away from thinking vertically (the chord), and towards a more horizontal approach (the scale)",[159] explained pianist mark levine. the modal theory stems from a work by george russell. miles davis introduced the concept to the greater jazz world with kind of blue (1959), an exploration of the possibilities of modal jazz which would become the best selling jazz album of all time. in contrast to davis's earlier work with hard bop and its complex chord progression and improvisation, kind of blue was composed as a series of modal sketches in which the musicians were given scales that defined the parameters of their improvisation and style.[160] "i didn't write out the music for kind of blue, but brought in sketches for what everybody was supposed to play because i wanted a lot of spontaneity,"[161] recalled davis. the track "so what" has only two chords: d 7 and e♭ 7.[162] other innovators in this style include jackie mclean,[163] and two of the musicians who had also played on kind of blue: john coltrane and bill evans. free jazz, and the related form of avant garde jazz, broke through into an open space of "free tonality" in which meter, beat, and formal symmetry all disappeared, and a range of world music from india, africa, and arabia were melded into an intense, even religiously ecstatic or orgiastic style of playing.[164] while loosely inspired by bebop, free jazz tunes gave players much more latitude; the loose harmony and tempo was deemed controversial when this approach was first developed. the bassist charles mingus is also frequently associated with the avant garde in jazz, although his compositions draw from myriad styles and genres. the first major stirrings came in the 1950s with the early work of ornette coleman (whose 1960 album free jazz: a collective improvisation coined the term) and cecil taylor. in the 1960s, exponents included albert ayler, gato barbieri, carla bley, don cherry, larry coryell, john coltrane, bill dixon, jimmy giuffre, steve lacy, michael mantler, sun ra, roswell rudd, pharoah sanders, and john tchicai. in developing his late style, coltrane was especially influenced by the dissonance of ayler's trio with bassist gary peacock and drummer sunny murray, a rhythm section honed with cecil taylor as leader. in november 1961, coltrane played a gig at the village vanguard, which resulted in the classic chasin' the 'trane, which downbeat magazine panned as "anti jazz". on his 1961 tour of france, he was booed, but persevered, signing with the new impulse! records in 1960 and turning it into "the house that trane built", while championing many younger free jazz musicians, notably archie shepp, who often played with trumpeter bill dixon, who organized the 4 day "october revolution in jazz" in manhattan in 1964, the first free jazz festival. a series of recordings with the classic quartet in the first half of 1965 show coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract, with greater incorporation of devices like multiphonics, utilization of overtones, and playing in the altissimo register, as well as a mutated return to coltrane's sheets of sound. in the studio, he all but abandoned his soprano to concentrate on the tenor saxophone. in addition, the quartet responded to the leader by playing with increasing freedom. the group's evolution can be traced through the recordings the john coltrane quartet plays, living space and transition (both june 1965), new thing at newport (july 1965), sun ship (august 1965), and first meditations (september 1965). in june 1965, coltrane and 10 other musicians recorded ascension, a 40 minute long piece without breaks that included adventurous solos by young avant garde musicians as well as coltrane, and was controversial primarily for the collective improvisation sections that separated the solos. dave liebman later called it "the torch that lit the free jazz thing". after recording with the quartet over the next few months, coltrane invited pharoah sanders to join the band in september 1965. while coltrane used over blowing frequently as an emotional exclamation point, sanders would opt to overblow his entire solo, resulting in a constant screaming and screeching in the altissimo range of the instrument. free jazz was played in europe in part because musicians such as ayler, taylor, steve lacy, and eric dolphy spent extended periods of time there, and european musicians such as michael mantler and john tchicai traveled to the u.s. to experience american music firsthand. european contemporary jazz was shaped by peter brötzmann, john surman, krzysztof komeda, zbigniew namysłowski, tomasz stańko, lars gullin, joe harriott, albert mangelsdorff, kenny wheeler, graham collier, michael garrick and mike westbrook. they were eager to develop approaches to music that reflected their heritage. since the 1960s, creative centers of jazz in europe have developed, such as the creative jazz scene in amsterdam. following the work of drummer han bennink and pianist misha mengelberg, musicians started to explore by improvising collectively until a form (melody, rhythm, a famous song) is found jazz critic kevin whitehead documented the free jazz scene in amsterdam and some of its main exponents such as the icp (instant composers pool) orchestra in his book new dutch swing. since the 1990s keith jarrett has defended free jazz from criticism. british writer stuart nicholson has argued european contemporary jazz has an identity different from american jazz and follows a different trajectory.[165] latin jazz is jazz that employs latin american rhythms and is generally understood to have a more specific meaning than simply jazz from latin america. a more precise term might be afro latin jazz, as the jazz subgenre typically employs rhythms that either have a direct analog in africa or exhibit an african rhythmic influence beyond what is ordinarily heard in other jazz. the two main categories of latin jazz are afro cuban jazz and brazilian jazz. in the 1960s and 1970s, many jazz musicians had only a basic understanding of cuban and brazilian music, and jazz compositions which used cuban or brazilian elements were often referred to as "latin tunes", with no distinction between a cuban son montuno and a brazilian bossa nova. even as late as 2000, in mark gridley's jazz styles: history and analysis, a bossa nova bass line is referred to as a "latin bass figure".[166] it was not uncommon during the 1960s and 1970s to hear a conga playing a cuban tumbao while the drumset and bass played a brazilian bossa nova pattern. many jazz standards such as "manteca", "on green dolphin street" and "song for my father" have a "latin" a section and a swung b section. typically, the band would only play an even eighth "latin" feel in the a section of the head and swing throughout all of the solos. latin jazz specialists like cal tjader tended to be the exception. for example, on a 1959 live tjader recording of "a night in tunisia", pianist vince guaraldi soloed through the entire form over an authentic mambo.[167] for most of its history, afro cuban jazz had been a matter of superimposing jazz phrasing over cuban rhythms. but by the end of the 1970s, a new generation of new york city musicians had emerged who were fluent in both salsa dance music and jazz, leading to a new level of integration of jazz and cuban rhythms. this era of creativity and vitality is best represented by the gonzalez brothers jerry (congas and trumpet) and andy (bass).[168] during 1974 1976, they were members of one of eddie palmieri's most experimental salsa groups: salsa was the medium, but palmieri was stretching the form in new ways. he incorporated parallel fourths, with mccoy tyner type vamps. the innovations of palmieri, the gonzalez brothers and others led to an afro cuban jazz renaissance in new york city. this occurred in parallel with developments in cuba[169] the first cuban band of this new wave was irakere. their "chékere son" (1976) introduced a style of "cubanized" bebop flavored horn lines that departed from the more angular guajeo based lines which were typical of cuban popular music and latin jazz up until that time. it was based on charlie parker's composition "billie's bounce", jumbled together in a way that fused clave and bebop horn lines.[170] in spite of the ambivalence of some band members towards irakere's afro cuban folkloric / jazz fusion, their experiments forever changed cuban jazz: their innovations are still heard in the high level of harmonic and rhythmic complexity in cuban jazz and in the jazzy and complex contemporary form of popular dance music known as timba. brazilian jazz, such as bossa nova, is derived from samba, with influences from jazz and other 20th century classical and popular music styles. bossa is generally moderately paced, with melodies sung in portuguese or english, whilst the related jazz samba is an adaptation of street samba into jazz. the bossa nova style was pioneered by brazilians joão gilberto and antônio carlos jobim and was made popular by elizete cardoso's recording of "chega de saudade" on the canção do amor demais lp. gilberto's initial releases, and the 1959 film black orpheus, achieved significant popularity in latin america; this spread to north america via visiting american jazz musicians. the resulting recordings by charlie byrd and stan getz cemented bossa nova's popularity and led to a worldwide boom, with 1963's getz/gilberto, numerous recordings by famous jazz performers such as ella fitzgerald and frank sinatra, and the eventual entrenchment of the bossa nova style as a lasting influence in world music. brazilian percussionists such as airto moreira and naná vasconcelos also influenced jazz internationally by introducing afro brazilian folkloric instruments and rhythms into a wide variety of jazz styles, thus attracting a greater audience to them.[171][172][173] while bossa nova has been labeled as jazz by music critics, namely those from outside of brazil, it has been rejected by many prominent bossa nova musicians such as jobim, who once said "bossa nova is not brazilian jazz."[174][175] the first jazz standard composed by a non latino to use an overt african 128 cross rhythm was wayne shorter's "footprints" (1967).[176] on the version recorded on miles smiles by miles davis, the bass switches to a 44 tresillo figure at 2:20. "footprints" is not, however, a latin jazz tune: african rhythmic structures are accessed directly by ron carter (bass) and tony williams (drums) via the rhythmic sensibilities of swing. throughout the piece, the four beats, whether sounded or not, are maintained as the temporal referent. the following example shows the 128 and 44 forms of the bass line. the slashed noteheads indicate the main beats (not bass notes), where one ordinarily taps their foot to "keep time". the use of pentatonic scales was another trend associated with africa. the use of pentatonic scales in africa probably goes back thousands of years.[177] mccoy tyner perfected the use of the pentatonic scale in his solos,[178] and also used parallel fifths and fourths, which are common harmonies in west africa.[179] the minor pentatonic scale is often used in blues improvisation, and like a blues scale, a minor pentatonic scale can be played over all of the chords in a blues. the following pentatonic lick was played over blues changes by joe henderson on horace silver's "african queen" (1965).[180] jazz pianist, theorist, and educator mark levine refers to the scale generated by beginning on the fifth step of a pentatonic scale as the v pentatonic scale.[181] levine points out that the v pentatonic scale works for all three chords of the standard ii v i jazz progression.[182] this is a very common progression, used in pieces such as miles davis's "tune up". the following example shows the v pentatonic scale over a ii v i progression.[183] accordingly, john coltrane's "giant steps" (1960), with its 26 chords per 16 bars, can be played using only three pentatonic scales. coltrane studied nicolas slonimsky's thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns, which contains material that is virtually identical to portions of "giant steps".[184] the harmonic complexity of "giant steps" is on the level of the most advanced 20th century art music. superimposing the pentatonic scale over "giant steps" is not merely a matter of harmonic simplification, but also a sort of "africanizing" of the piece, which provides an alternate approach for soloing. mark levine observes that when mixed in with more conventional "playing the changes", pentatonic scales provide "structure and a feeling of increased space".[185] as noted above, jazz has incorporated from its inception aspects of african american sacred music including spirituals and hymns. secular jazz musicians often performed renditions of spirituals and hymns as part of their repertoire or isolated compositions such as "come sunday", part of "black and beige suite" by duke ellington. later many other jazz artists borrowed from black gospel music. however, it was only after world war ii that a few jazz musicians began to compose and perform extended works intended for religious settings or as religious expression. since the 1950s, sacred and liturgical music has been performed and recorded by many prominent jazz composers and musicians.[186] the "abyssinian mass" by wynton marsalis (blueengine records, 2016) is a recent example. relatively little has been written about sacred and liturgical jazz. in a 2013 doctoral dissertation, angelo versace examined the development of sacred jazz in the 1950s using disciplines of musicology and history. he noted that the traditions of black gospel music and jazz were combined in the 1950s to produce a new genre, "sacred jazz".[187] versace maintained that the religious intent separates sacred from secular jazz. most prominent in initiating the sacred jazz movement were pianist and composer mary lou williams, known for her jazz masses in the 1950s and duke ellington. prior to his death in 1974 in response to contacts from grace cathedral in san francisco, duke ellington wrote three sacred concerts: 1965   a concert of sacred music; 1968   second sacred concert; 1973   third sacred concert. the most prominent form of sacred and liturgical jazz is the jazz mass. although most often performed in a concert setting rather than church worship setting, this form has many examples. an eminent example of composers of the jazz mass was mary lou williams. williams converted to catholicism in 1957, and proceeded to compose three masses in the jazz idiom.[188] one was composed in 1968 to honor the recently assassinated martin luther king jr. and the third was commissioned by a pontifical commission. it was performed once in 1975 in st patrick's cathedral in new york city. however the catholic church has not embraced jazz as appropriate for worship. in 1966 joe masters recorded "jazz mass" for columbia records. a jazz ensemble was joined by soloists and choir using the english text of the roman catholic mass.[189] other examples include "jazz mass in concert" by lalo schiffrin (aleph records, 1998, upc 0651702632725) and "jazz mass" by vince guaraldi (fantasy records, 1965). in england, classical composer will todd recorded his "jazz missa brevis" with a jazz ensemble, soloists and the st martin's voices on a 2018 signum records release, "passion music/jazz missa brevis" also released as "mass in blue", and jazz organist james taylor composed "the rochester mass" (cherry red records, 2015).[190] in 2013, versace put forth bassist ike sturm and new york composer deanna witkowski as contemporary exemplars of sacred and liturgical jazz.[187] in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the hybrid form of jazz rock fusion was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as jimi hendrix and frank zappa. jazz fusion often uses mixed meters, odd time signatures, syncopation, complex chords, and harmonies. according to allmusic: ... until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. [however, ...] as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces.[191] in 1969, davis fully embraced the electric instrument approach to jazz with in a silent way, which can be considered his first fusion album. composed of two side long suites edited heavily by producer teo macero, this quiet, static album would be equally influential to the development of ambient music. as davis recalls: the music i was really listening to in 1968 was james brown, the great guitar player jimi hendrix, and a new group who had just come out with a hit record, "dance to the music", sly and the family stone ... i wanted to make it more like rock. when we recorded in a silent way i just threw out all the chord sheets and told everyone to play off of that.[192] two contributors to in a silent way also joined organist larry young to create one of the early acclaimed fusion albums: emergency! (1969) by the tony williams lifetime. weather report's self titled electronic and psychedelic weather report debut album caused a sensation in the jazz world on its arrival in 1971, thanks to the pedigree of the group's members (including percussionist airto moreira), and their unorthodox approach to music. the album featured a softer sound than would be the case in later years (predominantly using acoustic bass with shorter exclusively playing soprano saxophone, and with no synthesizers involved), but is still considered a classic of early fusion. it built on the avant garde experiments which joe zawinul and shorter had pioneered with miles davis on bitches brew, including an avoidance of head and chorus composition in favor of continuous rhythm and movement   but took the music further. to emphasize the group's rejection of standard methodology, the album opened with the inscrutable avant garde atmospheric piece "milky way", which featured by shorter's extremely muted saxophone inducing vibrations in zawinul's piano strings while the latter pedaled the instrument. downbeat described the album as "music beyond category", and awarded it album of the year in the magazine's polls that year. weather report's subsequent releases were creative funk jazz works.[193] although some jazz purists protested against the blend of jazz and rock, many jazz innovators crossed over from the contemporary hard bop scene into fusion. as well as the electric instruments of rock (such as electric guitar, electric bass, electric piano and synthesizer keyboards), fusion also used the powerful amplification, "fuzz" pedals, wah wah pedals and other effects that were used by 1970s era rock bands. notable performers of jazz fusion included miles davis, eddie harris, keyboardists joe zawinul, chick corea, and herbie hancock, vibraphonist gary burton, drummer tony williams, violinist jean luc ponty, guitarists larry coryell, al di meola, john mclaughlin, ryo kawasaki, and frank zappa, saxophonist wayne shorter and bassists jaco pastorius and stanley clarke. jazz fusion was also popular in japan, where the band casiopea released more than thirty fusion albums. according to jazz writer stuart nicholson, "just as free jazz appeared on the verge of creating a whole new musical language in the 1960s ... jazz rock briefly suggested the promise of doing the same" with albums such as williams's emergency! (1970) and davis's agharta (1975), which nicholson said "suggested the potential of evolving into something that might eventually define itself as a wholly independent genre quite apart from the sound and conventions of anything that had gone before." this development was stifled by commercialism, nicholson said, as the genre "mutated into a peculiar species of jazz inflected pop music that eventually took up residence on fm radio" at the end of the 1970s.[194] although jazz rock fusion reached the height of its popularity in the 1970s, the use of electronic instruments and rock derived musical elements in jazz continued in the 1990s and 2000s. musicians using this approach include pat metheny, john abercrombie, john scofield and the swedish group e.s.t. since the beginning of the 1990s, electronic music had significant technical improvements that popularized and created new possibilities for the genre. jazz elements such as improvisation, rhythmic complexities and harmonic textures were introduced to the genre and consequently had a big impact in new listeners and in some ways kept the versatility of jazz relatable to a newer generation that did not necessarily relate to what the traditionalists call real jazz (bebop, cool and modal jazz).[195] artists such as squarepusher, aphex twin, flying lotus and sub genres like idm, drum 'n' bass, jungle and techno ended up incorporating a lot of these elements.[196] squarepusher being cited as one big influence for jazz performers drummer mark guiliana and pianist brad mehldau, showing the correlations between jazz and electronic music are a two way street.[197] by the mid 1970s, the sound known as jazz funk had developed, characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds[198] and, often, the presence of electronic analog synthesizers. jazz funk also draws influences from traditional african music, afro cuban rhythms and jamaican reggae, notably kingston bandleader sonny bradshaw. another feature is the shift of emphasis from improvisation to composition: arrangements, melody and overall writing became important. the integration of funk, soul, and r&b music into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre whose spectrum is wide and ranges from strong jazz improvisation to soul, funk or disco with jazz arrangements, jazz riffs and jazz solos, and sometimes soul vocals.[199] early examples are herbie hancock's headhunters band and miles davis's on the corner album, which, in 1972, began davis's foray into jazz funk and was, he claimed, an attempt at reconnecting with the young black audience which had largely forsaken jazz for rock and funk. while there is a discernible rock and funk influence in the timbres of the instruments employed, other tonal and rhythmic textures, such as the indian tambora and tablas and cuban congas and bongos, create a multi layered soundscape. the album was a culmination of sorts of the musique concrète approach that davis and producer teo macero had begun to explore in the late 1960s. the 1980s saw something of a reaction against the fusion and free jazz that had dominated the 1970s. trumpeter wynton marsalis emerged early in the decade, and strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, rejecting both fusion and free jazz and creating extensions of the small and large forms initially pioneered by artists such as louis armstrong and duke ellington, as well as the hard bop of the 1950s. it is debatable whether marsalis's critical and commercial success was a cause or a symptom of the reaction against fusion and free jazz and the resurgence of interest in the kind of jazz pioneered in the 1960s (particularly modal jazz and post bop); nonetheless there were many other manifestations of a resurgence of traditionalism, even if fusion and free jazz were by no means abandoned and continued to develop and evolve. for example, several musicians who had been prominent in the fusion genre during the 1970s began to record acoustic jazz once more, including chick corea and herbie hancock. other musicians who had experimented with electronic instruments in the previous decade had abandoned them by the 1980s; for example, bill evans, joe henderson, and stan getz. even the 1980s music of miles davis, although certainly still fusion, adopted a far more accessible and recognizably jazz oriented approach than his abstract work of the mid 1970s, such as a return to a theme and solos approach. a similar reaction[vague] took place against free jazz. according to ted gioia: the very leaders of the avant garde started to signal a retreat from the core principles of free jazz. anthony braxton began recording standards over familiar chord changes. cecil taylor played duets in concert with mary lou williams, and let her set out structured harmonies and familiar jazz vocabulary under his blistering keyboard attack. and the next generation of progressive players would be even more accommodating, moving inside and outside the changes without thinking twice. musicians such as david murray or don pullen may have felt the call of free form jazz, but they never forgot all the other ways one could play african american music for fun and profit.[200] pianist keith jarrett whose bands of the 1970s had played only original compositions with prominent free jazz elements established his so called 'standards trio' in 1983, which, although also occasionally exploring collective improvisation, has primarily performed and recorded jazz standards. chick corea similarly began exploring jazz standards in the 1980s, having neglected them for the 1970s. in 1987, the united states house of representatives and senate passed a bill proposed by democratic representative john conyers jr. to define jazz as a unique form of american music, stating "jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national american treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated." it passed in the house on september 23, 1987, and in the senate on november 4, 1987.[201] in 2001, ken burns's documentary jazz premiered on pbs, featuring wynton marsalis and other experts reviewing the entire history of american jazz to that time. it received some criticism, however, for its failure to reflect the many distinctive non american traditions and styles in jazz that had developed, and its limited representation of us developments in the last quarter of the 20th century. the emergence of young jazz talent beginning to perform in older, established musicians' groups further impacted the resurgence of traditionalism in the jazz community. in the 1970s, the groups of betty carter and art blakey and the jazz messengers retained their conservative jazz approaches in the midst of fusion and jazz rock, and in addition to difficulty booking their acts, struggled to find younger generations of personnel to authentically play traditional styles such as hard bop and bebop. in the late 1970s, however, a resurgence of younger jazz players in blakey's band began to occur. this movement included musicians such as valery ponomarev and bobby watson, dennis irwin and james williams. in the 1980s, in addition to wynton and branford marsalis, the emergence of pianists in the jazz messengers such as donald brown, mulgrew miller, and later, benny green, bassists such as charles fambrough, lonnie plaxico (and later, peter washington and essiet essiet) horn players such as bill pierce, donald harrison and later javon jackson and terence blanchard emerged as talented jazz musicians, all of whom made significant contributions in the 1990s and 2000s. the young jazz messengers' contemporaries, including roy hargrove, marcus roberts, wallace roney and mark whitfield were also influenced by wynton marsalis's emphasis toward jazz tradition. these younger rising stars rejected avant garde approaches and instead championed the acoustic jazz sound of charlie parker, thelonious monk and early recordings of the first miles davis quintet. this group of "young lions" sought to reaffirm jazz as a high art tradition comparable to the discipline of classical music.[202] in addition, betty carter's rotation of young musicians in her group foreshadowed many of new york's preeminent traditional jazz players later in their careers. among these musicians were jazz messenger alumni benny green, branford marsalis and ralph peterson jr., as well as kenny washington, lewis nash, curtis lundy, cyrus chestnut, mark shim, craig handy, greg hutchinson and marc cary, taurus mateen and geri allen. o.t.b. ensemble included a rotation of young jazz musicians such as kenny garrett, steve wilson, kenny davis, renee rosnes, ralph peterson jr., billy drummond, and robert hurst.[203] starting in the 1990s, a number of players from largely straight ahead or post bop backgrounds emerged as a result of the rise of neo traditionalist jazz, including pianists jason moran and vijay iyer, guitarist kurt rosenwinkel, vibraphonist stefon harris, trumpeters roy hargrove and terence blanchard, saxophonists chris potter and joshua redman, clarinetist ken peplowski and bassist christian mcbride. in the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called "pop fusion" or "smooth jazz" became successful, garnering significant radio airplay in "quiet storm" time slots at radio stations in urban markets across the u.s. this helped to establish or bolster the careers of vocalists including al jarreau, anita baker, chaka khan, and sade, as well as saxophonists including grover washington jr., kenny g, kirk whalum, boney james, and david sanborn. in general, smooth jazz is downtempo (the most widely played tracks are of 90 105 beats per minute), and has a lead melody playing instrument (saxophone, especially soprano and tenor, and legato electric guitar are popular). in his newsweek article "the problem with jazz criticism",[204] stanley crouch considers miles davis's playing of fusion to be a turning point that led to smooth jazz. critic aaron j. west has countered the often negative perceptions of smooth jazz, stating: i challenge the prevalent marginalization and malignment of smooth jazz in the standard jazz narrative. furthermore, i question the assumption that smooth jazz is an unfortunate and unwelcomed evolutionary outcome of the jazz fusion era. instead, i argue that smooth jazz is a long lived musical style that merits multi disciplinary analyses of its origins, critical dialogues, performance practice, and reception.[205] acid jazz developed in the uk in the 1980s and 1990s, influenced by jazz funk and electronic dance music. acid jazz often contains various types of electronic composition (sometimes including sampling or live dj cutting and scratching), but it is just as likely to be played live by musicians, who often showcase jazz interpretation as part of their performance. richard s. ginell of allmusic considers roy ayers "one of the prophets of acid jazz".[206] nu jazz is influenced by jazz harmony and melodies, and there are usually no improvisational aspects. it can be very experimental in nature and can vary widely in sound and concept. it ranges from the combination of live instrumentation with the beats of jazz house (as exemplified by st germain, jazzanova, and fila brazillia) to more band based improvised jazz with electronic elements (for example, the cinematic orchestra, kobol and the norwegian "future jazz" style pioneered by bugge wesseltoft, jaga jazzist, and nils petter molvær). jazz rap developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates jazz influences into hip hop. in 1988, gang starr released the debut single "words i manifest", which sampled dizzy gillespie's 1962 "night in tunisia", and stetsasonic released "talkin' all that jazz", which sampled lonnie liston smith. gang starr's debut lp no more mr. nice guy (1989) and their 1990 track "jazz thing" sampled charlie parker and ramsey lewis. the groups which made up the native tongues posse tended toward jazzy releases: these include the jungle brothers' debut straight out the jungle (1988), and a tribe called quest's people's instinctive travels and the paths of rhythm (1990) and the low end theory (1991). rap duo pete rock & cl smooth incorporated jazz influences on their 1992 debut mecca and the soul brother. rapper guru's jazzmatazz series began in 1993 using jazz musicians during the studio recordings. although jazz rap had achieved little mainstream success, miles davis's final album doo bop (released posthumously in 1992) was based on hip hop beats and collaborations with producer easy mo bee. davis's ex bandmate herbie hancock also absorbed hip hop influences in the mid 1990s, releasing the album dis is da drum in 1994. the mid 2010s saw an increased influence of r&b, hip hop, and pop music on jazz. in 2015, kendrick lamar released his third studio album, to pimp a butterfly. the album heavily featured prominent contemporary jazz artists such as thundercat[207] and redefined jazz rap with a larger focus on improvisation and live soloing rather than simply sampling. in that same year, saxophonist kamasi washington released his nearly three hour long debut, the epic. its hip hop inspired beats and r&b vocal interludes was not only acclaimed by critics for being innovative in keeping jazz relevant,[208] but also sparked a small resurgence in jazz on the internet. the relaxation of orthodoxy which was concurrent with post punk in london and new york city led to a new appreciation of jazz. in london, the pop group began to mix free jazz and dub reggae into their brand of punk rock.[209] in new york, no wave took direct inspiration from both free jazz and punk. examples of this style include lydia lunch's queen of siam,[210] gray, the work of james chance and the contortions (who mixed soul with free jazz and punk)[210] and the lounge lizards[210] (the first group to call themselves "punk jazz"). john zorn took note of the emphasis on speed and dissonance that was becoming prevalent in punk rock, and incorporated this into free jazz with the release of the spy vs. spy album in 1986, a collection of ornette coleman tunes done in the contemporary thrashcore style.[211] in the same year, sonny sharrock, peter brötzmann, bill laswell, and ronald shannon jackson recorded the first album under the name last exit, a similarly aggressive blend of thrash and free jazz.[212] these developments are the origins of jazzcore, the fusion of free jazz with hardcore punk. the m base movement started in the 1980s, when a loose collective of young african american musicians in new york which included steve coleman, greg osby, and gary thomas developed a complex but grooving[213] sound. in the 1990s, most m base participants turned to more conventional music, but coleman, the most active participant, continued developing his music in accordance with the m base concept.[214] coleman's audience decreased, but his music and concepts influenced many musicians, according to pianist vijay iver and critic ben ratlifff of the new york times.[215][216] m base changed from a movement of a loose collective of young musicians to a kind of informal coleman "school",[217] with a much advanced but already originally implied concept.[218] steve coleman's music and m base concept gained recognition as "next logical step" after charlie parker, john coltrane, and ornette coleman.[219] since the 1990s, jazz has been characterized by a pluralism in which no one style dominates, but rather a wide range of styles and genres are popular. individual performers often play in a variety of styles, sometimes in the same performance. pianist brad mehldau and the bad plus have explored contemporary rock music within the context of the traditional jazz acoustic piano trio, recording instrumental jazz versions of songs by rock musicians. the bad plus have also incorporated elements of free jazz into their music. a firm avant garde or free jazz stance has been maintained by some players, such as saxophonists greg osby and charles gayle, while others, such as james carter, have incorporated free jazz elements into a more traditional framework. harry connick jr. began his career playing stride piano and the dixieland jazz of his home, new orleans, beginning with his first recording when he was 10 years old.[220] some of his earliest lessons were at the home of pianist ellis marsalis.[221] connick had success on the pop charts after recording the soundtrack to the movie when harry met sally, which sold over two million copies.[220] crossover success has also been achieved by diana krall, norah jones, cassandra wilson, kurt elling, and jamie cullum. additionally, the era saw the release of recordings and videos from the previous century, such as a just jazz tape broadcast by a band led by gene ammons[222] and studio archives such as just coolin' by art blakey and the jazz messengers.[223] an internet aided trend of 2010's jazz was that of extreme reharmonization, inspired by both virtuosic players known for their speed and rhythm such as art tatum, as well as players known for their ambitious voicings and chords such as bill evans. supergroup snarky puppy adopted this trend, allowing players like cory henry[224] to shape the grooves and harmonies of modern jazz soloing. youtube phenomenon jacob collier also gained recognition for his ability to play an incredibly large number of instruments and his ability to use microtones, advanced polyrhythms, and blend a spectrum of genres in his largely homemade production process.[225][226] other jazz musicians gained popularity through social media during the 2010s and 2020s. these included joan chamorro, a bassist and bandleader based in barcelona whose big band and jazz combo videos have received tens of millions of views on youtube,[227] and emmet cohen, who broadcast a series of performances live from new york starting in march 2020.[228]

welcome to another edition of jazz club, where we touch upon several classic records and a handful of newer albums that are handily carrying the torch. this week, we wanted 9 years ago welcome to another edition of jazz club, where we touch upon several classic records and a handful of newer albums that are handily carrying the torch. this week, we wanted to explore the idea of a “classic” jazz record, specifically regarding this question: were some jazz standards always thought of as highly as they are today? the answer is a pretty resounding no; as with any genre, many of the records now considered essential were once earth shattering, jimmy rustling affairs that either puzzled or repulsed music critics and fans. today, we’re going to take a look back at three of the most controversial records in the genre, all of which redefined the genre in some way and received quite a bit of flack for it, before eventually leaving a lasting imprint on the shape of jazz to come (hint hint). jimmy mullett: i think it’s worth taking into account that not all the albums mentioned are going to be equally controversial in the public eye. nowadays, all three are viewed as hugely important to the evolution of jazz, but at one time or another they were either disregarded with some intense animosity, or, in the case of our last entry, somewhat ignored. scott murphy: that’s very true. and also, before we start, i had a quick qualifying question to ask you, james: can controversy be an indicator of eventual acceptance? with our second pick especially, the terms “controversial” and “ground breaking” are both almost always used in describing it. obviously not all controversial albums will have a lasting impact (jazz example: kenny g), but i do think it’s safe to say that albums that a lot of truly impactful albums were initially rejected to some degree. jimmy: i guess controversy in music can, and in many cases, does, act as a beacon for high acclaim down the road. but i’m not really sure we can make that judgment definitively. hindsight’s 20/20, you know? i feel like it’s an answer that relies more on the zeitgeist than anything else. musicians can obviously change the tide of music for the future, but ultimately it’s up to how we view it as a society. jimmy: so, scott, let’s go to our first one, shall we? and you’ve been listening to this album a lot of late, right? scott: i have indeed, j2, being on the corner by miles davis. i had his electric period on my mind after our last jazz club, and i decided to snag a cheap copy at newbury comics on my way home from work. it’s quickly become one of my favorite miles albums; the almost krautrock inspired structuring of the drums provides a driving pace for miles and the gang to funk and freewheel wherever they damn well please. it wasn’t as much of a challenging listen for me today as it was back in the day, but honestly, i couldn’t help but wonder why this album was so controversial. if miles had dropped on the corner right after, say, kind of blue, i could definitely see the lash back. but considering it followed in a silent way, bitches brew and live evil, the album just doesn’t feel like that huge of a leap, in my view, even by past standards. jimmy: well, i think it probably had to do with that krautrock sounding influence that you spoke of. i’m a little loathe to count it as “krautrock,” just because miles had a lot of different influences and a shit ton of ideas about how to construct this album, but nonetheless, there is that constant beat that’s around for miles and his contributors to go to town with, so to speak. while i don’t necessarily think of it as controversial, i can absolutely see how much of a change it was from bitches brew or any of the other electric albums he’d released previously. with those albums, miles and his producer teo marcero essentially recorded handfuls of essentially improvised moments, and then spliced the recordings around. on the corner is the same, but there’s more of a constant feel to it; while bitches brew sort of went at its own pace, almost like some sort of jazz fusion sound collage, on the corner brought back some structure. again, i’m not sure how that’s controversial, but the evidence from that time period, from rolling stone reviews to general critical analysis, is overwhelmingly negative. scott: i agree that it was definitely a change, but i don’t think his deviation matched the amount of hate it got. though, to be fair, its reputation has had quite the 180 since it’s an initial release, which begs the question: what makes critics flip so strongly? with albums like discovery by daft punk, i think popular appeal had a lot to do with it. pitchfork gave it a lukewarm score when it first came out, but then it became massively popular and they ended up ranking it 3rd on their top 200 albums of the noughties. but moving back to miles, is popular appeal really a thing to be sited for its eventual acceptance? or is it something else (as i suspect)? jimmy: i’m not sure if the concept of popular appeal can apply to jazz as much as it does other genres. at one time that was relevant, but those days have long since passed, even around the time on the corner came out. i think that it is something else, like you said. i personally consider it to be the influence that it had on so many other genres, including electronic music in general, along with the eventual realization by fans that there was something more to it than what they were hearing, sort of like ornette coleman and john coltrane, as we’ll later discuss. but that brings up some big questions: first of all, just because an album is influential doesn’t mean its good. if you want to shift the focus for a brief second to film, you could say that a campy cult movie (rocky horror picture show comes to mind, or maybe even black dynamite) is influential, but that doesn’t necessarily make it good. second, why would it take so long for people to reverse their opinion on an album like this? shouldn’t the reaction towards on the corner be a little more mixed rather than overtly negative? i’m not sure we can really answer either question, but i consider these ideas to be necessary to how we view on the corner today. scott: i think it’s easier to discern those details in today’s climate, since most musical discourse happens online and is much more easy to track and analyze. regardless, i’m a huge fan of this record and feel it fits in perfectly well within his electric era albums. jimmy: agreed; i remember first listening to it and not being a huge fan, but i think it’s an album that, like bitches brew (and the electric era in general), needs some time to fully digest. listening to it again, it’s probably my favorite from the electric era, if only because of the resurgence in structure, and the interesting take miles has on electronics, like on “black satin.” scott: now, in terms of ornette coleman, there’s really no mystery as to why his music was controversial. like, at all. i wobbled between picking shape of jazz to come and free jazz for this segment, but ultimately sided with the latter since it coined the name of such a divisive jazz subgenre. even people i know who are huge jazz fans can’t get into “freer” stuff like coleman . jimmy: i’m glad i’m not the only one who had a hard time deciding between shape and free jazz; i actually decided to put both on the playlist just because of how damn important both are. and, yes, you speak of a schism between jazz fans over free jazz, and i can definitely understand why it’s as such. free improvisation was sort of the next natural step of jazz, but approaching it can be like running down a flat path only to have to jump off a cliff at the end. what i’ve always found a bit ironic, though, is how miles davis was insanely critical of ornette, yet essentially did the same thing. i feel like he needed to justify the genre for himself, or interpret it his own way, but still, it has a distinct hypocritical flavor to it. scott: i was actually surprised to find out miles wasn’t a fan of coleman. considering how miles is known for continuously pushing the boundaries of jazz, you’d think he’d at least support coleman for that principle alone. jimmy: i really think that it was more of an ego thing. not to get off track, but he wasn’t a fan of freddie hubbard’s playing either, despite having a very similar approach to hard bop during the quintet albums, among many others. but, onto ornette. scott, what comes to you first when you put on free jazz? scott: i first listened to free jazz after he passed away, and to prepare for our jazz club covering his career and style. while i enjoyed what i heard then, i didn’t actually appreciate the album fully until i bought it on vinyl at a small record store in portland (vinyl nerd jizz break: original gatefold with jackson pollock die cut, and in wicked solid condition). i put it on the turntable when no one else was home and turned up my stereo to max volume, and it made such a huge difference. it enhanced the absolute cacophony of the album, and truly helped me appreciate just how powerful it must have felt for these guys to literally play whatever they want as intensely as they could manage. i would never fault anyone for disliking the album, but it’s easily one of the most important jazz records ever recorded and one of my personal favorites. jimmy: is there a section of it that speaks to you more than others? or do you like how it develops over time? scott: i’m partial to the way it collapses into itself and lets the drums play some subdued chaos before the whole ensemble explodes again. but honestly, absorbing the piece as a whole is how i prefer to listen to it and how i feel it should be heard. jimmy: i absolutely agree with that statement. i previously compared this sort of style of music to sound collage, and in a way i feel like it fits more aptly than i originally thought. you can’t simply look at a certain section of a statue to understand it; you have to experience it in its entirety. scott: couldn’t agree more. that kind of goes back to our discussion before about accessibility when it comes to free jazz: while i think listening to the whole album is worth it, it’s hard to deny that doing so is an investment of time and patience (depending on your musical preference). jimmy: oh, yeah, you can’t count that out. i don’t think i’d be wrong in saying that truly enjoying music requires great sacrifice on one’s own part. it’s one thing to listen to an album and it’s another to experience it. and i’ll be one to admit that i don’t do the latter as often as i’d like. on the side of ornette, though, i’ve always found the first half of free jazz to be particularly titillating, since it retains so much jazz. i mean, that should go without saying, considering its name, but compared to what coltrane and pharaoh sanders would be doing not long after, there’s a distinct jazziness to this album; if you went through the album with an audio editor, you could take out all the atonal parts and essentially have a regular jazz album, despite it being a completely improvised performance. scott: that’s a great point; a lot of ornette’s other albums (change of the century comes to mind) have very obvious jazz roots, and often times feel more like a regular record with edge than a hugely experimental statement. i feel that free jazz is firmly avant garde, but like you said, it’s undeniably jazz. jimmy: well, our last album is undeniably jazz, but perhaps not exactly what we’d think of when we think of “controversial” albums. however, thelonious sphere monk was indeed an outlier when it came to jazz. his approach to the piano felt as if it was too soon and too late, with what almost sounds like ragtime and cool jazz put together. except, that to even compare monk to that sound is really not giving his musicianship what it deserves. scott: yeah, when jimmy suggested this as our third choice, i knew we’d definitely have to spend the most time explaining why it was so controversial. as you were explaining to me, jimmy, monk was a major force in the transition of jazz from a commercial medium into and art form. as odd as it may seem to think today, jazz was essentially synonymous with pop music back in the day. monk’s approach to piano and the genre helped begin its elevation to the “high class” art form it’s generally seen as today. (sidenote: seriously, almost every time a non fan hears me listening to jazz, the first thing they say is how i’m acting all intellectual). jimmy: actually, i think that was charlie parker i was talking about, but monk certainly brought his own…distinction…into the jazz world. his use of atonality and his phrasing brought something into american jazz that had never been heard before, and, arguably, haven’t been heard since. this album we’re talking about the self titled thelonious monk trio album is technically monk’s debut album, and already you can see that he’s sort of an anomaly. while a musician like charlie parker was out there, but was forward thinking, monk was just out there. honestly, outlier is the best word to describe him. but, why do we consider this controversial? in comparison to on the corner or free jazz, it doesn’t seem like much, but in monk’s time (around the 1950s) this was something that really hadn’t been heard. jazz wasn’t supposed to be dissonant; it was mellifluous. rhythm was more traditional. but monk sort of just did his own thing, playing his piano like it was both an melodic and rhythmic instrument. scott, what did you find most interesting about this album? i know you haven’t had a lot of time with it, and this is pretty much your first introduction to monk, so i’d like to hear what you think about it. scott: well, i obviously come close to receiving it the way it was back in the day. unlike on the corner and (especially) free jazz, i had to focus a lot harder on what was such a game changer about the album. focusing on the year (1954) helped, but i think monk’s playing helped me the most. he and bill evans play differently, but monk reminded me of evans in that he plays piano in exactly my favorite style. for me, piano can either be incredibly emotive or as clean and sanitized as any instrument can be. monk’s playing has an innate introspection to it; i feel like i’m listening to musical dialogue rather than something composed to be the next jazz smash. jimmy: that’s a cool way of viewing it; i have to agree with you on pianists; i’ve found it tough to like that smoothness that seems to accompany a lot of contemporary jazz, like gogo penguin and keith jarrett. i think it’s funny that you even put monk and evans in the same boat at all, though i get why: they’re both able to basically put their soul into those keys. the big question, though, is phrasing. monk’s phrasing is always a huge aspect of his playing. what did you think of that? scott: he kind of straddles the line between playing loose and having razor sharp focus. it’s like he knows exactly what he wants to play, but what he wants to play is whatever the fuck he wants. take “blue monk” for example: so many times i thought i knew exactly where the melody was going, and then he’d flit in one direction or other, while still tying it all together so it makes sense and sounds great. jimmy: man, i wish i could listen to it with new ears again. i’ve honestly listened to this album so many times (it’s probably my favorite jazz album ever) that i sort of know every bend and curve he’s going to take. don’t get me wrong, it’s still great, but i get what you mean, that there’s almost a schizophrenic way to his playing, which, in fact, might have been true, as doctors actually thought he might have had schizophrenia. probably my favorite thing about listening to this album, though, is hearing him yell amidst all the music. you’ve got to admire unbridled passion like that. scott: oddly enough, keith jarrett does the same thing on his live album nude ants, which i bought the other day because it was cheap and has a lot of music. and mixed in with his clean playing, all the random shouting seems oddly out of place. but with monk, it just makes sense. it fits and, like you said, literally screams passion. jimmy: right? well, any last words on our pal thelonious? scott: great fucking name, man; one of the best names in jazz. no, but seriously, i’m glad you picked monk to round out our list. i should have listened to him ages ago, and i’m glad i finally did. jimmy: nice, man! and, yes, he has probably the single best name in jazz music. i mean, who else would have sphere has a middle name? i think, to note again, though, this isn’t controversial by today’s standards, but back then jazz wasn’t as fleshed out; musicians hadn’t really begun to stretch and play with it as much. but jazz has been irreparably changed by monk, whether you like it or not. and i mean that in the best way possible. scott: alright, well we can chalk this up as another successful installment. as always, we’ve included a spotify playlist below. stay tuned for our next jazz club, where we’ll be discussing a new release that’s good good, not bad. jimmy: shhhh…spoilers!!! published 9 years ago heavy blog is heavy © 2025.

within weeks of its release in 1972, miles davis's on the corner had become the most vilified and controversial album in the history of jazz. "repetitious crap," wrote one critic. "an insult to the intellect of the people," remarked another. even the musicians who played on the album were bewildered. "i didn't think much of it," recalls saxophonist dave liebman. "it was my least favourite miles album," says paul buckmaster, the british composer and arranger who supplied musical sketches for the sessions, and turned davis on to the music and method of karlheinz stockhausen. the history of music is full of works that were derided on first public exposure   stravinsky's rite of spring (1910), ornette coleman's free jazz: a collective improvisation (1960), the sex pistols' never mind the bollocks (1977)   but within a few years enjoyed a critical rehabilitation. by contrast, on the corner remained shunned, if not forgotten, for decades. all the more striking, then, that 35 years after its first release it is hailed by many outside the jazz community as a visionary musical statement that was way ahead of its time. jamie morrison, drummer with post punk band the noisettes, is one of them. "on the corner is a huge influence on us," he says. "i love the rhythm section, and the way you're just thrown into the music at the beginning. it's really punk in its attitude. it's so offensive, and pushes boundaries at the same time." he is echoed by paul miller, aka electronic and hip hop musician and producer dj spooky. "i'm highly influenced by the collage process producer teo macero applied on the album," he says. bassist jah wobble chips in: "on the corner is fantastic, because this same riff comes back to you again and again. you can't do it with any old riff." and new york guitarist gary lucas, who has come through the captain beefheart school of warped aesthetics, loves the "ominous, dense, swampy jungle of urban desperation its dub like grooves conveyed". so it seems on the corner simply went underground, only to emerge again when the world was ready for it. the release this week of the complete on the corner sessions, a six cd box set, is timely. it's worth pointing out, though, that the re evaluation of on the corner has been going on since the early 1990s, when hip hop artists began quoting it as an influence. "it was the first hip hop/house/drum'n'bass/breakbeat album i'd ever heard," explains american musician and longtime village voice writer greg tate. since then, the list of musicians who have namechecked miles davis's electric music in general, and on the corner in particular, has become seemingly endless; knowing and liking the album appears to have become indispensable in the hipness stakes. on the corner's influence can be heard in the music of such varied artists as underworld, radiohead, sonic youth, red hot chili peppers, david byrne and squarepusher. yet, the mainstream jazz community still won't touch on the corner with a barge pole. and whatever remains of jazz rock continues to be too deeply in thrall of the pyrotechnics aspect of such 1970s bands as mahavishnu orchestra to take any notice of on the corner's repetitive funk, which was the antithesis of virtuosity. so what is this most mysterious and outré of albums? the culmination of davis's two decade long quest for the african roots of his music, on the corner has a huge, extended rhythm section rotating around circular, one chord bass riffs. but there were a number of other things that set the album apart. first there were the influences of stockhausen, paul buckmaster, and ornette coleman's atonal "harmolodics". these were superimposed over grooves and bass riffs that were more tightly circumscribed than ever before. on the opening track, the bass plays the same few notes for 20 minutes. inundated by an ocean of rhythm instruments, including sitar, tabla and three electric keyboards (played by chick corea and herbie hancock, among others), and without any harmonic development, the soloists had very little space, and became merely strands in a tangle of grooves and colours. in addition, producer teo macero did his wild cut and paste thing, which he had pioneered on miles davis's in a silent way and bitches brew. here, he went deeper than before into overdubbing and studio effects territory. according to the complete on the corner sessions producer bob belden: "the original album version was an effect. in essence, it's compression in a narrow stereo field to make the music work on am radio." why go to such trouble for am radio? the answer lies in what the more anti commercial members of the jazz community considered to be davis's biggest sin: having already been accused of "selling out" for incorporating rock influences, he asserted that on the corner was his effort to go mainstream and reach the kids in the streets. predictably, this impenetrable and almost tuneless concoction of avant garde classical, free jazz, african, indian and acid funk bombed spectacularly, leading to decades in the wilderness. as far as the jazzers were concerned, it completed davis's journey from icon to fallen idol. but the story doesn't end there. in the three years following on the corner's release, davis managed to take a few more steps in the same direction. in the spring of 1973, seemingly tired of the constraints imposed by huge rhythm sections, he trimmed his band down to seven players and fronted it with pete cosey, a fearsome electric guitarist whose jaw dropping exploits still sound advanced today. the band were at their best live, and their ferocious acid funk improvisations can be heard on the staggering live double albums dark magus, agharta and pangaea. most of the 1973 75 material on the complete on the corner sessions sounds tame by comparison to those three albums.but the box set also contains davis's acid funk band's only studio album, get up with it, which includes a meditational homage to duke ellington, he loved him madly   a half hour long track that brian eno has quoted as a major influence on his ambient direction. in the past few years, there have been signs that this 1973 75 output is also heading for a radical reappraisal. julian cope aptly wondered, "are there any others who took up the baton from miles after his funk ensemble collapsed? i hear the influence in post punk but that's about it." barring a few tributes, this music still appears to be buried in a time capsule of its own, waiting to be discovered. ·paul tingen is the author of miles beyond: the electric explorations of miles davis, 1967 1991. the complete on the corner sessions is out on sony legacy on monday. · this article was amended on monday october 29 2007. we misspelled red hot chili peppers as red hot chilli peppers. this has been corrected.

good for if you are interested in learning jazz, you’ll eventually come to this burning question what are the best jazz albums of all time? obviously, the answers to this question depend on many, many factors. however, there are specific jazz albums that everyone interested in jazz needs to hear. we’ve compiled 30 of the best jazz albums of all time, so you can start listening to these seminal statements of jazz mastery! if you are serious about learning jazz and ready to take the next step in your jazz music education, check out the learn jazz standards inner circle. the inner circle has incredible jazz education resources designed to help you break through practice plateaus and take your playing and musicianship to the next level! improve in 30 days or less. join the inner circle. how do you quantify best? claiming that we know which jazz albums are best is bold. in reality, there isn’t an objective way to measure which jazz albums are the best. sure, you can look at record sales or billboard charts to determine which albums performed the most successfully according to one metric or another. however, jazz is art, and art is ultimately subjective. what we can do, however, is compile a list of jazz albums that we think anyone interested in the genre needs to hear. the 30 albums in this list are essential for a variety of reasons. all are groundbreaking and influential within and outside of the jazz world. whether released fifty years ago or fifteen years ago, each jazz album contributed to the proliferation of jazz music and helped evangelize the genre. essentially, these albums helped further the jazz tradition in some way during the eras in which they were released. some of these albums were controversial when released and only became appreciated after publication. others are examples of artists fusing jazz with other genres and breathing new life into the tradition, such as classical music or afro cuban music. others came to define an era of jazz history, serving as the poster child for jazz fusion, free jazz, or cool jazz. one thing is certain, however. if you listen to this jazz collection, you will better understand and appreciate jazz’s scope and influence on the world. that is ultimately our goal with this list to take you on a journey through the best jazz offers while also painting a picture of jazz’s evolution from big bands and swing to electronic music. a final note before diving into the best jazz albums of all time because we are considering the impact and importance of these albums to the development of jazz, this list isn’t in a ranking order. these classic jazz albums have had an essential role in the music, and ranking them is a fool’s errand. with that settled, let’s dig into the best jazz albums of all time. image source: wikipedia kind of blue was recorded over two sessions in 1959 at columbia records’ 30th street studio in new york city. the first session took place on march 2, recording “so what,” “freddie freeloader,” and “blue in green.” the second session on april 22 completed the album with “all blues” and “flamenco sketches.”​ the album was another example of davis’ interest in modal jazz, a style focused on exploring the harmony of one scale or mode rather than the typical jazz chord progressions of the bebop era. for more on modal jazz, check out this article on 5 must know modal jazz tunes. miles davis’ approach for kind of blue was to keep the compositions minimal, only giving the musicians basic sketches, allowing them to fill in the blank with their musicianship and intuition. this recording style led to a fluid and almost effortless sound throughout the album. upon release, kind of blue was met with critical acclaim and has since been considered one of the greatest jazz albums ever. it remains one of the best selling jazz records, having sold over four million copies worldwide since its release. it has also been added to the library of congress’s national recording registry. so, if your metric is commercial success, it is one of the best jazz albums of all time. the album’s modal jazz approach has had a profound influence not only on jazz but also on rock acts, classical music, and other genres. musicians like john coltrane and bill evans further explored modal jazz in their endeavors. this album would kickstart the career of bassist paul chambers. also, kind of blue is known for significantly influencing other artists outside of jazz, such as rock guitarist jimi hendrix and the rock band pink floyd. its impact has extended far beyond jazz. kind of blue is considered one of the greatest albums ever recorded, let alone the greatest jazz album ever recorded. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia a love supreme was recorded in a single session on december 9, 1964, at van gelder studio in englewood cliffs, new jersey, and released by impulse records in 1965. the album is structured as a four part suite: “acknowledgement,” “resolution,” “pursuance,” and “psalm.”​ a love supreme was a profoundly spiritual work for john coltrane. some interpreted the work as the artist’s acknowledgment that his talents come from a higher spiritual power. his liner notes explicitly dedicate the album to god, making it not just a musical statement but a spiritual declaration.​ the album blends elements of modal jazz with avant garde influences. upon its release, a love supreme received critical acclaim and has since been hailed as one of the greatest jazz albums ever. the album has appeared on many “greatest albums” lists, including rolling stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, where it was ranked no. 47 in 2003, no. 66 in 2020, and inducted into the national recording registry. the suite’s influence extended beyond jazz, inspiring musicians in genres as diverse as rock and spiritual music. artists like carlos santana and bono of u2 have cited this john coltrane album as a deep source of inspiration. a love supreme is a high point in john coltrane’s discography and a milestone in jazz history. it solidified john coltrane’s reputation as a spiritual jazz pioneer, inspiring a generation of musicians to explore introspective themes in their compositions. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia released in february 1960, giant steps is a milestone album in jazz history and john coltrane’s first album as a leader for atlantic records. it marks a turning point in john coltrane’s career. it was his first to feature all original compositions, exploring new chord progressions that eventually became “coltrane changes” a complex series of chord progressions that feature tonal centers moving in major thirds.​ check out this article if you want to understand coltrane changes better. it was recorded over several sessions in 1959, during the same period as john coltrane’s work on kind of blue with miles davis. giant steps received a mixed reception upon release, as some critics found its technical complexity challenging. however, it is now considered one of the most influential jazz albums ever recorded. the title track, “giant steps,” is famous for its rapid tempo and intricate chord changes, making it a “rite of passage” for jazz musicians. along with the title track, john coltrane’s compositions “naima” and “mr. p.c.” became jazz standards. learn more about john coltrane and his compositions by checking out our article on the 37 best jazz saxophonists. giant steps is credited with pushing the boundaries of jazz improvisation and composition, influencing jazz musicians and other genres. this album is significant in the history of jazz as an improvisational music. the album’s harmonic innovations, particularly “coltrane changes,” redefined what was possible in jazz improvisation. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia it’s time for one of my personal favorites! if this were purely a personal list and i wasn’t considering larger impacts on the music world, this might be my number one in the rankings for best jazz albums of all time. speak no evil was recorded on december 24, 1964, and released in 1966 by blue note records. it is considered one of wayne shorter’s most important works and an excellent example of a quintessential blue note album. the album stylistically blends hard bop, post bop, and modal jazz elements and showcases shorter’s evolving compositional style. it features a lineup that includes members of miles davis’s mid 1960s quintet, recorded during his mid 1960s tenure with miles davis. shorter wrote each of the six tracks on the album. his unconventional chord progressions and rich, non diatonic chords give these compositions a haunting, airy quality. critics and listeners have lauded the album for its haunting beauty, calling it a cohesive masterpiece that solidifies wayne shorter’s standing as a top saxophonist and composer. speak no evil is considered an essential jazz recording featured in various “best jazz albums of all time” lists, showcasing its lasting impact on the genre. speak no evil is a bonafide jazz album. it reflects wayne shorter’s unique approach to jazz composition and incredible improvisational instinct. it is a timeless piece of jazz history and an album that is just as important today as it was sixty years ago. image source: wikipedia released in 1959 by columbia records, time out became one of the most commercially successful jazz albums in history, and that’s why we are including it on our list. in addition to being extremely important for ushering in a whole new generation of jazz fans, this album is notable for its use of unconventional time signatures, including 5/4 (take five) and 9/8 (blue rondo à la turk). initially, time out received mixed reviews but achieved massive commercial success, reaching no. 2 on the billboard pop albums chart. time out was the first jazz album to sell over a million copies and was certified double platinum. additionally, “take five” became the first jazz single to sell over a million copies and reached no. 25 on the billboard pop singles chart, which is rare for a jazz song. its success and innovative approach solidified the dave brubeck quartet’s place in jazz history. they showcased that complex musical ideas could achieve mainstream popularity. because of this, time out created a new generation of jazz fans and served as a gateway album into the genre. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia released in 1960 by riverside records, this album marked montgomery’s breakthrough in jazz and solidified his reputation as one of the greatest jazz guitarists. this album’s importance to jazz guitar cannot be understated! the album features several of montgomery’s signature guitar playing techniques, including “thumb picking” and octaves, which have become essential elements in modern jazz guitar playing. this classic jazz album blends hard bop with that west coast sound. the incredible jazz guitar received critical acclaim upon release, earning a five star review from ira gitler of downbeat magazine and being regarded as a landmark jazz guitar recording. there is a significant distinction between jazz guitar before and after wes montgomery. this album may be the dividing line. the library of congress selected the album for preservation in the national recording registry in 1917 because of its status as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”​ this album set the standard for jazz guitar recordings and introduced montgomery’s innovative techniques to a broader audience. its influence can still be heard in both jazz and popular music, making it a quintessential listen for understanding the evolution of jazz guitar​ specifically and the west coast sound more generally. to learn more about wes montgomery, check out our article on the 50 best jazz guitarists ever. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded on october 30, 1958, and released in 1959 by blue note records, moanin’ is one of the most celebrated hard bop albums of its time and set the stage for what jazz would become in the years after its release. the album is known for its blend of gospel, blues, and jazz, marking a turning point in art blakey’s career as a bandleader. it defined the jazz messengers’ sound and helped establish blakey’s reputation as a mentor for young, talented musicians. featuring compositions primarily by benny golson and bobby timmons, the album balances structured arrangements with space for improvisation, making it a quintessential hard bop recording. moanin’ was a critical and commercial success upon its release and was recognized as one of the most influential hard bop albums of all time. bobby timmons’s title track, “moanin’,” became one of the most famous compositions in the hard bop genre. its catchy, gospel inspired melody and call and response format have made it a jazz standard. benny golson’s contributions, such as “along came betty” and “blues march,” also became staples of the jazz messengers’ repertoire, with “along came betty” becoming a famous jazz standard in its own right. moanin’ solidified art blakey and the jazz messengers as an iconic jazz ensemble, and it was instrumental in shaping the careers of its members, including lee morgan and benny golson. it remains a must hear for jazz fans looking to explore the hard bop genre. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded on march 17, 1965, maiden voyage is herbie hancock’s fifth studio album and was released by blue note when herbie hancock was only 24 years old! the album is often considered one of the most essential recordings of the post bop era. it showcases hancock’s innovative blend of modal jazz and impressionistic composition. this “concept album” revolves around the theme of the sea. tracks such as “maiden voyage” and “dolphin dance” became classic jazz standards. maiden voyage is heralded as a masterpiece and is often mentioned as one of the defining albums of hancock’s early career. over the years, maiden voyage has become a touchstone in jazz, influencing countless musicians and spawning numerous covers of its compositions by artists like ahmad jamal, grover washington jr., and bill evans. the album’s influence extended beyond jazz, inspiring classical, rock, and contemporary musicians. it is deceptively complex yet quite accessible to the average listener. maiden voyage is a perfect example of jazz in the mid 60s and hints at where jazz was heading in the 1970s. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia here’s another favorite of mine! sonny side up was recorded in december 1957 and released in 1959 on verve records. it is considered one of the most exhilarating bebop jam session albums, capturing three jazz giants at the height of their improvisational prowess. norman granz produced the album, creating an ideal setting for rollins and stitt’s saxophone “battle.” sonny rollins’s motific and rhythmically complex saxophone playing contrasts nicely with sonny stitt’s technical bebop prowess. and dizzy is wholeheartedly dizzy throughout the entire album. be sure to check him out singing at the end of “sunny side of the street.” its energy and attitude feel raw and live like you saw them at a club. sonny side up’s lively energy and interaction between the performers make this a compelling performance that keeps listeners (at least me) returning. the album remains a definitive example of the bebop genre and has been highly praised for its spontaneity and virtuosity. sonny side up is frequently cited as one of the best examples of a jazz jam session, which emphasizes improvisation and real time interaction between musicians. the album’s enduring appeal lies in its all star cast, each bringing a different attitude and energy to this “cutting session.” source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded on may 22, 1959, and released later that year in november by atlantic records, the shape of jazz to come is widely considered one of the best jazz records ever. it introduced the world to free jazz, marking a radical departure from traditional jazz by abandoning chordal instruments and fixed harmonic structures. like chet baker and gerry mulligan’s group, ornette colemans’s quartet didn’t have a chord player, which allowed them to stretch the harmony. the album’s compositions utilized coleman’s harmolodic philosophy, which treats harmony, melody, speed, time, and rhythm as equally important. as a result, traditional music’s overemphasis on harmony is deprioritized in coleman’s music, which moves away from total centers. the shape of jazz to come generated significant controversy and polarized opinions. some musicians and critics praised coleman’s inventiveness, while others were critical of his unconventional approach. despite the initial mixed reception, the shape of jazz to come has been recognized as a significant influence on avant garde jazz and was inducted into the grammy hall of fame in 2015. it is frequently included in various “best jazz albums of all time” lists. the shape of jazz to come introduced the world to free jazz. its emphasis on group improvisation and absence of traditional harmonic constraints made it revolutionary. the album’s influence can be seen in later works by avant garde musicians and composers across genres. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded between august 19 21, 1969, and released in march 1970 by columbia records, bitches brew is considered a groundbreaking and genre defining album that launched “jazz rock.” the album blends jazz, rock, and funk elements with extensive use of electric instruments, breaking away from traditional jazz norms. bitches brew, released after in a silent way, continues exploring electric instruments and the fusion of different styles from rock to impressionistic classical music. miles davis gave general directions and ideas regarding the writing and recording process but wanted the musicians he assembled to create the album in a traditionally less structured way. also, the audio engineering process broke new ground with miles and audio engineer teo macero utilizing the recording studio in novel ways. the double lp features six extended tracks, with a total runtime of over 90 minutes. bitches brew is miles davis’s second best performing jazz album behind kind of blue. from its release, it was both controversial and groundbreaking. jazz traditionalists saw bitches brew as unorthodox and far removed from the idea of what jazz was “supposed to be.” however, many others recognized the work as a brilliant musical experiment that successfully blended various musical genres and captured a beautiful, spontaneous musical moment in time. widely regarded as one of the most influential albums in jazz history, bitches brew is considered a turning point not only in davis’s career but also in the evolution of jazz itself. bitches brew was instrumental in establishing jazz fusion as a genre, inspiring artists such as weather report and the mahavishnu orchestra. its emphasis on rhythm and groove paved the way for funk jazz, and its dissonant, almost avant garde sound influenced progressive rock bands like king crimson. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia the köln concert was recorded live on january 24, 1975, at the opera house in köln, west germany. this jazz record is one of jazz’s most outstanding solo piano performances. ecm records released the album later that year. it has since become the best selling solo piano and solo jazz album, with over four million copies sold. jarrett was exhausted and suffering from chronic back pain, and the piano provided was a substandard baby grand with faulty keys and pedals. despite these setbacks, jarrett pushed through and delivered a legendary performance. upon release, the köln concert was met with critical acclaim, noting the impressive breadth of jarrett’s improvisations, which seamlessly blend jazz, classical, and folk influences. critics have highlighted how jarrett’s technical mastery and expressiveness turned what could have been a compromised performance into an artistic masterpiece. it has been selected by the penguin guide to jazz recordings as part of its “core collection” of essential jazz albums and has been listed in robert dimery’s book 1001 albums you must hear before you die. this live album cemented jarrett’s reputation as one of the greatest pianists ever. the köln concert has profoundly impacted jazz, classical, and popular music. it’s a compelling example of a completely improvised solo performance. this concert is also an example of the adage “art from adversity.” it shows that daunting obstacles can lead to creative breakthroughs. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia my funny valentine was recorded live on february 12, 1964, at the philharmonic hall of lincoln center in new york city during a benefit concert for the naacp, the congress of racial equality, and the student nonviolent coordinating committee. released by columbia records in 1965, the album captures the ballad portion of the evening’s performance, focusing on slower, more introspective pieces, contrasting sharply with the companion album four & more, which contains the uptempo numbers played during the same concert. this concert marked one of davis’s final performances of predominantly standard ballads before transitioning into more experimental and avant garde jazz styles. it also represents one of the last recordings of his second great quintet before saxophonist george coleman’s departure. the album received critical acclaim and is considered one of davis’s finest live recordings from the early 1960s. it was praised for its emotional intensity and technical mastery. the quintet’s playing was described as “profoundly felt emotion with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of restraint.” it has been recognized as a high point for the group, capturing their collective peak as they easily navigated complex time signatures and melodic structures. each quintet member was given space to shine, with particular praise for hancock’s expressive piano work and williams’s dynamic drumming. my funny valentine is often cited as a definitive example of davis’s mastery in a live setting, balancing technical brilliance with emotional nuance. its historical significance is further underscored by the context of the benefit concert, which came just months after president kennedy’s assassination, adding a layer of poignancy to the performance.​ the album remains a critical favorite and is featured in many “best live jazz recordings” lists, serving as a critical document of miles davis’s transitional period before his foray into the modal and electric eras that defined his later career. source: wikipedia image source: herbiehancock.com head hunters, released in october 1973 by columbia records, is one of history’s most iconic jazz fusion albums and is often cited as a genre landmark. hancock sought to create a fusion of jazz, funk, and rock, inspired by artists like sly stone and james brown while maintaining a strong jazz core. the album was a commercial success, peaking at no. 13 on the billboard 200 and becoming the first jazz album to achieve platinum status, eventually selling over a million copies. it marked a major shift in hancock’s career from his earlier acoustic jazz work to a more electric and groove focused sound. head hunters was widely praised for its innovation and is still considered a quintessential jazz funk recording. in 2007, the album was added to the library of congress’s national recording registry for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance. the record has had a profound influence on jazz and genres like funk, hip hop, and electronic music. its tracks, especially “chameleon” and “watermelon man,” have been heavily sampled by hip hop artists such as 2pac and digable planets, cementing its foundational work in jazz and popular music. head hunters is considered a pivotal album that expanded the possibilities of jazz, merging traditional jazz elements with contemporary funk and electronic sounds. it remains influential today and is studied for its groundbreaking production techniques and genre blending style. the album’s impact is reflected in its continued presence in “best jazz albums of all time” lists, and it has been a touchstone for generations of musicians across multiple genres. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia it’s time for another personal favorite! this incredible jazz record was recorded on october 8 and 15, 1972, and released the following year by ecm records. light as a feather marks the second album of chick corea’s iconic fusion project return to forever. return to forever helped launch the founding member and bass phenom stanley clarke’s career. the album blends elements of jazz, latin music, and brazilian rhythms, making it a cornerstone in the early jazz fusion movement.​ this album and its predecessor, return to forever (1972), were highly influential in the evolution of jazz into the electronic age. there were many routes jazz took after miles davis’s bitches brew (1970), and chick corea’s vision of brazillian inspired fusion is one of the most enduring. this album is often included in “best jazz albums of all time” lists and made tom moon’s 1,000 albums to hear before you die. the return to forever period marked a turning point in corea’s career, setting the stage for his later work with the group and influencing the direction of jazz fusion. light as a feather is often listed among the best fusion albums of the era and helped inspire other artists who were fusing jazz with other genres. source: wikipedia if you struggle to learn jazz standards by ear, memorize them, and not get lost in the song form, then our free guide will completely change the way you learn tunes forever. image source: wikipedia columbia records released mingus ah um in 1959. it was mingus’s first album for columbia. in many ways, it’s a jazz concept album because it features compositions dedicated to various jazz legends who inspired mingus. tributes to several jazz legends include “goodbye pork pie hat,” written for lester young, and “open letter to duke,” honoring duke ellington. “jelly roll” and “bird calls” each pay tribute to jelly roll morton and charlie parker. mingus ah um won many accolades upon its release and is now considered one of the best jazz albums of all time. it was inducted into the grammy hall of fame and selected for preservation in the national recording registry by the library of congress in 2003. also, the album was inducted into the grammy hall of fame in 2013. the album is considered a template for the “jazz concept album,” emphasizing thematic unity and coherent sequencing rather than being a series of standards. mingus’s ability to blend his vision with jazz traditions made mingus ah um a clear statement of the artist’s identity. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia saxophone colossus was recorded on june 22, 1956, at van gelder studio in hackensack, new jersey, and released the following year by prestige records. not only is saxophone colossus considered a hard bop masterpiece, but it is also the jazz record for which sonny rollins is best known. it features one of my favorite tunes as the opening track ”st. thomas.” upon release, saxophone colossus received critical acclaim and has since been hailed as one of the greatest examples of hard bop in the jazz world. this album also showcases rollins’s mastery of thematic development and motivic improvisation. the album has been inducted into the library of congress’s national recording registry, cementing its status as a culturally and historically significant recording. saxophone colossus is sonny rollins’s masterpiece and a quintessential hard bop record. the album’s enduring popularity and artistic depth continue to inspire musicians and listeners alike, making it essential listening for any jazz fan. jazz students should also intensely study the sonny rollins solo on “st. thomas” because it is a masterclass in motivic and rhythmic development. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia page one is joe henderson’s debut album, recorded and released by blue note records in 1963. the album is noted for its sophisticated compositions and a stellar lineup of musicians, including trumpeter kenny dorham and pianist mccoy tyner, who were already giants of jazz expression. the album includes six tracks, with two compositions that have become jazz standards: henderson’s “recorda me” and dorham’s “blue bossa.” both tracks showcase a blend of latin rhythms and jazz, which helped the album stand out in the hard bop genre. notably, page one was recorded at rudy van gelder’s studio, a location synonymous with high quality jazz recordings, and produced by alfred lion, a co founder of blue note records. page one was well received upon its release and is considered one of henderson’s finest early works. the album established henderson as a significant new voice in jazz and has been frequently cited as an essential hard bop recording. it has remained in print since its release, a testament to its enduring appeal and critical acclaim. the album is often praised for its lyrical yet innovative improvisational style. tracks like “blue bossa” and “recorda me” are celebrated for their catchy melodies and rhythmic sophistication, making them staples in the jazz repertoire. page one is considered a milestone in henderson’s career and a landmark in the development of hard bop. its blend of styles and impeccable musicianship have influenced generations of jazz musicians and are still referenced today in jazz education and performance settings source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded live at the village vanguard in new york city on june 25, 1961, waltz for debby is a landmark album in jazz history and one of the final recordings by the original trio before scott lafaro’s untimely death. released in 1962 by riverside records, the album serves as a companion to sunday at the village vanguard. both albums capture the trio’s highly interactive style, which redefined the role of each instrument within the traditional jazz trio setting. waltz for debby was celebrated for its nuanced interaction between members, solidifying the bill evans trio’s reputation as one of jazz’s most influential trios in the piano trio format. the recording is also notable for its intimate live atmosphere. the audience’s presence is captured in the background, enhancing the authenticity of the performance. waltz for debby remains a beloved classic in the jazz repertoire. this live recording is considered one of evans’s finest, displaying his introspective style and masterful technique. the title track, “waltz for debby,” is a composition by evans dedicated to his niece and is now a bonafide jazz standard. the album’s exploration of complex harmonies and subtle group interplay has had a lasting impact on the jazz genre, influencing not only pianists but also bassists and drummers in their approach to trio playing. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia song for my father was recorded between 1963 and 1964 and released in january 1965 by blue note records. the album is considered a quintessential hard bop recording, blending silver’s blues, gospel, and bebop roots with brazilian inspired rhythms and harmonies. the title track, “song for my father,” was written as a tribute to silver’s father, john tavares silva, and is known for its bossa nova influence. the album cover features a photograph of horace silver’s father. song for my father was a critical and commercial success and became one of silver’s most well known albums. the album was accessible yet sophisticated and cemented silver’s status as a leading figure in the hard bop genre. the title track has been highly influential beyond jazz, notably inspiring steely dan’s “rikki don’t lose that number” and other pop songs. its instantly recognizable bass line and melody have been covered by artists across genres, from hip hop producer madlib to guitarist george benson. the album is silver’s masterpiece and a quintessential representation of the hard bop genre. its success, along with lee morgan’s the sidewinder, helped propel blue note records to new commercial heights. also, “song for my father” remains a beloved standard. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia released on february 28, 2012, by blue note records, black radio marked a significant shift in robert glasper’s career, merging his jazz background with hip hop, neo soul, and r&b. black radio has collaborations with prominent artists from many genres, showcasing glasper’s versatility and boundary pushing vision. this approach allowed the robert glasper experiment to blend live instrumentation with digital production, creating a cohesive yet eclectic sound. black radio received critical acclaim for its innovative blend of genres and was praised for bridging the gap between jazz and contemporary black music styles. it debuted at no. 15 on the billboard 200 and reached no. 1 on the jazz albums chart. the album won the grammy award for best r&b album in 2013, marking a significant achievement for a jazz influenced record. black radio is considered a pivotal album for the evolution of contemporary jazz. its success helped establish glasper as a prominent figure in contemporary black music and expanded the definition of a jazz album in the 21st century. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia go was recorded on august 27, 1962, at rudy van gelder studio in new jersey and released by blue note records. go is regarded as one of gordon’s most accomplished albums, showcasing his mastery of hard bop. the recording session was recorded with a younger rhythm section featuring pianist sonny clark, bassist butch warren, and drummer billy higgins. notoriously, the session had all the vibes of a live club performance, but it was captured in the studio. the library of congress inducted go into the national recording registry, recognizing its historical and cultural significance. the album was a commercial success and helped revitalize gordon’s career. it led to a series of well regarded recordings with blue note through the 1960s. go is a definitive example of gordon’s late career resurgence and a high point in his discography. it remains a recommended entry point for listeners new to his music and is often cited in “best jazz albums of all time” lists. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia soul station was recorded on february 7, 1960, at van gelder studio in englewood cliffs, new jersey, and released later that year by blue note records. the album is quintessential hard bop. this recording was significant as it placed mobley, someone less well known than contemporaries like john coltrane or sonny rollins, on their level as a band leader and sax player. the rhythm section featured wynton kelly, paul chambers, and art blakey, all household names in jazz. soul station put hank mobley on the map. critics praised the album for its balance and structure and for showcasing mobley’s bebop sax chops and masterful solos. over the decades, soul station has gained even more recognition, earning spots in prestigious jazz album guides like the rolling stone jazz record guide and the penguin guide to jazz recordings. it is now considered one of its era’s most important jazz albums. soul station has stood the test of time as a benchmark for tenor saxophonists and a high point in the hard bop genre. while mobley may not have been considered a pioneer like john coltrane or sonny rollins, this album solidified his place as a hard bop jazz icon. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia the real mccoy, tyner’s first album, was recorded on april 21, 1967, at van gelder studio in englewood cliffs, new jersey. it was released on the blue note label following his departure from john coltrane’s quartet. the album marked a pivotal moment in tyner’s career. it allowed him to assert his voice as a bandleader and composer and showcased his distinct harmonic style, which would go on to influence other pianists. the album’s compositions combine hard bop, modal jazz, and mccoy tyner’s original playing style. for more on the chord voicings mccoy tyner uses, check out our article on quartal harmony. the real mccoy was featured in the penguin guide to jazz‘s “core collection” for its cohesive structure and expressive power, solidifying tyner’s status as one of the leading post bop pianists. the album’s unique harmonic structures, built on open, unresolved chords, combined with henderson’s distinctive saxophone lines, created a dynamic interplay that made it one of the standout releases of the late 1960s​ the real mccoy remains a highly influential recording in the post bop genre. it is frequently cited as the ideal entry point for exploring tyner’s extensive body of work and is considered one of the classic jazz albums of the 1960s. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia recorded over two days in march 1963 at a&r recording studios in new york city, getz/gilberto was released in 1964 by verve records. this album helped popularize bossa nova worldwide and introduced brazilian music to american audiences in a big way. featuring antônio carlos jobim’s compositions and arrangements, the album seamlessly blended brazilian rhythms with jazz harmonies. the recording included classic tracks such as “the girl from ipanema” and “corcovado (quiet nights of quiet stars),” both of which have become bossa nova and jazz standards.​ getz/gilberto was both a critical and commercial success. it won the 1965 grammy award for album of the year, the first time a jazz record received the honor, and also took home awards for best jazz instrumental album and best engineered recording. the album’s success extended beyond jazz audiences, making it a crossover sensation and inspiring countless covers and interpretations. its minimalist, airy feel and infectious groove made it a timeless classic. getz/gilberto is considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time and the definitive bossa nova record. it is one of the few albums that sparked a global fascination with brazilian music. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia still life (talking) is a groundbreaking work in the jazz fusion genre and an important milestone in pat metheny’s career. released in 1987, it seamlessly blends jazz, brazilian, and world music to create a new sound. the album received widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. in 1988, it won the grammy award for best jazz fusion performance, solidifying the pat metheny group’s reputation as a pioneer in modern jazz fusion. still life (talking) reached no. 1 on the billboard jazz albums chart and was noted for its crossover appeal, drawing in listeners beyond the traditional jazz audience. its blend of genres made it a groundbreaking release, adding to pat metheny’s reputation as a genre defying artist.​ still life (talking) remains one of the most celebrated albums in the pat metheny group’s discography and is repeatedly cited as one of the best jazz fusion albums ever. it set a new standard for what was possible in contemporary jazz. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia thelonius monk’s music was incredibly important for the development of jazz’s harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic language. that’s why i’ve selected an important compilation album to represent his music. initially recorded in 1947 and 1948 and released by blue note in 1956, genius of modern music: volume 1 features some of the earliest and most influential recordings of monk’s music. the album features classic recordings of monk’s music, such as “round midnight,” “well you needn’t,” and “ruby my dear,” which are all part of the standard repertoire.​ the album received a mixed reception upon release. jazz critics found monk’s unorthodox playing and harmonic approach challenging to comprehend. however, the hostile jazz critics failed to grasp just how important monk’s music and philosophy would be to the jazz world. over time, however, genius of modern music has been recognized as a document of monk’s early genius and an essential work in the development of modern jazz. today, the album is considered essential listening for understanding the evolution of jazz piano and composition.​ genius of modern music: volume 1 is a vitally important work highlighting monk’s early development as a composer and pianist. the album’s reissues, including expanded cd editions, have made it a must have for jazz enthusiasts and musicians alike. its influence is still felt in contemporary jazz circles, crystalizing monk’s reputation as one of the most influential figures in jazz history. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia released in december 1954 by emarcy records, clifford brown & max roach is an essential album for exploring the evolution of bebop and hard bop. it features a quintet led by trumpeter clifford brown and drummer max roach, who joined forces to form one of the most influential, if short lived, groups of the 1950s. the album highlights brown’s brilliance as a trumpeter and composer and roach’s innovation in drumming. the sessions that produced this album marked the debut of the group’s “classic quintet” lineup, with harold land on tenor saxophone, richie powell (brother of the amazing bud powell) on piano, and george morrow on bass. its tight arrangements, sophisticated compositions, and high energy performances. this great jazz album has been praised for its virtuosic playing and innovative jazz compositions. in 1999, it was inducted into the grammy hall of fame. this album is often cited in lists of the greatest jazz albums and was considered by the new york times as “perhaps the definitive bop group” until clifford brown’s tragic death in 1956. despite its relatively brief existence, the clifford brown and max roach quintet had a lasting impact on jazz, setting new standards for composition and group interplay. source: wikipedia let’s explore a compilation album for perhaps the best jazz musician to ever grace us with 8th notes. i chose a compilation album because taking a tour of parker’s work is extremely important for anyone interested in understanding the development of jazz. charlie parker was the first jazz musician to codify what we now know today as bebop vocabulary. there are clear distinctions in jazz language pre and post bird. to learn more about the elements of jazz language, check out this article on 20 jazz licks. this compilation album features quintessential bird recordings that reveal charlie parker’s virtuostic genius. it’s an important chapter in jazz history that any jazz fan needs to study! charlie parker’s influence on jazz is immeasurable. he shaped not only the evolution of jazz but also impacted the work of writers, visual artists, and musicians in multiple genres. this compilation album isn’t particularly unique in and of itself. any solid compilation album will do. the more important takeaway is that jazz fans need to listen to charlie parker and his work however they can get it. this album offers a great way to do that. source: wikipedia image source: wikipedia ella and louis was recorded on august 16th, 1956, and released that october. it features an all star line up of jazz legends, including ella fitzgerald, louis armstrong, art tatum, herb ellis, and oscar peterson. it is one of the most significant examples of a vocal jazz album with crossover popular appeal. the oscar peterson quartet was hired as the backing band for ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong. to learn more about other jazz legends, check out our article on the 16 most famous jazz musicians of all time. upon release, ella and louis reached no. 1 on the billboard jazz best seller list and peaked at no. 12 on the mainstream chart. the collaboration led to two more albums: ella and louis again (1957) and porgy and bess (1958). this album exhibits the contrasting styles of ella’s refined tone and armstrong’s gravelly, playful approach.​ the chemistry between the two jazz singers and their improvisational playfulness makes it an irresistible favorite among jazz fans. ella and louis is cited as one of the greatest jazz vocalist albums ever. source: wikipedia are you interested in learning how to play jazz but don’t know where to start? the learn jazz standards inner circle is designed to help you overcome practice plateaus and take your jazz playing to the next level. ready to become a better jazz musician? improve in 30 days or less. join the inner circle. we help musicians of all instruments start improvising confidently over jazz standards in just 30 days without mind numbing hours of practice or the overwhelm. we help musicians of all instruments start improvising confidently over jazz standards in as little as 30 days without mind numbing hours of practice or the overwhelm. download free guide learning jazz licks is a great way to have a hands on experience with the jazz language. jazz download free guide the best way to learn any language is to listen to its native speakers. when it comes download free guide the 2 5 1 chord progression is the most common (and maybe most important) harmonic building block used in a step by step guide for how to effectively learn jazz standards so you’ll feel confident playing them, and won’t forget them. at learn jazz standards llc, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. here are the types of personal information we may collect when you use and visit learnjazzstandards.com, and how we safeguard your information. we never sell your personal information to third parties. as with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. the information in the log files include your ip (internet protocol) address, your isp (internet service provider, such as aol or shaw cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as internet explorer or firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site. we may use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. this could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to log in to some of our features, such as forums. we collect this information to help send you only pertinent content that we believe you are interested in and will benefit from. we also use third party advertisements on learnjazzstandards.com to support our site. some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as google through the google adsense program) information including your ip address, your isp, the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have flash installed. this is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing new york real estate ads to someone in new york, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites). we also may use dart cookies for ad serving through google’s doubleclick service, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using doubleclick advertising (including some google adsense advertisements). this cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (“interest based targeting”). the ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (for example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting las vegas, you may see las vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non related site, such as on a site about hockey). dart uses “non personally identifiable information.” it does not track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. you can opt out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added. if you share your email address with learnjazzstandards.com via the contact page, we will only use it to contact you, and will not add you to any lists or newsletters without your consent. contact us, and we will ensure your data is cleared from our system. if you ever wish to reach out to us regarding the use of your data, we are reachable at [email protected]. additionally, you can use our contact page, to reach out any time. in short, your information is safe with us, and we greatly value your trust. thanks for using learn jazz standards! welcome to learnjazzstandards.com! we’ve created this page so that you (and any visitor to learnjazzstandards.com) will understand the terms and conditions that govern your use of this website. if you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions, which together with our privacy policy comprise our (learnjazzstandards.com’s) entire relationship with you. the content found on any page of this website is for your general information and use only, and it is subject to change without notice. neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. you acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law. your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. it shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements. by accessing our website, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from all claims, actions, damages, costs and expenses including legal fees arising from or in connection with your use of our website. this website contains some material which is owned by or licensed to us. this material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions. all logos, trademarks, and other intellectual property found on learnjazzstandards.com are the property of their respective owners. they do not indicate ownership, affiliation, sponsorship, or any other relationship with learnjazzstandards.com. in addition, this website may also include links to other websites. these links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. they do not signify that we endorse those websites, and we have no responsibility for the content of those linked websites. your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of the united states of america. any unauthorized use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense. thanks, and enjoy learnjazzstandards.com! because these are digital downloads, and not returnable, we have a strict no refund policy. all purchases are final and cannot be reversed. please be sure that you fully understand the product you are purchasing and what is and what is not included. of course, if you ever have any questions about a product feel free to contact usor visit our faq page. please make sure you completely understand the product you are buying before purchasing. 14 day 100% money back guarantee all digital products are for the use of the individual customer only. redistribution or reselling of our digital products is strictly prohibited and a violation of united states and new york state law. effective date: october 02, 2020 this sms message program is a service of learn jazz standards. by providing your cell phone number, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g., sms/mms cart reminders, sale notices, etc) from learn jazz standards. these messages include text messages that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system, to the mobile telephone number you provided when signing up or any other number that you designate. you give learn jazz standards permission to send text messages to the enrolled cell phone number through your wireless phone carrier, unless and until you end permission per these terms & conditions. consent to receive automated marketing text messages is not a condition of any purchase. message & data rates may apply. message frequency may vary. learn jazz standards reserves the right to alter the frequency of messages sent at any time, so as to increase or decrease the total number of sent messages. learn jazz standards also reserves the right to change the short code or phone number from which messages are sent and we will notify you if we do so. not all mobile devices or handsets may be supported and our messages may not be deliverable in all areas. learn jazz standards, its service providers and the mobile carriers supported by the program are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. by enrolling in the learn jazz standards messaging program, you also agree to these messaging terms & conditions (“messaging terms”), our learn jazz standards terms of use and learn jazz standards privacy policy. to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, you acknowledge and agree that the messaging program is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, you agree that in no event shall either of learn jazz standards or any party acting on behalf of learn jazz standards be liable for: (a) any claims, proceedings, liabilities, obligations, damages, losses or costs in an aggregate amount exceeding the greater of the amount you paid to learn jazz standards hereunder or $100.00; or (b) any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or any other damages. you agree even if learn jazz standards has been told of possible damage or loss arising or resulting from or in any way relating to your use of the learn jazz standards messaging program. learn jazz standards and its representatives are not liable for the acts or omissions of third parties, including but not limited to delays or non delivery in the transmission of messages. to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless learn jazz standards, its directors, officers, employees, servants, agents, representatives, independent contractors and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, actions, causes of action, costs, expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, judgments or penalties of any kind or nature arising from or in relation to the these messaging terms or your receipt of text messages from learn jazz standards or its service providers. we reserve the right to change these messaging terms or cancel the messaging program at any time. by using and accepting messages from learn jazz standards after we make changes to the messaging terms, you are accepting the messaging terms with those changes. please check these messaging terms regularly. these messaging terms, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with us in connection herewith, will constitute the entire agreement between you and learn jazz standards concerning the messaging program. please contact us with any inquiries or concerns at [email protected] get our free eguide “learn jazz standards the smart way” and follow the 5 simple steps for crushing it with jazz standards. get our free “jazz improv made easy fast track guide” and follow the 3 simple steps for improvising amazing jazz solos. get our free “jazz theory made easy fast track guide” and follow the 4 simple steps that make learning jazz theory easy. get our free "what are the 30 best jazz albums of all time?" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards! get our free "what are the 30 best jazz albums of all time?" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards! get our free "what are the 30 best jazz albums of all time?" chord chart and our entire library of 200+ jazz standards!

[jazz rap/jazz hip hop: a style of hip hop born out of the booming hardcore hip hop scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, jazz rap has a noticeably different feel, instead usually opting for a laid back, mellow sound. containing rhythms very familiar to other forms of hip hop, samples, and extra production details are almost exclusively culled from various forms of jazz, such as jazz funk, hard bop, and soul jazz, using trumpets, saxophones, looped piano, and double bass, etc. early jazz rap groups such as a tribe called quest and gang starr initially balanced jazz with traditional hip hop evenly, but in just a few years artists such as digable planets and guru (through his jazzmatazz series) would introduce live jazz instrumentation as a focus. this live ‘feel’ would become an important trait of the music, sometimes showcasing improvised vocals or instrumental solos. lyrically, most mcs latched onto the idea of jazz as “cool” (rebirth of slick (cool like dat) being a prime example) and pushed hip hop closer to street poetry, heavily engaging in slang and laid back attitudes that would best express this coolness. these lyrics generally downplay if not completely ignore materialistic themes, opting for afrocentric and racially positive messages focusing on the past successes and failures of blacks (and to a lesser extent all people) and the ways that communities might succeed going forward.] like we did with our 100 essential experimental hip hop albums list, we’ve cast a wide net to come to this list with 100 essential jazz rap albums. some of the albums listed in this piece merely incorporate some jazz influences in their instrumentation, others are pure jazz hip hop hybrids   but all 100 are clearly influenced by jazz music to some extent. let’s get into it   in this piece, you will find 100 jazz rap albums we consider to be essential works for the subgenre, not ranked but presented in release year order. what do you think? are your favorite jazz rap albums here? do you think any essential records are missing? share your thoughts in the comments! the third part of the native tongues triple classic album introduction to the world (the first two being the jungle brothers‘ straight out the jungle and de la soul‘s 3 feet high and rising)   people’s instinctive travels on the paths of rhythm introduced us to a tribe called quest. people’s… is a musical masterpiece. an innovative fusion of hard beats and jazzy samples, combined with fun, clever and positive lyrics   mainly from q tip (phife was still finding his voice here and his lyrical skills would improve significantly on tribe’s follow up the low end theory). original, both lyrically and musically. sadat x, lord jamar, and grand puba’s lyrics are alternately thought provoking and fun; and sonically the album is dope as well with strong jazz vibes throughout. brand nubian‘s one for all is a must have. with this album, prince po and pharoahe monch redefined lyricism. this album has it all: consciousness, politically juiced tracks, party anthems, story telling   there are socio political songs such as “prisoners of war”, “releasing hypnotical gases” (with a truly brilliant pharoahe monch verse), and “open your eyes”, street commentaries like on “rough side of town” and “roosevelt franklin”, some straight fun tracks like “who stole my last piece of chicken?”, and displays of pure lyrical dexterity, such as “walk into the sun”, “organized konfusion”, and “audience pleasers”   prince poetry and pharoahe monch pull off a perfect display of clever lyricism and dope wordplay while keeping things varied and captivating throughout. organized konfusion is a cult classic that is a must have not just for pharoahe monch fans, but for anyone who likes clever, layered hip hop. the low end theory is the definitive statement about what creativity, innovation, artistry, fun, and raw talent can produce. building on the quality work of their debut, tribe perfected the fusion of jazzy influences and bass heavy hip hop beats. the album is so coherent and consistent, it almost feels like one long song   in this case, a good thing. phife, who only played a small part on the first album, really increased his skills as an emcee and establishes a perfect interplay with the always exceptional q tip. clever lyrics and smooth and warm music   this album is nothing short of perfect. on their second album, gang starr found their sound. guru‘s supremely recognizable monotone voice and dj premier‘s signature style of djing and producing really come together here. this is a long album but there are no filler tracks, you can listen to the whole album without having to skip a song. the start of a near flawless 4 album run. “my definition of a boombastic jazz style”, “wash your face in my sink”, “do not feed the alligators”   just a few of the classic cuts on and now the legacy begins, canadian duo dream warriors’ debut album. this album was ahead of its time, perhaps one of the reasons it never really received the recognition it deserved. make no mistake though: this is a great album, one that sounds as fresh today as it did the day it was released. large professor, one of hip hop’s most respected producers, exploded on the scene with this classic album   showing his extraordinary talents on the mic and especially on the boards   with lots of jazz samples worked into the instrumentals, just take a close listen to “looking at the front door”, for which large professor turned a brief sample of jazz trumpeter donald byrd’s “think twice” into one of the smoothest bass lines ever. breaking atoms is an important and hugely influential album and a testament to the brilliance of large pro. another gang starr album, another classic. deep lyrics and deep beats   a testament to guru‘s hypnotizing and intelligent emceeing and dj premier‘s superiority on the boards. if step in the arena was their breakthrough album, daily operation is the one that firmly secured gang starr’s place among hip hop’s elite. after discovering their signature sound on step in the arena, premier and guru perfected it here, dropping another gem that can be played from beginning to end without having to skip any tracks. “take it personal”, “soliloquy of chaos” and “ex girl to next girl” alone are enough to ensure the classic status of this album, but knowing the rest of the tracklist is completely up to par, makes daily operation a flawless part of gang starr’s impressive catalog   arguably the most ‘jazzy’ gang starr album. it’s true: this album is not the classic it could and should have been. unfortunately, miles davis passed away before the album was completed, so we can never know what the end result would have been if he’d be around to finish it. miles wanted to capture the sound of the early 1990s urban streets, but easy mo bee’s beats and rhymes are not great, they turned out to be too bland to do justice to miles’ exuberant trumpet solos. but even if this album is not as good as it could have been, it is an essential early jazz rap project anyway, leaving it off a list like this one would be just wrong. a timeless musical masterpiece, tasteful and irresistible. after the excellent all souled out ep they dropped the year previous, pete rock & cl smooth followed up with this brilliant album. pete rock’s multi layered, horns filled, bass heavy boom bap production is simply masterful. cl smooth delivery serves as another instrument to complete the musical feast this album is from start to finish. incredibly consistent throughout, mecca and the soul brother is one of hip hop’s all time greatest albums. with gangsta rap becoming the dominant thing on the west coast in the early 90s, these guys were a breath of fresh air. highly original, humorous, fun, and not afraid to show their vulnerable sides   the pharcyde was never concerned with gangster posing and tough guy posturing but were more like a west coast version of atcq or de la soul   coming with jazz flavored positive vibes. jazzmatazz, vol. 1 is guru’s debut solo studio album, after three albums with dj premier as gang starr. jazzmatazz is one of the first albums to combine a live jazz band with hip hop production and emceeing. according to guru himself: “jazz’s mellow tracks, along with the hard rap beat, go hand in glove with my voice.” or as he says on the intro of the album: “peace yo, and welcome to jazzmatazz: an experimental fusion of hip hop and live jazz. i’m your host the guru. that stands for gifted, unlimited, rhymes, universal. now i’ve always thought of doing something like this, but i didn’t want to do it unless it was going to be done right, know what i’m saying? cause hip hop, rap music, is real. it’s musical, cultural expression based on reality. and at the same time, jazz is real and based on reality. so i want to let you know that it was indeed and of course and pleasure to work on such a project with so many amazing people. for instance i got donald byrd, roy ayers, lonnie liston smith, branford marsalis, ronny jordan, n’dea davenport, courtney pine and mc solaar all in the house. plus i got gary barnacle, carleen anderson, d. c. lee, simon law and zachary breaux doing much work. so without further delay, i say to you, listen and enjoy. and an enjoyable listening experience it is. “loungin”, “no time to play”, “slicker than most” and the exceptional “le bien, le mal” (with frenchman mc solaar rapping in his own language) are standouts, but the whole albums flows beautifully   just like jazzmatazz vol 2, which would be released in 1995. great work by one of hip hop’s great voices. de la soul‘s third album, de la soul’s third classic. few groups in hip hop, if any, can boast both the longevity and consistency de la soul has shown over the years. buhloone mind state is the most generally underappreciated album of de la soul’s first four. the reason for that probably is that it has less commercial appeal than the others. artistically it is every bit as strong, though, cohesive and consistent throughout   an artistic peak for both de la soul and producer prince paul. de la soul’s first four albums are all classics, this one is definitely up there with the best of them   with strong jazz influences felt by contributions from maceo parker, fred wesley, and pee wee ellis, and by samples from eddie harris, lou donaldson, duke pearson, and milt jackson. the follow up to their dope but somewhat rough around the edges debut to whom it may concern. with this sophomore effort, freestyle fellowship really deliver the goods. the jazzy production provides the atypical backdrop for a west coast album but perfectly complements the jazz inflections in the vocals with their unusual time signatures and scat influences. consciousness, humor, cleverness, versatility: emcees mikah 9, p.e.a.c.e., self jupiter, and aceyalone bring it all with their wordplay. this highly original album is a masterpiece. the definition of jazzy hip hop. digable planets’ debut album deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as a tribe called quest, de la soul, and the roots albums of that era. all about positivity and empowerment, digable planets sadly flew a bit under the radar in a time when gun toting gangsta posers started to get more and more of the spotlight. reachin’ was and is a flawless listen from start to finish though, an album that has definitely stood the test of time and is now rightfully viewed as a golden age classic. together with hieroglyphics‘ 1998 group album 3rd eye vision, this album is the crown jewel in hieroglyphics’ catalog. souls of mischief   part of the hieroglyphics collective   succeeded in dropping an album that sounds as fresh today as it did when it came out back in 19993. amazing rapid fire wordplay by opio, phesto, a plus, and tajai, who flow together really well with intelligent, funny, and clever lyrics, and tasteful jazz flavored beats   93 ‘til infinity is a timeless classic. although her debut album may have been more important as a trailblazer for female emcees, this dark and jazzy album is queen latifah‘s best record. latifah’s charismatic and powerful personality really comes through on this album, as well as real and heartfelt emotion in some of the songs (partly due to personal tragedy prior to the recording of black reign). most famous for the grammy winning anti misogynist song u.n.i.t.y., black reign has much more to offer   like “winki’s theme”, a song for her late brother with instrumentation from a live jazz quartet. faced with the impossible task of following up on the flawless masterpiece that is the low end theory, tribe delivered an album composed of rich, organic. jazzy instrumentation and nimble tag team wordplay that is every bit as awesome as its predecessor. there can be no greater praise. as fresh today as it was on the day it was released: the mark of a true classic. hand on the torch is the debut album by british jazz rap group us3. it received much attention because of its mix of jazz and rap, using live jazz musicians. all samples used on the album are from old blue note classics: the most famous being herbie hancock’s “cantaloupe island”, used on the track “cantaloop (flip fantasia)”, which was recorded with two different music videos. greg osby is a post bob jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk, and m base medium. his blue note album 3 d lifestyles was produced by a tribe called quest’s ali shaheed muhammad and is one of the most organic jazz rap hybrids ever released. following their eponymous debut lp, pharoahe monch and prince po had a lot to live up to. they admirably succeeded in creating an album with similarities to the first album, while doing something completely different at the same time. prince po and pharoahe monch come with unparalleled lyricism on this dark, dense, complicated, and intellectual album. this album was way ahead of its time in vision and execution. some albums from this era sound dated now but stress: the extinction agenda sounds as fresh today as it did on the day it was released   the mark of a true classic. in terms of wordplay, flow, delivery, and content   this is the gold standard. pharoahe monch is and has always been the better rapper of the two, but prince po is perfectly able to hold his own   which is incredible enough. both emcees manage to step up their already considerable game from their debut, they come with phenomenal rhymes and complex flows   bar for bar lyrical hip hop doesn’t get much better than this. whether they are storytelling, philosophizing, joking, bragging, being conscious, or simply throwing out battle raps   their lyrical performances are top tier in every aspect   there is nothing cliche or run of the mill about the lyricism on stress: the extinction agenda. some of the tightest and most inventive rhymes you’ll ever hear are on this album, with the conceptual gem “stray bullet” being a particular lyrical highlight. the mostly self produced beats on stress: the extinction agenda are dope as f too   dark and menacing, but jazzy at the same time: musically this album comes off as a hybrid of the sounds of a tribe called quest and wu tang clan   combining the best of both worlds. stress: the extinction agenda is one of the most underrated albums released in the 1990s   this truly is a one of a kind kind of album. if you’ve ever wondered why many consider pharoahe monch a goat emcee   study this album and you will know. stress: the extinction agenda is an all around brilliant album that should not be overlooked. justice system was an indie acid jazz band from new york city, their debut album rooftop soundcheck offered a soulful blend of jazz and hip hop   with live jazz flavored instrumentation and solid lyricism. clever and conscious wordplay over excellent jazz flavored production   on his second album common matured into what he would eventually become: one of hip hop’s most revered emcees and personalities. in one of hip hop’s major years, this album measures up to any of the other 1994 releases with ease. jazz hop soul from oakland artist clever jeff is one of the best jazz hip hop fusion albums almost nobody ever heard. hard to find, but worth the effort of the search   this really is a jazz rap essential. lacking a monster hit single like “t.r.o.y.” from their classic full length debut album mecca and the soul brother, the main ingredient is often overlooked when it comes to considering hip hop’s best albums. that is wrong because this one is just about as flawless as its predecessor is. true enough: cl smooth isn’t the greatest emcee or lyricist ever, but these albums are all about pete rock’s production, which is as good as ever on this top notch feel good album. wrong time, wrong coast? if this outstanding album had dropped in nyc a few years earlier, it probably would have been bigger back then and universally recognized as a classic right now. as it is, breakin’ combs is a slept on and forgotten album. entirely self produced, dred scott delivers smooth, jazzy beats reminiscent of a tribe called quest. nothing wrong with his lyrics and emcee skills either. why this album is so underappreciated is a mystery, but it deserves its props. digable planets’ second album in two years and unfortunately the group’s last. musically reminiscent of the roots, this smart and seductive album is one of 1994 most creative and interesting releases. a timeless jazz flavored album, that sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1994. aceyalone had already made a name for himself as the lead emcee of the freestyle fellowship crew before the release of this solo debut. even though from los angeles, aceyalone is all about lyricism and not about gangster posturing. like all of his albums, all balls don’t bounce is supremely underrated, except by the real hip hop connoisseur. aceyalone is a master of different styles, but consistent are his dope flow, intelligent lyrics, and supreme creativity. if you slept on aceyalone, now’s the time to catch up. not as strong as the first jazzmatazz, but plenty strong anyway and kind of underappreciated. the roots’ second album showed their true promise. their independently released debut organix (1993) was enjoyable enough but still a little rough around the edges, do you want more?!!!??! turned out to be as smooth and assured as the rest of their catalog would be. do you want more?!!!??! signified the start of an incredibly consistent catalog   and of all their albums it’s the one most devoted to jazz, as evidenced by classic cuts like “mellow my man”. count bass d is an underrated producer and musician who dropped a great number of worthwhile progressive albums in his long career. his recording debut pre life crisis is a fun, feel good album, where count uses real instruments and holds his own   rapping and singing   on the mic too. slept on and forgotten, this experimental album definitely is worth checking out. the roots’ best album? it is hard to pick a favorite in a discography of such outstanding overall quality, but on illadelph halflife everything works. this is a long album, but there are few, if any, wasted moments. this is jazzy hip hop at its finest, with live instrumentation and exceptional lyricism   true brilliance from philly’s legendary roots crew, with input from jazz musicians such as david murray, steve coleman, cassandra wilson, graham haynes. the new world order is poor righteous teachers’ fourth and last album. as always, prt comes with provocative and thought provoking lyrics   touching on sociopolitical subjects, the stupidity of gangsta rap, and much more. guests like krs one and x clan’s brother j and others add extra flavor. standout tracks include “conscious style”, “word iz life”, “gods, earths, & 85ers”, “miss ghetto”, and “they turned gangsta”. philadelphia‘s bahamadia is one of the most underrated emcees in the hip hop game. she has a smooth and hypnotizing style of rapping, and lyrics worth listening to. in an era where lil kim like ‘explicitness’ was the marketable thing, bahamadia’s intelligent strength and female empowerment just wasn’t as easy to ‘sell’. that’s a shame because the jazzy kollage is an excellent album. camp lo‘s sonny cheba and geechi suede come off as a sort of hybrid of outkast, the pharcyde, and de la soul. their insanely smooth flows and outstanding creativity and originality make for an atypical late nineties nyc hip hop album. even though it contained the smash hit “luchini (this is it)”, uptown saturday night never really got the recognition it deserved, certainly not at the time of its release. it has aged really well though and is deservedly recognized now by many as the masterpiece it is. classic was day is the slept on debut album of british producer/emcee funky dl. he would go on to drop a long series of jazz flavored projects following this one, classic was the day signified an excellent start to a distinguished career   this album offers over an hour of top tier jazzy boom bap composed of tight beats and loops, creative sampling, and fun wordplay. classic was day is a great album, and if you have slept on it up to now you are in for a nice discovery. this supergroup   consisting of del (the funkee homosapien), pep love, a plus, tajai, opio & phesto (from souls of mischief), casual, domino, jay biz, toure & extra prolific   brings together so much talent that the product of their cooperation has to be epic, right? right! this album is pure hip hop, boasting jazz samples from george duke, the skull snaps, herbie hancock, johnny hammond, and others. after a long hiatus following his brother’s death and the end of kmd, zev lov x reinvented himself and came back on the hip hop scene as mf doom. he would go on to release a myriad of excellent projects   solo and collaborative   but operation: doomsday is one of his absolute best projects, with many of the songs incorporating jazz samples of saxophone riffs, flute melodies, and vintage synths on top of doom’s dusty break beats. this is an undervalued project from a forgotten nyc crew, consisting of emcees shabaam sahdeeq, mr. complex, apani b. fly, and producer dj spinna, one of the most underrated producers in the game. dope rhymes and dope beats, with a tribe called quest vibe to the whole sound. short, but sweet. things fall apart is one of the roots’ absolute best albums. eminently musical and lyrically deep, this classic is only getting better as time goes by. the roots’ implementations of jazz are different from other jazz rap pioneers such as a tribe called quest and digable planets because of questlove’s slick live percussion, but jazz vibes can be felt throughout anyway. things fall apart is a landmark album. experimental and left field, this album from madlib’s alter ego quasimoto is sure to satisfy the taste buds of those who are into layered, metaphorically, and musically complex compositions. mindblowingly creative, filled with jazzy loop and breaks, short songs, interludes, and lord quas’ off the wall high pitched rhyme style, the unseen feels more like a musical tapestry than a conventionally structured album. the unseen probably is a hate it or love it kind of affair, but there is no denying madlib’s particular brand of genius. in an overall excellent discography, like water for chocolate certainly is up there as one of common’s best, together with resurrection, one day it’ll all make sense, black america again, and the monumental be   common’s very best. like water for chocolate is just about as good as be is though, and it is one of those rare albums that musically transcends the genre of hip hop but at the same time is pure hip hop to the core. with jazzy and soulful production work from the likes of questlove, j dilla, and dj premier, and with common in top form on the mic   this truly is a masterpiece that is aging like a fine wine. guru’s jazzmatazz, vol. 3: streetsoul is less jazz flavored than the first and second jazzmatazz records, but just as funky and soulful as it is jazzy. still, the intended jazz ‘spirit’ is all over this album, and guru is in top form on the mic. appearances by artists like angie stone, bilal, craig david, donell jones, erykah badu, herbie hancock, isaac hayes, and the roots provide the icing on the cake. jazzy coffeeshop boom bap by chicago underground crew typical cats. rough around the edges, but supremely enjoyable nevertheless. substantial dropped one of 2001’s best albums with to this union a sun was born. shame that almost no one ever heard it, though. a large part of the reason for that is probably that the album was released exclusively in japan back then. almost completely produced by nujabes before he really started making a name for himself, to this union a sun was born especially shines because of the instrumentals provided by the late japanese genius. with the melodic, jazzy compositions he would become famous for, he gave substantial a bunch of dope beats to work with. standout track: “be people”, also because of the dope cuts by dj kiyo. boho fau & elevated soul is a duo from los angeles, coffee house swinger is their first studio album. the album cover tells you exactly what to expect: smokey, laidback coffeehouse jazz rap without pretensions. lone catalyst member j. rawls’ the essence of j. rawls is his first solo album, a fine example of downtempo jazz rap done right. for the essence of j. rawls, he recruited an impressive roster of emcees to do justice to his beats   j live (on the excellent “great live caper”), apani b. fly and mr. complex on “far away” and grap luva on “check the clock” especially shine. other standout tracks include “birds of a feather” (with top emcees), “meniscus” (with doseone & fat jon), and “nommo” (with asheru). the late nujabes was a producer of japanese descent, who took his artist name from his real name   jun seba   by spelling it backward and conjoining the first and the last name. nujabes was a pioneer of the lo fi jazz hop genre, and metaphorical music is one of his masterpieces. nujabes gives off a j dilla vibe in a way with this album (j dilla, another brilliant producer who died way too young, and who coincidentally was born on the same day as nujabes was)   there’s a lot of similarities in the way dilla and nujabes chopped their samples and constructed their instrumentals. metaphorical music basically is an instrumental album, but there are a bunch of songs with vocals to provide some variation   this album is put together just right: a masterful fusion of soulful hip hop and smooth jazz. madlib dropped a lot of quality instrumental projects. his mind fusion and beat konducta series are overall excellent, but the true jewel in the crown of his instrumental solo releases has to shades of blue. shades of blue has madlib remixing music from the archives of blue note records, the famed jazz label. the result is a tasteful masterpiece of an album. everything works, down to the stunning cover art and jacket, which is brimming with madlib’s homage to blue note and the era. this beautiful reinterpretation of the classic 60’s and 70’s blue note era leads to a hip hop jazz fusion that deserves a place in any music lover’s collection. solid gold. coup de theatre is the second studio album haiku d’etat   a trio featuring west coast underground icons aceyalone and myka 9 of freestyle fellowship and abstract rude of abstract tribe unique. all three members are heavily affiliated with project blowed, aceyalone, and abstract rude being co founders. the name “haiku d’etat” is a portmanteau of haiku and coup d’état, meaning something akin to a musical revolution or a “poetic takeover” as one of their songs puts it. haiku d’etat released their first album haiku d’etat in 1999, an excellent album that went criminally unnoticed. the soulful and jazzy coup de theatre is even better   more focused and more cohesive   but just as slept on. this really is a unique album. foreign exchange is a collaboration between dutch producer nicolay and little brother’s phonte   who met on the online forums of okayplayer. the two never physically met until after the album was done. nicolay created the beats in europe, phonte rapped over them in the usa. the result is an incredibly organic sounding blend of hip hop, r&b, soul, jazz, and other styles   a smooth genre bending musical experience and a worthy addition to anybody’s music collection. this album is art, pure and simple. madvilliany redefined the underground and is a perfect example of what can happen if two left field geniuses combine powers. the late mf doom and madlib have both produced many pieces of brilliant music, but this epic album is the crowning achievement of both their careers. the album of the 2000s decade and a top 10 hip hop album of all time. mindstate is the debut album by dutch duo pete philly & perquisite. mindstate offers a beautiful blend of live instruments and intricate wordplay, of which talib kweli (who is featured on “hope”) said they were “musically light years ahead of the game”. lots of musical influences, jazz is one of them. true & livin is the third album from oakland’s duo zion i, the first album on their own label liveup records. zion and amp live expand their creative and experimental sounds on the album, featuring a wide range of musical styles, laced with intelligent, socially conscious lyrics. amp live’s head nodding beats are laced with jazzy and elegant musical backdrops, and zion’s thoughtful and expressive lyrics complement the soundscapes beautifully. guests like talib kweli, aesop rock, del tha funkee homosapien, and gift of gab only add to the quality of the album. the singles “soo tall”, the talib kweli featuring “temperature” and especially the excellent “bird’s eye view” are immediate standouts, and cuts like the abstract “poems 4 post modern decay” (with aesop rock), “the bay”, “stranger in my home” (with gift of gab) and the jazzy “doin’ my thang” also bang   but there are no weak tracks on this album. true & livin’ flew way under the radar in 2005   if you missed it somehow it definitely deserves your attention. common’s second, third and fourth album   ressurection (1994), one day it’ll all make sense (1997) and like water for chocolate (2000) were all classics in their own right, but many thought common was over and done with after he released the bizarrely experimental electric circus in 2002. disenchantment with hip hop at that time lead common to drop that strange (though not necessarily bad) album, many doubted if common would ever be able to come back from that. however, what happened was common got up with kanye west and j dilla to deliver the album of his career. on be common found his fire and his love for the game again. stellar tracks like “testify”, “the food”, “the corner”, and “go” are classic common   in fact, the whole album is tight and consistent as can be. common would go on to drop a whole bunch of other excellent albums but be will forever be his magnum opus. jazz addixxx’s oxygen is a top 10 album of 2005. rhymes, beats, scratches   everything is on point. the jazz addixx duo gives us a perfect blend of jazz and hip hop with this smooth album. oxygen feels like a trip back to hip hop’s golden age that will keep your head nodding with nostalgia. smooth and thought provoking lyrics by jazz addixx’s emcee m.u.d.d, stylish cuts by dj ragz and dope jazzy musical backdrops   this album is pure gold. if you have never dug this deep and never peeped this album you are in for a treat   add this one to your library and it will become a favorite quickly. nujabes masterpiece? the late japanese producer surely crafted a pretty unique listen with modal soul   something of a fusion of classical music, jazz, and hip hop. entertaining and soothing, modal soul offers a good mix of instrumental tracks and songs with vocals from cise starr (of cyne), akin, terry callier, shing02, substantial, pase rock, apani b, and uyama hiroto. modal soul is nujabes’ second full length album, and it was the final studio album released during his lifetime; his third album, spiritual state, was released two years after his death. true indeed is an excellent presentation of upbeat hip hop, by florida based rapper surreal and production duo the sound providers (soulo and j skills). jazzy instrumentals, scratched in hooks, smooth flows, and positive vibes   true indeed offers 90s centric boom bap at its finest, this is just good music all around. face candy is the brainchild of eyedea & abilities frontman, eyedea. face candy is an improvisation based quartet melding free jazz and freestyle rap into an unchartered amalgamation of the two, with roots in jazz, rap, comedy, and theater. the lineup includes j.t. bates, casey o’brien, kristoff krane, and eyedea. this is where we were is not for everybody   the live improv performances that make up the tracks on this album are inevitably unpolished and not everything tried really works, but overall this is an impressive display of musicality in its purest form, that intrigues and energizes from start to finish. guru’s jazzmatazz, vol. 4: the hip hop jazz messenger: back to the future is the sixth solo studio album by gang starr’s guru, the fourth and final installment in his jazzmatazz series. production was handled entirely by solar, who also served as executive producer together with guru. it features guest appearances from blackalicious, bobby valentino, bob james, caron wheeler, common, damian marley, david sanborn, dionne farris, kem, nick “brownman” ali, omar, raheem devaughn, ronnie laws, shelley harland, slum village, and vivian green. jazzmatazz 4 is one of the most underappreciated albums in guru’s whole catalog, and one of the most slept on album releases in 2007, across all genres. the instrumentation is subtle but strong, and guru is at the top of his lyrical game. jazzmatazz 4 is just as good   arguably even better   as the iconic first jazzmatazz is. funky dl’s best album? we think so. the 4th quarter is his 9th studio album, a variation of four different styles of hip hop split into quarters, each containing 3 tracks   with the styles being soul, new age, jazz, and authentic. while the album is divided into four quarters which all have their signature sound, funky dl’s love for jazz can be felt on every song on this album. windmills of the soul is the debut album of korean american bay area based artist kero one. lots of flavorful jazzy cuts on this album, with standouts including “give thanks”, “in all the wrong places”, “the cycle repeats”, “musical journey”, “fly fly away”, and “check the blueprints” the jazz hop classic that put kero one on the map. record sales don’t make an album a classic. a classic album is timeless, one that will still sound good decades from the date of its release. a classic album can be played again and again, without having to skip tracks. blu & exile’s below the heavens is such an album. consistent quality throughout   blu’s relatable and down to earth lyrics mix perfectly with exile’s soulful and jazz sampled production. the album was well received by real hip hop heads and critically acclaimed, but it never got the sales or mainstream attention it deserved. this is one of the best albums released in 2007. french producer dela recruited a host of dope emcees (j live, elzhi, talib kweli, j. sands, blu   among others) to create this excellent 90s centric jazzy hip hop album. there was a lot riding on this album, released 9 years after q tip’s last (solo)album amplified   which wasn’t all that well received. while not a bad album at all, amplified was considered too ‘lightweight’ and insubstantial for someone with q tip’s stature. the rennaissance obliterated all doubters and q tip critics. the album is consistent as hell, with 13 tracks with no filler material. “gettin up”, “we fight/we love”, “official” and “believe” are highlights, but there really are no weak tracks here. with the rennaissance, q tip succeeds perfectly in blending the atcq jazz vibe we all love with his own distinct style. jazz liberatorz is a trio of producers from france, consisting of dj damage, dusty, and madhi. for clin d’oei they enlisted the services of vocalists like j live, sadat x, buckshot, j. sands, apani b. fly, asheru, and former pharcyde members tre hardson & fat lip   among others. clin d’oei is a tasteful tribute to the golden age of hip hop, as well as to post bop and 70s jazz & soul. if you like your hip hop infused with a heavy dose of jazz, then this album needs to be a part of your collection. clin d’oei = essential jazz rap. brooklyn born, california based emcee, dj, and producer superstar quamallah’s invisible man is one of the most slept on albums released in 2009. superstar quamallah’s deep and soothing voice complements the summertime vibes projected by the smooth beats and the sharp nostalgia inducing samples and vocal scratches. “we got plots”, “88 soul” and especially the single “california dreamin’” are highlights, but the strength of invisible man is its consistency   this is 50 minutes of laidback, jazzy boom bap hip hop reminiscent of a tribe called quest, and in some parts of gang starr even. invisible man is a memorable album with nothing but dope beats and dope bars   do yourself a favor and check this album if you’ve slept on it up to now. jazz liberatorz second full length studio album clin d’oei (2008) is an essential jazz rap album, the french trio’s third album fruit of the past is not quite as good, but it is still plenty good. downtempo and groovy jazz hop   jazz liberatorz know what they’re doing. artofficial is a band from miami whose music on fist fights and foot races can best be described as a fusion of hip hop, jazz, and funk   with live instrumentation, reminiscent of early the roots. fist fights and foot races is an underrated project. british (but american accented) producer/emcee funky dl’s vast catalog is one of mixed quality, this 11th studio album is one of our favorites from him since his 1997 debut classic was the day. a classic example of a... is a solid presentation of skilled rhymes and soulful, jazzy boom bap instrumentals. this is one of the more underappreciated hip hop albums released in 2010. with substantial & marcus d are bop alloy substantial for the first time in ten years equals the level of quality he reached with his debut lp to this union a sun was born (2001), thanks to the input of seattle based producer marcus d   who manages to recapture the simmering jazz flavored vibes crafted by the late japanese producer nujabes on substantial’s debut. rebels to the grain is a los angeles based duo consisting of cheddy & mp, and harvest season is their second full length album. it flew under most people’s radars in 2011, but its jazz flavored boom bap beats are enjoyable from start to finish   this album deserves more attention than it got. the journey aflame is the title of new haven, ct native, akua naru’s debut album. one can describe the album’s musical spectrum covering a range from soul tradition conscious rhymes to classic head nod hip hop mixed with elements of blues, jazz, and west african sounds. with a collection of 14 diverse songs and 3 interludes, naru’s first official release shows her true craft as a lyricist and self described ‘poet of passion’. those who slept on this gem should go and check it out now and come back here later to thank us for pointing you in the right direction. superstar quamallah and deqawn’s talkin’ all that jazz is an exquisite presentation of smooth jazzy boom bap, one of the most slept on albums released in 2011. producer marcus d takes another page out of the nujabes playbook and comes with another solid jazz rap project, in the vein of his 2010 collabo substantial & marcus d are bop alloy with substantial   with instrumentals that are even more laidback and dreamy. renowned jazz rap vocalists like funky dl, awon, cise star, substantial (among others) provide entertaining rhymes, but melancholy hopeful is all about its jazzy instrumentation. the album could have done without one or two of the r&b flavored tracks, but on a 72 minute tracklist a couple of missteps can be forgiven   overall this is totally satisfying listen. this is a landmark album. the connection with hip hop is thinner than it is with most of the other albums on this list, but it is there   enough to include experiment black radio. experiment black radio got a grammy nod as best r&b album, but it is a much hip hop or jazz or soul as it is r&b. the album really can’t be pigeonholed, because of its eclectic mix of musical styles it is something like an urban music buffet: with a flourish of hip hop, some jazz touches, lots of (neo)soul and r&b grooves, and even bits of latin, afro beat, funk, rock, and techno thrown in the mix. yasiin bey (formerly known as mos def) and lupe fiasco are the only rap vocalists on experiment black radio, their presence along with the drums on some songs providing enough of a hip hop feel to give us an excuse to include this masterful piece of music here. boog brown is a detroit native who has made her mark in the atlanta underground hip hop scene. she hasn’t adopted that typical southern hip hop sound though   boog brown brings soulful boom bap fused with jazzy vibes on the late bloom. it’s a shame really that so much trashy pop rap out of atlanta dominated the mainstream in 2013 while a gem like the late bloom hardly got any attention at all. never too late to get into it though. awon & phoniks’ return to the golden era is pure gold. dope beats, scratches, lyricism, storytelling   all you could want in a mature hip hop album is present here. portland, maine producer phoniks hooking up with brooklyn born virginia resident awon has brought the world a bunch of great hip hop   their collaborative debut album return to the golden era arguably is the epitome of their chemistry. this album will satisfy the cravings of all those who dig smooth and jazzy boom bap hip hop. no skippable tracks on this album, but a special mention goes out to “forever ill”, which features awon’s wife tiff the gift   one of the best and most slept on female emcees of this decade. the legend of mike smith is birmingham, uk based saxophonist/rapper soweto kinch’s masterpiece. during a sprawling two and a half hour, the legend of mike smith plays as a jazz rap opera based on dante’s inferno and the theology of sin   portraying a day in the life of an upcoming emcee and tells how the record industry is trying to profit from him. furthermore, the album recounts the narrator’s struggles with various topics such as his dreams of violence and war, society’s love hate relationship with consumerism, and police harassment and other aspects of everyday life   all of it across the 41 tracks this sweepingly ambitious album contains. the experimental the legend of mike smith is complicated and not easily accessible   this album demands serious commitment. if you allow yourself to be immersed in it, the experience will likely be rewarding though. epidemic’s 2013 release somethin’ for tha listeners brings to light yet another dimension of the duo’s creative abilities. with soundscapes profoundly reminiscent of one of the 1990s, the two emcees move away from their traditionally abstract and complex concepts, into more concrete, down to earth, and real world themes. keeping their trademark multi syllabic, rapid fire style of rap, this time around they chose jazz flavored beats with fairly slower tempos to ensure that their messages were clearly understood. all tracks on somethin’ for tha listeners were mindfully crafted by a virtually unknown yet highly talented west coast beatsmith who goes by the name of esco. bringing to the table an authentic golden era sound, as well as adding a touch of west coast flavor, he provides a perfect musical backdrop for epidemic to drop some of their slickest, most heartfelt, and witty rhymes to date. damani nkosi has worked with well known artists including dr. dre, swizz beatz, snoop dogg, pusha t, and malice of clipse. nkosi was born in inglewood, california. his father chose an african name for him. “damani” means “thoughtful” and “nkosi” means “chief, ruler, or king”. he became part of los angeles’ hip hop underground, recording his first track in 1999. thoughtful king is an aptly chosen title for this album   not only because it is a literal translation of his name, but also because of the deep lyrics damani spits. production is flawless, hip hop to its core but with (neo)soul sensibilities as well and giving off vibes of a classic jazz album at the same time   even the album cover is reminiscent of a vintage jazz vinyl. guests such as robert glasper, kamasi washington, badd lucc, bj the chicago kid, thurz, ill camille, rick rude, and pj morton help make thoughtful king a well rounded musical gem. phenomenal production and relatable rhymes   this first phoniks and anti lilly album was the first in a series of excellent projects. phoniks has a couple of instrumental albums (down to earth (2018 ) and time goes by (2020)) that could have been included on this list as well   he is one of our favorite producers of jazzy boom bap without a doubt. what can be said about this monument of an album that hasn’t been said a million times already? this album is special, in a once in a generation kind of way. to pimp a butterfly is like this generation’s version of marvin gaye’s what’s going on (1971), or public enemy‘s it takes a nation of millions to hold us back (1988). with good kid, m.a.a.d. city, kendrick lamar (2012) had already released a near flawless project, but this follow up turned out to be even bigger and better. to pimp a butterfly is a grandiose achievement: both a soul bearing confessional and a compelling state of the nation address   this album’s cultural significance can not be overstated. there’s nothing easy or straightforward about the instrumentals either: tpab features a potent blend of live instrumentation, neo soul, stripped down jazz fusion, occasional funk, and hip hop to give the album a vast historical musical appeal   it’s an amalgamation of 70 years of black music. kendrick lamar’s narrative thread and the vast cast of guests appearing on the album only underline its expansive scope and ambitions. this is not an easy, straightforward listen, but it is an important one. to pimp a butterfly is a timeless genre blending masterpiece that will forever reside in the highest echelons of the hip hop pantheon. sour soul is a collaborative album from toronto jazz hop band badbadnotgood and wu tang clan icon ghostface killah. inspired by 1960s and 70s music   taking inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era, and eschewing sampling in favor of live instrumentation, bbng with producer frank dukes have created a dramatic, cinematic musical staging for ghostface’s vivid storytelling. sour soul features guest spots from mf doom, elzhi, danny brown, and tree (from project mayhem). at 33 minutes, this project is barely over ep length and that’s the most important knock against it but as it is, it’s a great project anyway   just another example that out of the box collaborations often result in surprisingly strong projects. make no mistake, sour soul is one of the most underappreciated projects in ghostface killah’s celebrated discography. kill the vultures is a minneapolis based duo made up of crescent moon and producer anatomy, known for fusing elements of free jazz abstractions and stark, bleak, and at times blunt imagery. their music is always edgy and experimental, and carnelian arguably represents the epitome of their innovativeness, with its ominous use of saxophones, trumpets, flutes, violins, cellos, guitars, double basses, and percussion. this is avant garde jazz hop at its finest. two years after the brilliant return to the golden era (2013), awon & phoniks’ return with knowledge of self. just like its predecessor, this album is a near flawless presentation of authentic hip hop   with close to an hour of dope beats, scratches, lyricism, and storytelling. knowledge of self: soulful and jazzy boom bap at its finest. jazz spastiks is a crew of producers and djs from the uk, for unkut fresh they teamed up with los angeles duo rebels to the grain (mp & cheddy). it’s like jazz spastiks took what they learned from icons like pete rock, dj premier, showbiz, and q tip, and threw their styles in the jazz spastiks cooking pot to come up with the instrumentals for this album. this is very much a producer’s album, but there’s solid enough lyricism from mp and cheddy to go with the great jazz spastiks beats too   unkut fresh is a must have for fans of 90s centric jazzy boom bap. the night took us in like family is the first project north carolinian l’orange did together with chicago emcee jeremiah jae. jeremiah jae admirably succeeds in synergizing with the challenging instrumentals   proving at once theirs is a seamless pairing. l’orange is one of the most interesting producers active in the hip hop game of the 2010s   responsible for a bunch of excellent projects   the cinematic concept album the night took us in like family is just one of them. prey for the poor is chicago emcee add 2’s debut solo lp since signing to 9th wonder’s jamla records. it’s his official debut album after a string of excellent mixtapes   an album that went sadly unnoticed upon its release in 2015. make no mistake though   this is one of the best hip hop releases of 2015. add 2 is a spectacular lyricist, who combines supreme technical skill as an emcee with the ability to write intelligent, socially conscious lyrics. the jazzy beats are produced by the likes of nottz, amp, 9th wonder, and mainly khrysis, and the album’s guest features include a listers like rapsody, jamila woods, sam trump, and raheem devaughn. add 2 touches on a myriad of important societal issues in a thought provoking manner, this is an important album more people should have picked up on. don’t sleep on add 2. energized by a one off performance on the tonight show starring jimmy fallon on november 13, 2015, the atcq group members decided to record a new album in secrecy   their first since 1998’s the love movement. despite phife’s untimely death, the album was completed, with phife’s recorded bars flawlessly integrated into what turned out to be a near perfect final album. the album features all four of the group’s members (jarobi makes a comeback and even spits some bars) plus a host of guests   andré 3000, kendrick lamar, elton john, jack white, anderson .paak, talib kweli, and consequence and busta rhymes, two longtime tribe collaborators. the result is a phenomenal album with that classic tribe vibe but set firmly in this era at the same time. we got it from here… thank you 4 your service certainly is one of the highlights of 2016 and a more than worthy addition to tribe’s monumental catalog. polished, jazzy boom bap hip hop of the highest order from houston emcee anti lilly and portland, maine producer phoniks. a typical top quality album from the unsung don’t sleep records label. pieces of a man is chicago emcee mick jenkins’ sophomore album, and a step up from his interesting but flawed debut the healing component (2016). pieces of a man prominently pays homage to legendary spoken word performer and jazz poet gil scott heron‘s 1971 debut studio album, pieces of a man. the album surprises with its bold jazzy atmosphere, loungy vibes, throwback aesthetics, and strong songwriting. this album   along with the fantastic the water[s] (2015) mixtape   is mick jenkins’ best work to date, holding much promise for more greatness in the future. after having made a big enough impression with two mixtapes and his excellent debut project bucket list project in 2016, 23 year old chicago rapper saba dropped a modern classic with his sophomore album care for me. in february 2017, saba’s cousin and fellow pivot gang member, walter e. “john walt” long was stabbed to death in chicago. in an interview, saba spoke about the mental process and how writing the songs on the album were therapeutic saying: “care for me is the first time i delve into talking about depression and anxiety, and then all of these factors as to why i am the way i am. a lot of it had to do with losing my best friend and older cousin, [john] walt, which is throughout the album. i think why care for me is so important is because it talks about mental health in a lot of ways that are simple but i just haven’t heard it done in hip hop music that way.” care for me is a subtle and intimate concept album dedicated to the memory of his cousin. the emotion involved can be felt throughout the 10 tracks on care for me, and this is one of those albums where the instrumentals and the lyrics complement each other perfectly, the minimalist but tasteful jazz flavored soundscapes saba cooked up himself serving only to enhance the poignant emotions reflected in his lyrics. besides his obvious musical talent, saba’s biggest strength on care for me is his ability to vividly tell his stories, all the while being completely open and honest, which really helps to make feel listeners right there with him. in that regard, care for me is very comparable to kendrick lamar’s monumental good kid, m.a.a.d city   and care for me deserves to mentioned in the same breath, it’s that good. room 25 is the official debut studio album by chicago poet and rapper noname, dropping two years after her excellent mixtape telefone and five years after making a name for herself with a standout feature on chance the rapper’s acid rap. room 25 is a self released project chronicling the two years since the release of telefone, most notably noname’s move from chicago to los angeles and an intense, short lived romantic relationship. the album’s title is in reference to noname’s lifestyle while in los angeles, living out of different hotel rooms, and that she was 25 years old at the time. noname expertly mixes jazzy neo soul vibes with her conversational rap style on room 25. the result is a mellow sounding journey   overseen by fellow chicagoan and multi instrumentalist producer phoelix   where noname guides the listener through her light and dark thoughts, being consistently compelling all the while. smooth, laid back, and irresistible   common and company come with top tier jazz hip hop with this dope as f august greene project. avantdale bowling club is a jazz rap project headed by auckland, new zealand based artist tom scott. this is one of those albums that seems to exist in a bubble, it’s highly acclaimed by people in the know but those people are far too few. maybe this album was slept on by wider audiences because avantdale bowling club is from new zealand? anyway, avantdale bowling club’s eponymous lp is audacious and boundary pushing, an album that transcends the genre of hip hop   this is not ‘just’ jazz rap, but more like jazz with rap. build on live instrumentation from a full on jazz modal band with saxes, flutes, trumpets, strings, upright bass, and drums, and with scott’s killer lyrics, avantdale bowling club is one of the most captivating albums released in 2018. the album is perfectly sequenced, opening with the impeccably structured “years gone by”, a seven minute crescendo of jazz instrumentation over which scott recalls his entire life year by year, to the instrumental closer “tea break”   every song is its own story, from a different side of tom scott’s life, with subject matter including damaged and lost relationships, mental health issues, substance abuse, poverty, and fatherhood   this album is personal and engrossing from start to finish. avantdale bowling club is an effortless fusion of neo jazz and hip hop, a must have for people with an appreciation for music from acts like a tribe called quest, digable planets, guru, freestyle fellowship/aceyalone, the pharcyde, the roots, and even kendrick lamar   there are a lot of tpab ‘kendrickisms’ here. too many people slept on this album   if you are one of them it’s never too late to go check out avantdale bowling club, you can come back here later to thank us for pointing you in the right direction. awon’s soulapowa will not be for everyone, but for those listeners who dig extremely smooth, soulful, and jazzy boom bap this album is gold. brooklyn born virginia resident awon teamed up with long time collaborator phoniks to craft this timeless feeling album. timeless because soulapowa would have been right at home in the early 90s alongside a tribe called quest or digable planets and timeless because this album will still sound fresh and timely 20 years from now. soulapowa brings nothing new or revolutionary to the table, but it is a really well executed album, filled with tasteful instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics. an album to kick back and relax to. this is probably one of the most undeservedly slept on hip hop projects released in 2019. that’s the world offers a dose of mature jazzy hip hop at its finest. read the blurb from anti lilly & phoniks’ bandcamp page to know what to expect: “that’s the world from houston emcee anti lilly and portland, maine producer phoniks is the third installment of their hip hop trilogy which featured 2014’s “stories from the brass section” and 2017’s “it’s nice outside”. after going from exchanging beats over email in 2014 to now touring the world together the chemistry between the two has never been more evident than on their latest release. once again anti lilly is laying his therapy sessions on record, speaking on his substance abuse, trust issues, relationships and coping with his parents’ divorce. but despite the negativity he touches on, the young houston poet embraces the duality of life taking the good with the bad and trying to find a ray of light in dark times. his outer pressures help craft the jewels he lays over phoniks jazzy production as he showcases his mature, honest perspective across the albums 12 tracks.” that’s the world: thoughtful and atmospheric jazz rap for grown ups. purple moonlight pages is the first album by r.a.p. ferreira, the new moniker of the artist formerly known as milo. little over a year ago milo officially retired that stage name to continue as r.a.p. ferreira   which is a play on his real life name: rory allen phillip ferreira (and on rhythm and poetry ferreira). the name change also seems to come with a bit of an artistic change, and whether that change works for you or not is   as always   a matter of taste. purple moonlight pages offers a slice of delicious poetic jazz rap, produced and expertly engineered by the jefferson park boys (the production team consisting of beatmaker kenny segal, and musicians mike parvizi and aaron carmack). the album feels more accessible than r.a.p. ferreira’s work when he was still operating as milo. milo’s best work who told you to think​?​?​!​!​?​!​?​!​?​!, was sonically denser and more abstract   but that’s not to say purple moonlight pages is a straightforward or an easy listen. just like r.a.p. ferreira’s earlier work purple moonlight pages definitely is different than the general rap fare   r.a.p. ferreira’s slam poetry/spoken word type flow and stream of consciousness type lyrics demand full attention. musically purple moonlight pages is a delight   with songs full of live instrumentation, obviously heavily jazz inspired. involvement of kenny segal is a mark of quality, everything he has touched recently has turned to proverbial gold   most notably (but not limited to) his collaboration with nyc underground giant billy woods on hiding places, one of the best albums of 2019. with the assistance of the jefferson park boys, r.a.p. ferreira reinvented his sound and turned it into a new type of excellence. purple moonlight pages is a rich and rewarding listening experience, at the least for those willing to invest the time and attention this great album deserves. 2020 marks eight years since blu & exile’s last full length album give me my flowers while i can still smell them, and 13 years since their classic collaborative debut below the heavens, one of the best albums released in 2007. now the duo is back with double album miles: from an interlude called life (miles for short), blu & exile third full length collaboration. the title references jazz legend miles davis, who gets multiple mentions/shout outs throughout the album, as do lots of other jazz and other music legends. it’s clear blu and exile know and appreciate their musical history   this album is their tribute to that history and its legends, and a study of blu’s origins, his influences, and his personal life experiences. when blu is in top form, there are not a lot of artists out there better than him. unfortunately, with a series of decent at best projects he hasn’t been in top form for large parts of his career. most of his projects have been underwhelming, excepting of course below the heavens, and albums like johnson&jonson (2008, with mainframe as johnson&jonson) which was pretty great, as were give me my flowers while i can still smell them (2012) and last year‘s oh no produced a long red hot los angeles summer night. where blu has never been able to approach the level of awesomeness he reached with his monumental debut below the heavens, bth arguably is exile’s best production work too   even if he is responsible for a couple of more (near)classics, boy meets world (2009) with fashawn and the underappreciated e&j (2014) with johaz as dag savage most notable among them. so, what bout miles? miles may not be quite as good as below the heavens is, but it’s definitely better than give me my flowers while i can still smell them. at 95 minutes the album is very long, but unlike most artists who try their luck on lengthy projects such as this one, blu & exile succeed in keeping things mostly fresh from start to finish   there’s little filler (some songs go on for a bit too long, maybe) to be found on miles, which is kind of unique for a double album. standout tracks include “when the gods meet”, “true & livin’”, “miles davis”. “to the fall, but not forgotten”, “spread sunshine”, and “the end”. aloe blacc, fashawn, miguel, dag savage, cashus king, ishe, jacinto rhines, choosey, jimetta rose, aceyalone, iman omari, c.s. armstrong, gappy ranks, jacinto rhines, the last artful, dodgr, and adad make appearances to provide some welcome vocal variation   but blu easily carries this album with his intelligent and conscious lyricism, helped by exile’s elegant instrumentals. despite its length and laidback vibes miles is a powerful album and another testament to blu & exile’s undeniable chemistry. … you forgot alphabet soup’s layin low in the cut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0m8xirs51q this website’s a goldmine for me. been looking for jazz raps and coudn’t find any. here’s one you’ve missed and i guess one of the most important ones even if not officially released though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffevxpjtpm8&t=3061s&ab_channel=stillchillin brand new heavies   heavy rhyme experience is a glaring omission! fantastic instrumentals from the heavies and features such as main source, guru, grand puba, masta ace, kool g rap black sheep and pharcyde! yooooooo. this is it. i only had maybe half of these albums. thanks for showing me the other half. outstanding! i need to pick up a few more albums now. dooope. knocked out this entire list on my morning commutes. jazz liberators, funky dl, and mick jenkins were a couple of highlights. one add is j rawls and john robinson, the 1960’s jazz revolution again. your email address will not be published. required fields are marked * comment * name * email * website save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time i comment.

with the release of new, previously unheard live recordings from the bbc, questions remain over louis armstrong's complicated and controversial career and persona. more than half a century after the death of louis armstrong, fans and critics are still arguing over his name. is it pronounced lewis or louie? some point to the trumpeter's own words. in a 1947 interview, armstrong said: "my mother always called me [lewis], not louie." but audio recordings suggest that almost everyone else who knew him (including his wife) used the other pronunciation. in some ways, this duality is appropriate, reflecting the ambiguities in armstrong's character and persona. the journalist murray kempton famously summed him up as a combination of "the pure and the cheap, clown and creator, god and buffoon". warning: this article contains language that some may find offensive. this month, with the release of a new album of live recordings, fresh material has been added to the ongoing debates about armstrong's contradictions. titled louis in london, the record showcases both armstrong's jazz genius and vaudevillian silliness. it also hints at the more contentious complexities of armstrong's attitude to racism. the newly released recordings were made at the bbc in london, during armstrong's 1968 uk tour. this period marked his peak popularity, coming just weeks after what a wonderful world topped the uk charts. but it was also the end of his career. after the tour finished, armstrong was struck by heart and kidney issues, from which he would never fully recover. retreating to his new york home, an ill armstrong began cataloguing his lifetime of recordings. he became particularly enamoured with the bbc recordings, playing them to visiting friends, making copies for his bandmates, and attaching a label to his personal copy that seemed to signal his intentions: "for the fans". despite armstrong's love for these performances, they were only given a partial release after their initial broadcast. the album released this month presents a much fuller version of the bbc recordings, adding five new songs to those already issued. it also includes an alternative take of hello, dolly! which is "different, longer, and better" than the previous version, according to ricky riccardi, director of research collections at the louis armstrong house museum. riccardi, who helped assemble the album, has some theories about why the bbc performances were so important to armstrong. "it's all about context," riccardi tells the bbc. "shortly after the uk tour, his body finally gave out. so, i think there was a part of him that was coming to terms with the fact that he might never again perform onstage for his fans." in this way, armstrong may have seen the bbc shows as his final great performances   a "last hurrah", as riccardi puts it. "even before his more serious health issues, the live concerts could be a bit erratic," riccardi says, referring to the lip and dental problems that affected armstrong's trumpet playing as he got older. "but the london shows demonstrate that he was still capable of providing spine tingling moments with his horn at such a late stage in life." in addition to the quality of his playing, armstrong may have felt the bbc recordings were special for another reason. they seemed to sum up his entire career   with the setlist spanning every decade of his performing life. first, there is ole miss, a jazz instrumental that armstrong started playing as a teenager in the 1910s. then there is rockin' chair, a novelty song that armstrong first recorded in 1929. further tracks trace the remaining decades: when it's sleepy time down south was first recorded in 1931, blueberry hill in 1949, and mack the knife in 1955. the set is completed with armstrong's 1960s hits, including his signature song what a wonderful world. but as well as providing a decade by decade summary of armstrong's career, the louis in londonalbum also captures his complex identity as a performer. during the uk tour, several critics remarked on the tension between armstrong's status as a jazz pioneer and his proclivity for crowd pleasing antics. a reviewer for melody maker observed: "the emphasis is heavily on singing and clowning, and lovers of the louis trumpet may be disappointed." a critic for the times concurred: "as a show business performance, it was superb. from a jazz point of view it was quite undistinguished." the bbc setlist seemed to reflect this. it included some jazz instrumentals, but leaned more towards commercial fare, such as a rendition of the bare necessities from disney's the jungle book. riccardi argues that this had long been a feature of armstrong's performances. "it's a false narrative to say that armstrong was an artist in the 1920s but then 'sold out' and wasted all that promise," he says. "everything he was criticised for doing later in his career, he was already doing in the 1920s and 1930s   performing pop songs, playing broadway showtunes, and doing broad comedy." jazz critic and author jordannah elizabeth suggests that the criticisms of armstrong's showmanship emerged as he transitioned on to the global stage. "he was subject to an intellectualisation of jazz by some critics, who imposed strict parameters around what they believed constituted 'high art'," she tells the bbc. "this derived from a eurocentric resistance to physical freedom onstage   movements of the hips, big smiles on faces." however, elizabeth acknowledges that armstrong's stage persona was more complex, and harked back to a us tradition of minstrelsy. "some of armstrong's performance elements were seen as similar to the characterised performances of white actors in minstrel shows, which were active from the 1800s through 1910, a little after he was born in 1901. the tradition stuck around in america in less widely accessible circles, but it was still prevalent until the 1960s, and pandered to certain stereotypes," she says. "also," she adds, "most of his career came before the civil rights movement, so he likely experienced a lot of pressure to project and uphold his original persona." more like this: • the surprising history of a classic breakup song • one of modern music's greatest enigmas • nina simone on how fury fuelled her songs this more controversial aspect of armstrong's performances is reflected in the bbc setlist, which opens with when it's sleepy time down south. although it was popular with audiences, the song had courted controversy for offering an idealised vision of the american south and using the racial epithet "darkies". in the 1950s, as the civil rights movement was taking hold in the us, protestors even burned copies of the song. by the time of the bbc recordings, armstrong had substituted the offending term for the more neutral "folks". but his persistence in keeping the song as a show opener, coupled with his grinning onstage persona, attracted criticism from his peers. fellow trumpeter dizzy gillespie accused him of "uncle tom like subservience". miles davis felt that "his personality was developed by white people wanting black people to entertain by smiling and jumping around." elizabeth offers some defence of armstrong. "during the difficult times of the civil rights movement, americans needed someone to give them an escape, a smile to remember, and a comfort zone," she says. "armstrong assumed that role, which naturally brought a bit of disdain and backlash from the jazz artists on the front lines of the movement." riccardi adds that armstrong made his own contributions to the civil rights cause outside of the spotlight. "he donated heavily to martin luther king," riccardi says. "when new orleans passed a law prohibiting integrated bands from performing in public, armstrong refused to go back for almost a decade. he was also one of the first african american entertainers to have it in his contract that he would not play a hotel unless he could stay there." armstrong pushed some advocacy into the music too, making it part of a palatable package of entertainment. on the bbc recordings, he dedicates you'll never walk alone to "all the mothers who have sons in vietnam". he had previously performed this song for segregated black audiences in the us as a show of solidarity. armstrong described one performance in georgia as the "[most] touching damn thing i ever saw" when the audience began to sing along. "i almost starting crying right there on stage. we really hit something inside each person". but perhaps the best representation of his philosophy is what a wonderful world, which serves as the penultimate track on louis in london. some critics dismissed the simplicity of the song's message at the time   the new york times called it "sentimental claptrap". but armstrong explained himself in a spoken word introduction added to the song a few years later: "seems to me, it ain't the world that's so bad, but what we're doing to it. and all i'm saying is, see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance." this attitude eventually won over some critics. "i misjudged him," dizzy gillespie admitted after armstrong's death. "i began to recognise what i had considered [armstrong's] grinning in the face of racism as his absolute refusal to let anything, even anger about racism, steal the joy from his life and erase his fantastic smile." others remained ambivalent. even after armstrong had passed away, miles davis repeated his criticisms. "i hated the way he had to grin in order to get over with some tired white folks," he wrote in his autobiography. but still, davis had to acknowledge that armstrong had "opened up a whole lot of doors for people like me to go through". despite the controversies, elizabeth believes that armstrong's legacy is secure. "none of the criticisms keep him from maintaining his place in jazz history," she says. "he was greatly loved and respected and remains so to this day." listening to louis in london now, more than 55 years after it was recorded, one can hear both sides of the story. on some songs, armstrong the legendary jazz trumpeter emerges. on others, he assumes his role as a popular entertainer. likewise, with a track listing that spans 50 years of us history, one can recognise armstrong's status as a pioneer who broke down countless barriers. but one can also observe his tendency to stray into territories that might be considered racially regressive, both now and then. so, while louis in london offers fans a chance to hear armstrong one last time   at his final peak   it cannot offer any definitive conclusions on the complexities of his character and persona. they may even be symbolised by the album's sequencing, which places the songs hello, dolly! and mame one after the other. on both tracks armstrong sings his own name. but on one song he calls himself lewis, and on the other louie. and so, the debate continues. louis in london, released by verve records on 12 july, is available on vinyl, cd and digital.    if you liked this story, sign up for the essential list newsletter   a handpicked selection of features, videos and can't miss news, delivered to your inbox twice a week. for more culture stories from the bbc, follow us on facebook, x and instagram. an unexpected ww2 experiment by behaviourist b f skinner proved that pigeons could be used for missile guidance. how a dwindling group of veterans from the american war of independence were featured in early photographic form. the actor recalls being at the mandela film premiere when he heard the anti apartheid politician had died. how mary mallon, an irish cook for new york's elite, became known as the 'most dangerous woman in america'. the battlegrounds of world war one are still giving up their revealing evidence of bitter fighting. how a 1892 photo from rougeville, michigan, became the most iconic image of the bison massacre in america. the us presidential elections did not always depend on just these seven states. in 1890 an estimated cargo of 180,000 ancient felines, weighing 19.5 tonnes, were auctioned off in liverpool. the thracian tomb of kazanlak was accidentally discovered by bulgarian soldiers digging up shelters in 1944. the varna treasure is considered the world's oldest human processed gold, dating back 6,500 years. hiding in a london cathedral is an intricate wooden mock up of sir christopher wren's masterpiece. bettany hughes goes underwater in search of ancient archaeological finds in historic sozopol, bulgaria. in 1911, a fence was constructed on the us mexico border. but its purpose was not to stop humans. a look through footage from the paris 1924 olympics gives viewers a chance to reflect on how much has changed. one of europe's oldest residential streets hides in the heart of the english countryside. one month after the famous discovery, photographer harry burton recreated the first view of tutankhamun's tomb. thomas edison wasn't the first person to record sound. it was a frenchman who invented sound recording in 1857. on the 80th anniversary of d day, veterans who were on the beaches of normandy recount that fateful day. how does king charles iii's coronation year compare to that of his mother? fifty years ago, on april 25, 1974, a eurovision song gave the signal for a military coup. duties would include working with archaeologists and curators at gainsborough old hall. volunteers are being recruited to join a project investigating the history of a coastal gun tower. it will celebrate "familiar and lesser known figures in the struggle for abolition", says curator. the islands say all records can be seen in person while work to complete digitising them continues. the books recounts the witch trials historians believe inspired the salem trials in the united states of america. copyright 2025 bbc. all rights reserved. the bbc is not responsible for the content of external sites. read about our approach to external linking.

truly iconic album covers don’t just define an album, they define an era, a generation and, in some cases, an entire musical genre. published on by truly iconic album covers don’t just define an album, they define an era, a generation, and, in some cases, an entire musical genre. sometimes they do all three: what is the beatles’ sgt pepper’s lonely hearts club album cover, if not the ultimate manifestation of 60s psychedelia for the “peace and love” crowd? sometimes album covers are helped on their way to iconic status because of the musicians they feature: photogenic stars, such as elvis presley, david bowie, or prince, whose godlike images are burned into our retinas. other iconic album covers are envisioned by creative masterminds. the firm hipgnosis defined the 70s with their many optical illusions. peter saville made factory records a sensation with the radio waves of joy division’s unknown pleasures (and many more). andy warhol, meanwhile, dreamed up the rolling stones’ iconic blue jeans crotch and zipper on sticky fingers. the best album covers see these graphic designs bypass linear thinking and emerge with an image that is a bona fide work of art in its own right. while art might be a matter of taste, lasting legacy is something that’s more easily measured. our list of the 25 most iconic album covers of all time may not be exhaustive, but it certainly reveals why album covers deserve to be held in as high a regard as more traditional modes of artwork. while you’re reading, listen to our greatest album covers playlist here. two simple words: “elvis” and “presley” (the latter barely hiding that controversial pelvis from view): that’s all it needed to say. caught playing the guitar and singing during a performance at the fort homer hesterly armory, tampa, florida, on july 31, 1955, you can still feel the primal rock’n’roll energy from a young man ready to take over the world. two decades later, the clash and photographer pennie smith felt there was still none more rock’n’roll, and nicked the idea for the epochal london calling vinyl album cover. the beatles, of course, had plenty of iconic album covers in their career, including abbey road and the white album. but the most important and, at the time the most expensive album cover ever made, the sgt. pepper album cover remains a pop art masterpiece that has influenced everyone from frank zappa (we’re only in it for the money) to the simpsons (the yellow album). staged by british artist peter blake and his then wife, jann haworth, the sgt pepper album cover depicted 58 different people, chosen by john lennon, paul mccartney, george harrison, peter blake, jann haworth and london art dealer robert fraser, presenting a fascinating cross section of cultures, importance, and each beatle’s individual interests like marlon brando, karl marx, and marilyn monroe. click here for an interactive sgt pepper cover to discover who’s who on one of the most important album covers of all time. if peter blake’s sgt pepper album cover is the most famous example of british pop art, then andy warhol’s design for the velvet underground’s debut, released that same year, remains one of the most famous from the us. it’s “peel slowly and see” banana peel was actually a sticker that revealed the phallic fruit beneath   a typically wry move from warhol, though the joke was on anyone who removed the sticker. fully intact copies of the vu’s debut album are now hugely collectible rarities. as well as creating artwork for almost every little feat album, illustrator neon park’s distinctive style was put to unforgettable effect on a collection of mothers material recorded from 1967 69. having come across the september 1956 edition of man’s life, an adventure magazine whose cover pictured a man being attacked by weasels, zappa took the “weasels ripped my flesh” caption for a title and challenged parks to make something “worse than this”. the result: a gruesome spoof advert for an electric razor. while many of the most memorable album covers of the early 70s were high concept artworks designed by the likes of hipgnosis or roger dean, roxy music’s approach was startlingly simple: glamorous imagery, more like a 50s fashion shoot than an album cover. often romantically linked with frontman bryan ferry, each model had their intriguing own back story. having appeared as a bond girl in on her majesty’s secret service, kari ann muller featured on the front of roxy music for the sum of just £20. latterly a yoga teacher, she went on to marry chris jagger, whose brother has an interesting tale of his own… one of the most iconic album covers of all time, created by one of the most iconic design teams of all time. hipgnosis’ main men, storm thorgerson and aubrey powell, came up with the concept for the dark side of the moon, while their colleague george hardie executed it: a prism refracting light into six of the seven the colours of the spectrum (indigo is missing). the triumvirate of light beam, prism and spectrum apparently stood for three aspects of the band and their music: ambitious stage lighting, dark side’s lyrics and keyboardist richard wright’s request that hipgnosis create something bold yet simple. job done, then. brian duffy’s portrait remains the image most associated with david bowie: his aladdin sane persona an extension of ziggy stardust; the lightning bolt a representation of the “cracked actor” that bowie felt he had become during his sudden rise to superstardom. yet while bowie exuded otherworldly powers at this point in his career, the cover photo was taken in the very earthly confines of brian duffy’s studio in primrose hill, london. the teardrop on bowie’s clavicle was an addition of duffy’s after the shoot: a perfect touch that makes bowie seem both mysterious and tender at the same time. another one of hipgnosis’ arresting album covers, the artwork for houses of the holy was inspired by the ending of childhood’s end, a 30s sci fi novel by author arthur c clarke. a collage pieced together from several photos of two children scaling giant’s causeway in northern ireland, taken over a ten day period, the artwork’s eerie colouring was an accidental effect that gave the image a suitably otherworldly feel. another unintended after effect: some stores found the naked children too controversial and refused to stock the record. at a glance, the artwork for fleetwood mac’s best selling album is simple: drummer mick fleetwood working up some theatrics with the none more melodramatic stevie nicks channelling the rhiannon muse that consumed her for a period in the mid 70s. oh, and then you see the nod to his manhood dangling proudly between his legs. not just a schoolboy prank in the spur of the moment, the balls were actually toilet chains that mick pulled from a cistern and placed between his legs before performing one of the band’s earliest gigs   and there they would remain for future live performances, presumably dangling dangerously close to the drummer’s tom toms. an unavoidable image (and album) from the mid 80s through the rest of the decade, purple rain introduced the world to prince as an enigmatic presence ready to disappear at will into the night, all little richard pompadour and wry smile, as if in on a joke that no one else could ever hope to understand. photographer ed thrasher had previously snapped the similarly flamboyant jimi hendrix on a motorbike (a shot that graced the posthumous compilation album south saturn delta), while, if you look closely at the bike, you’ll see the androgyny symbol that would later find echoes in the “love symbol” that prince changed his name to. inspired by born in the usa’s title track, rolling stone photographer annie leibovitz shot springsteen in red, white and blue, before a backdrop of the american flag, creating the ultimate american everyman photo for the ultimate american everyman album. however, like the album’s title track   which has been open to political misinterpretation over the years   the artwork drew some negative connotations. some thought the boss was relieving himself on the flag   an unintentional result of springsteen choosing, from a number of photos, “the picture of my ass” because it “looked better than the picture of my face”. as a model, actress, and songwriter, grace jones’ career is littered with iconic photo shoots, from downtown disco snaps to uptown magazine spreads and, of course, a great album cover or two. while almost all of her record sleeves qualify for “iconic” status, the 1985 collection island life remains arguably her most famous. originally printed in a 1978 edition of new york magazine, the image was created by jones’ then partner, designer and photographer jean paul goode, who fashioned jones’ implausible posture from a composite of several photographs. the smiths were always handy with an eye catching image   taken together, their album covers amount to a gallery of black and white images with histories as compelling as morrissey’s lyrics. for meat is murder, the devoutly vegan morrissey sought to draw a parallel between meat eating and warfare, picking a controversial image of a vietnam war soldier whose helmet had been emblazoned with the album’s title. not that the original photo bore the “meat is murder” slogan. the 20 year old marine corporal michael wynn, pictured on the album cover, had been photographed on 21 september 1967 in da nang, south vietnam, during operation ballistic charge   and the slogan he’d actually written on his own helmet turned a countercultural catchphrase on its head with the hippie baiting “make war not love”. from sound to lyrical content and imagery, straight outta compton defined the emerging gangsta rap genre, and its artwork has gone down in history. speaking to cnn years after, photographer eric poppleton, then just out of university, put the image’s impact down to the fact that, “you’re taking the perspective of someone who is about to be killed… we don’t even print that stuff in newspapers.” poppleton still doesn’t know if eazy e’s gun was loaded   though it was certainly real (“there wasn’t anything fake back then,” he told nme), brandished by eazy while poppleton and the group   with one time sixth member, producer arabian prince, in tow   ducked down an alleyway to capture the shot on the fly. the controversial cover of nevermind was interpreted by many as an innocent band reaching for the almighty dollar when in reality (according to geffen records art director robert fisher) it was the result of kurt cobain’s fascination with a documentary on water births. clearly his interest in maternal themes would crop up again for the band’s follow up, in utereo. while the label pushed for a cover sans baby anatomy, cobain’s proposed compromise was a sticker covering that would read, “if you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” the cover design has inspired endless satires. while rock music is littered with logos, the queens rap collective a tribe called quest inadvertently created one of the most recognizable symbols in hip hop with the cover of their jazz rap fusion masterpiece, the low end theory. inspired by the provocative covers of old ohio players albums, it featured a nude model bedecked in dayglo body paint that is at once alluring and afrocentric at the same time. the bold colors and funky imagery lent itself to tribe’s creative vision on what would become their breakout album. the painted lady would later appear on subsequent tribe releases and surely inspired the equally provocative stankonia album art. illustrated album covers had been around for decades by 1994, but when it came to conjuring up cover art for green day’s major label debut, artist richie bucher created a comic book style world that reflected the bay area punk scene the band was birthed from. part mad magazine style fold in and where’s waldo? for the 90s alternative scene, you don’t need a magic decoder ring to spot the various easter eggs hidden under the spray of dookie: from ac/dc’s angus young to big star‘s alex chilton, patti smith, the university of california marching band and elements of ramones’ rocket to russia cover art, it’s a real who’s who of oakland’s telegraph avenue. either weezer has a slavish devotion to monochromatic colour schemes or rivers cuomo has synaesthesia; either way, since releasing their iconic “blue album” in 1994, their discography represents a rainbow of releases that includes their “green” (2001), “red” (2008), and “white” albums (2016). while many early 90s releases experimented with artistic imagery, weezer’s aesthetic was decidedly more “60s sears family photo”, according to former geffen a&r man todd sullivan. after the album’s release, many pointed out its similarity to the feelies’ cover for crazy rhythms, when in reality, cuomo was aiming for the clear cut boy band image of the beach boys. as a result, weezer not only had an iconic cover on their hands, but predicted the normcore movement. immediately recognizable, the dreamy, victorian esque cover of the smashing pumpkins’ landmark 1995 album captures a woman in perpetual eye roll, or a look of ecstasy that she’s held onto for over 20 years. it perfectly summarises the aimlessness youth to which corgan was preaching, and the fanciful imagery matches the grand ambitions of the sprawling, 28 track album. from just a series of crude, faxed sketches, illustrator john craig (former designer for mercury records and the man behind some of rod stewart’s most iconic sleeves) created a composite image using a celestial background from an old children’s encyclopaedia, along with the body from a raphael painting of saint catherine of alexandria, and the woman’s face from an 18th century painting by jean baptiste greuze entitled the souvenir (fidelity). though you don’t need an art history degree to appreciate this enduring image. some album covers are meant to convey deeper musical themes and their imagery is meticulously conceived, while others are just happy accidents. in beck’s case, the somewhat inscrutable cover image of odelay came about after he was shown an image of a rare, hungarian breed of herding dog called a komondor. after he couldn’t stop laughing at the image that he described as a “bundle of flying udon noodles attempting to leap over a hurdle”, and with the deadline for the album just a day away, he decided it would make the perfect cover and left it open for interpretation. is it a bale of hay or a flying mop? the artwork has become the ultimate rorschach test. at the dawn of the millennium, the majority of hip hop album covers were not the optimal vehicle for social commentary. at the time, the roots were still something of an underground act, but that was all about to change with their seminal album and provocative cover   or covers  for their breakthrough album. the philly outfit released five limited edition album artworks featuring famous photos that depicted “visual failure in society”, from a murdered mafia boss to a burning church, a baby crying amid the rubble in shanghai after wwii to the 90s famine in somalia, and, most famously, two women being chased by police during the 60s riots in the bed stuy neighborhood in brooklyn. while most of the roots’ previous covers just depicted the band, things fall apart was a step towards social activism both in their music and imagery. as the face of the pop punk explosion, blink 182 knew their audience well and catered to it accordingly with their explicit cover to their 1999 hit album enema of the state   much to the delight of their prepubescent male fans. adult actress and exotic dancer janine lindemulder posed as a nurse for the cover, much to the chagrin of the american red cross, who demanded the band remove their logo from the artwork, as it was a “violation of the geneva convention”. lindemulder would reprise her nurse role in the band’s video for ‘what’s my age again’, thanks to music turned porn publicist brian gross. the cover and accompanying video made blink 182 famous and brought the adult industry to middle america. as an artist whose personal image is inseparable from her music, it was only fitting that the promising young singer should grace her own album cover. back to black would be her introduction to america and the rest of the world, and much had changed since her uk debut, frank. with her cascading hair, sleeve tattoos, and rockabilly makeup, even simply sitting in a chair appeared as an act of defiance, albeit with a hint of vulnerability, with her hands tucked between her legs. this indelible image would come to define amy winehouse’s legacy and inspired countless young girls to adopt her girl group member gone bad style. in popular music, there’s no shortage of scantily clad women on album covers, but it’s usually the domain of male musicians. always one for pushing the envelope using her own image, katy perry teamed up with los angeles based artist will cotton to create her own pin up artwork for the cover of her hit album, teenage dream. the result was the cartoonish sensuality of art frahm meets candyland camp, and it has shaped perry’s technicolor universe ever since. cotton was also the creative director for perry’s ‘california gurls’ video, which established perry’s signature trademark of tongue in cheek sex appeal. discover the most controversial album covers of all time. stewart fraser september 10, 2017 at 4:27 pm thought bowies cover diamond dogs would have been there. john ireland september 10, 2017 at 8:16 pm have you not seen any album covers by yes michael reiss january 5, 2020 at 10:20 pm rolling stone magazine are not big fans of yes or progressive rock in general but to be honest i’m very surprised “in the court of the crimson king” is not listed. dawn davenport september 15, 2017 at 6:01 am surely you’re taking the piss? beck, weezer, katie perry and blink 182? oh please!!! steve september 15, 2017 at 9:03 am what about slit enz “mental notes” beatles “rubber soul” & “abby road” t.rex “slider”. just a few spudulike september 21, 2017 at 11:08 am are you serious? have you never seen tubular bells cover? and wtf is katy perry doing on that list? gl september 21, 2017 at 7:36 pm you missed blue cheer inside outside gc september 21, 2017 at 9:34 pm i’m sure everyone has their favorites, so it must have been tought to whittle the list down to 25, but how could have possibly left out king crimson, in the court of the crimson king? dennis goodman september 21, 2017 at 11:43 pm what about big brothers holding company with janis joplin alan mitchell september 22, 2017 at 1:29 am what about roger dean’s first osibisa album cover , quicksilver messenger service’s happy trails or cream’s disraeli gears? ian september 26, 2017 at 1:37 pm what about u2’s achtung baby? jeff kilpatrick september 30, 2017 at 7:29 am from 1991 alone, you missed (as suggestions,if nothing else) ten, the black album, out of time, and blood sugar sex magik. and that’s as much of the surface as i have time to scratch. loscrusher february 26, 2018 at 3:38 pm no. they were correct in excluding those. mauro october 2, 2017 at 7:20 pm cheap thrills harrispilton october 18, 2017 at 11:12 am van halen   the smoking baby? the beatles   abbey road? rage against the machine   the burning monk? john october 25, 2017 at 1:48 am i liked that elvis mad it cam fairbairn october 26, 2017 at 10:43 pm demon days? marlone november 23, 2017 at 11:45 pm an idiot compiled this richard evans january 2, 2018 at 10:46 am hipgnosis. not hypgnosis. rick january 2, 2018 at 11:22 am no rolling stones or bob dylan? elton john   yellow brick road or captain fantastic? the clash   london calling? eagles   hotel california? beck, katy perry, blink 182, weezer and the strokes don’t belong. amy winehouse cover is nothing iconic. sablia january 15, 2018 at 7:30 am everyone in the comments took this straight up the ass omfg. if you wanna share your own favorite album covers make your own damn list instead of shitting on the opinion of this persons fav album covers. nick january 26, 2018 at 1:17 pm how bout’ budgie bandolier and mowtown chartbusters vol 6 randy february 1, 2018 at 12:31 am raspberries side 3 loscrusher february 26, 2018 at 3:33 pm any list that fails to include “we can’t be stopped” is rubbish. dominic august 11, 2018 at 1:37 am abbey road!?!? roach september 6, 2018 at 2:20 am clearly not qualified, iconic? half of your picks are moronic ginger baker september 9, 2018 at 9:40 pm blind faith unique lp is a huge miss david little november 25, 2018 at 12:56 am surely it is about the quality of the album artwork rather than whichever artist happens to be your flavour of the month. and it doesn’t help when rolling stone magazine set themselves up as some sort of authority on what we’re supposed to like. the andy warhol creation must have taken all of five minutes to put together and i’m a little surprised you didn’t include the beatles white album. joe december 19, 2018 at 12:19 pm iron maiden killers. joemama january 25, 2019 at 5:09 pm obviously whoever wrote this article is an absolute moron. there may be 5 that qualify, but the rest should not be in this list. rob miller april 24, 2019 at 2:43 am i love purple rain. it is my favorite album of all time, but to choose that album cover art to represent him is a misstep. i think his most iconic album cover is 1999 with lovesexy coming in at a close second. nick hutton june 2, 2019 at 5:45 pm i absolutely love album cover art. i have created a video of famous album cover outtakes including the shots taken on set and alternative designs that didn’t make the cut. please check it out below. many of those included were featured in the article above.thanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvc17tgyndg&t=22s steve (but not naive) september 9, 2019 at 2:27 pm “most iconic”? how ’bout “25 interesting but otherwise no big deal album covers (with the exception of a few…beatles and floyd…which happen to be great)? steve (but not naive) september 9, 2019 at 2:31 pm oh…and the elvis cover too. how’d i forget that? so…22 ho hum album covers and 3. hall of famers. jason palermo september 30, 2019 at 1:00 am how is gnr appetite for destruction not on the list jimmmhf hhhy october 25, 2019 at 10:23 pm santana debut…iconic dnsc november 25, 2019 at 5:08 pm no mayhem   de mysteriis dom sathanas? i’m fairily disapointed! cakeii december 3, 2019 at 7:43 pm what about in the aeroplane over the sea? the frick? february 6, 2020 at 4:05 pm no abbey road?! no thriller?! no marshal mather lp 2?! wtf is this list?! dale evans may 1, 2020 at 9:34 am some very dubious titles in there, katie perry… really!!!! wow. may 20, 2020 at 4:48 pm this was a horrid list. abbey road is perhaps the single most iconic album cover of all time. stephen june 25, 2020 at 7:38 pm joy division   unknown pleasures. the album cover that launched a million t shirts. spinal tap   smell the glove. what’s wrong with being sexy? dave kemp june 26, 2020 at 7:30 pm surely one of the moody blues albums should be there stephen m. hatchett september 9, 2021 at 4:44 pm a most incredible album cover and my g.o.a.t.   greatest of all time   is the grateful dead’s “blues for allah”…stunning. just look at it…the colors, the artistry… roaddog november 1, 2021 at 6:15 am what about herb alpert’s tijuana brass ‎  whipped cream & other delights album cover? jan brosens february 19, 2022 at 5:14 pm jethro tull’s thick as a brick ivan february 21, 2022 at 11:24 am scorpion´s   lovedrive is iconic too! released feb.25 1979 jeff l. june 9, 2022 at 4:06 pm entertaining list, thanks. i’ll second unknown pleasures. a few more possibilities: country life, more songs about buildings and food (talking heads), the ramones; never mind the bollocks, exile in guyville tim august 25, 2023 at 2:29 am no madness? that is madness! nik february 9, 2024 at 9:58 pm never mind the bollocks…heres the sex pistols best ever, bar none. dave april 8, 2024 at 6:09 am 1972 carly simon “no secrets” album cover! c’mon! john ross june 21, 2024 at 1:52 pm beck:”odelay” now i finally know! i thought i was looking at a barn in the background part of possibly a wheat field and maybe hurdle was in scale with this wheat that quite resemble a head of a rooster with an eye, neck,top head,eben w/ solid beak !! nevermind! it’s the herb!

beyoncé, bowie, billie holiday, the beatles and more. by joe lynch executive digital director music isn’t just about the music. yes, the sounds are certainly the most essential element, but a lot of other things go into making an album a classic. almost since the full length album format began, cover art has been a key piece of the puzzle, adding visual interest (and occasionally a physically interactive component) to a work of art. from the fold out gatefolds of the vinyl era to pull out liner notes in cd jewel cases to the small icon on a digital player, cover art has changed over the years, but it still helps define how we look at a particular album. some go for the less is more approach, while others are stuffed with a kaleidoscope of imagery for fans to pore over and decipher. you might see photographic portraits, paintings, sketches, collages or nearly nothing at all. the artist might appear front and center, or perhaps they take a backseat entirely, letting evocative imagery pull the listener into their world. some album covers are arguably better known than the music inside, having been parodied in pop culture, lauded with awards, used in advertisements or hung up in art museums. it all began in 1939 when alex steinweiss, a graphic designer who worked at columbia records, realized that the label could sell more copies of an album if the cover caught the consumer’s attention. it worked, and soon became an indispensable part of the creative process when crafting (and marketing) an album. we’ve rounded up a list of the 100 greatest album covers of all time, reaching as far back as the 1930s and running through the birth of rock n’ roll, the start of hip hop and beyond, right up to present day. if you didn’t get it from the title young, gifted and black, aretha franklin was proudly and boldly representing for the african american community on this 1972 classic, and the cover photo   which shows two sets of gently smiling arethas facing each other wearing turban head wraps that glow an earthy orange against stained glass windows   speaks to her african pride and musical upbringing in the church. set against a black background, the warmth of the photographic portrait(s) is almost palpable. the cover art to beyoncé’s 2016 masterpiece is taken from the “don’t hurt yourself” music video, and immediately hits you with the dual themes of the lp. as she leans facedown against a chevrolet suburban, her hair in cornrows and her shoulders covered by a fur coat, the superstar conveys hurt and strength in one impactful image; she is forced to take a breather and collect herself, only to strike back harder. it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that ariana grande’s entire world got turned upside down in the three years in between 2015’s dangerous woman and its 2018 follow up. so when ariana appeared spider man style on the cover of sweetener, it felt right   and the sweetly unassuming confusion of the imagery also fit the musical change up of the thoughtful, delirious, r&b heavy set it accompanied beautifully. the country supergroup’s third album was stunning testament to finding strength through the bonds of friendship during tough times, and you can practically feel the warmth and sisterhood radiating from the interstate gospel cover art. standing in a lush, cool forest, angaleena presley, miranda lambert and ashley monroe clasp hands, eyes upward to heaven (which mirrors the vertical tree lines behind them). the trio’s green brown garb   which ranges from lambert’s flashy green sequins to presley’s peasant dress to monroe’s moss hued dress with a leather belt around it   makes them look at one with the forest. whether you get the esoteric visual reference or not, the cover art to kate bush’s the dreaming is an attention grabber. it’s a sepia toned, maya deren esque image of bush pulling a dapper, chain bound man toward her with a golden key   the only properly colored item in the photo   resting on her tongue as she looks away from him. it’s a tie in to album track “houdini,” the famous escape artist who would sometimes get a key passed to him via a kiss from his wife/assistant bess during performances; it also references a code between the two they decided upon before his death so that bess could know whether the medium communicating to him in the afterlife was legit. a black and white shot of a$ap rocky draped in an american flag served as the cover art to the harlem native’s studio debut, with the photo rendered through the static effect you would find on an old tv set. the effect is somewhat lost on the deluxe version’s cover, but the original artwork shows the top of his face at the bottom of the cover and the lower half of his torso at the top, as if the fuzzy image is rotating through the screen as the tv struggles to find a full signal   in short, something isn’t quite right with the picture he’s painting. while it might seem business as usual in a post “wap” world, the cover art to lil’ kim’s debut album caused quite a stir in 1996. hard core shows kim hovering over a polar bear pelt on the floor of a rose covered room, leaning forward in a see through top and gold bikini. suggestive more than explicit, fur and bikini imagery like this established her reputation as a madonna esque force of sexual provocation in hip hop. gloria estefan went for black and white retro elegance on the cover photo for her third solo album, embodying old school glamour as she drapes her arms over a chic cocktail bar, orchids in her hair and gorgeous men milling around behind her. but it’s more than just a throwback: mi tierra means “my homeland,” and the cover art evokes the pre cuban revolution havana that her family fled when she was just a toddler. fela kuti’s album artwork was typically as vibrant, thought provoking and bold as his music, and the cover illustration for the afrobeat pioneer’s 1977 album no agreement is one of his finest. we see a shirtless, muscley kuti hunched over his sax, eyes closed as if he’s pouring every ounce of his soul into the music. behind him are floating oval shaped buttons with an assortment of rallying cries, from “freedom” to “afrikan science” to “total emancipation”; look closer and you can see that the buttons are interconnected by a frenetic web of colorful lines, almost as if all these concepts and ideas share a central nervous system. a sumptuous, striking image accompanies first take, a debut album that revealed a stunning new talent. shot by ken heinen (a photographer who took seminal shots of the poor people’s campaign which martin luther king jr. began organizing prior to his 1968 assassination), the cover photo   set against a mustard frame   shows flack wearing a floral, sunday best dress as she looks down at the ivories beneath her fingers in a smoky, cramped club. the keys are pressed down, but the moment   lens flare and all   is frozen, as if we’re witnessing a fleeting moment of quiet in a tumultuous setting, and time. when carole king’s tapestry came out in 1971, listeners were assuredly familiar with several of the songs, which had already been made into hits by artists like aretha franklin and the shirelles. but the cover art made it clear that what king was doing here with her material was different. sitting barefoot on the window ledge of her home in laurel canyon, king   half lit by natural light   and her cat eyeball the viewer, exuding california chill. the tapestry cover went a long way toward establishing and romanticizing the idea of homespun, pared down recordings that felt more casual than polished. if anyone found lizzo to be a disruptive presence in the music mainstream as a plus sized woman of color, she made it abundantly clear with the cuz i love you cover that she wasn’t about to let that deter her. posing nude on an otherwise blank album cover, she presented herself as bold and self possessed. even as a lawsuit from former dancers complicates her legacy (she has denied their allegations), this image remains an important touchstone in representation. perhaps taking a cue from the white stripes that fewer colors can have a bigger effect, the cover art for tyler, the creator’s igor leaves an immediate impression on your retina thanks to its pastel pink, black and white minimalism. a close up shot of tyler rocking an asymmetrical flattop shows the genre bending rapper with one eye half closed and mouth slightly agape, which allows his gold tooth to match his glistening earrings; he looks dazed but unfazed, a fitting expression for an artist who never quite seems to fit in on planet earth but has never let that throw him off his cool. billie holiday had been through a lot by the time lady in satin came out in 1958, and those struggles and triumphs are etched into her face on the cover photo. wearing a strapless gown (presumably made of satin) and tasteful jewelry, she appears in partial profile against a charcoal background. with her sleek hair pulled back into a pony, she’s a picture of then modern elegance and grace, and yet her expression   distant, troubled   speaks to the hard truths she had learned. it would prove to be the final album released in her lifetime, as she died at age 44 the next year. the cover art for rm’s debut studio album certainly lives up to its title. a painting of vertical blue lines from late korean artist yun hyong keun hangs on a yellowish wall in a mostly empty room. the bts member, clad all in denim, sits on the floor, leaning against the wall and contemplatively gazing in a direction opposite a stool stacked high with his old jeans, which is bathed in a sunbeam that just misses him. enigmatic and elegiac, it’s a fitting visual to accompany an album about saying goodbye to a period in one’s life. rocking a fuzzy bucket hat, chunky gold chain and a fur lined, poofy pink jacket, missy elliott sits on a cinder block in front of a brick wall, seated next to an old school boombox. like the thematic content of under construction, the cover harks back to the golden age of hip hop while still moving boldly into the future; despite the imagery, elliott leans forward, eying something in the distance, always looking for the next thing. if song titles like “do it all night” and “head” weren’t enough of a clue, prince posed half naked in front of exposed bedsprings for the cover of his breakthrough third album dirty mind. copping a look that’s simultaneously mysterious and come hither, the photo   taken by his personal photographer at the time, allen beaulieu   shows the musical polymath with a studded jacket, handkerchief around his neck and a treasure trail leading down his bare stomach to a thong. prince had arrived, and the pop world would never be the same. tapping into the same vintage vibes of kenny rogers’ the gambler artwork and the 1973 blockbuster film the sting, blue kentucky girl features a simply dressed emmylou harris, acoustic guitar in hand, standing in front of a sepia toned portrait of an old kentucky saloon. it’s a bingo card of old timey americana, from the oil lamp chandelier to the spinning casino wheel to the gold framed portrait of a naked woman to the scantily clad cigarette girl hovering over an eclectic table of booze soaked poker players. with a soft but firm expression, harris seems to be telling you that this, folks, is her take on country music. when she burst onto the scene in the ‘90s, mary j. blige wasn’t just a musical trend setter with her groundbreaking mixture of sleek r&b and hip hop   she provided a fashion blueprint for countless admirers and contemporaries. with a black leather cap, big hoop earrings and thick blonde braids, blige is pure hip hop soul chic on the cover of my life, but there’s a lot more to it when you look closely. the photo, rendered through a moody blue lens, shows an artist who looks simultaneously hard and hurt. for a brutally personal album, it’s fitting that her eyes are ever so slightly obscured by the shadow cast by her hat   she’s letting us into her life, but these are dispatches from a dark time. a screaming barbara cheeseborough (who was essence’s first cover model) possesses the “maggot brain” in question on the cover of parliament’s classic 1971 album of the same name. the real twist comes when you turn the album over   while her head is buried up to the neck on the front, there’s a skull on the back. for his breakthrough 2013 mixtape acid rap, chance the rapper tapped previous collaborator brandon breaux, a visual artist from the south side of chicago. breaux might as well have willed the image into existence: not only did he give chance the tie dye tank before a sojourn to sxsw, but he snapped a photo of chance   whose expression is more acid than rap here   posing with a fan that turned into the cover. with constellations above and a pine tree skyline below, a pink purple supernova seems to explode from the heavens all the way down to chance’s face and clothing, giving the listener a sense of what to expect from the music. there’s going back to your roots, and then there’s centering an entire album around your childhood home. the north carolina rapper titled his third album after the address of his childhood home in fayetteville, and the cover art is a photo of cole in a hockey jersey resting atop its roof. the low angle shot of the rapper at the house’s peak suggests how far he’s come, but his posture   clasped hands, feet dangling in the air   indicates there’s still something left of the little boy who grew up there as he pensively casts a glance backwards. brash, bold, badass and whatever other “b” words generally applied to cardi b’s rise to prominence in 2017 also worked for the cover of her 2018 debut lp, invasion of privacy. captured by photographer jora frantzis, cardi sneers in cat eyes sunglasses, mustard blonde hair and a checkered, long sleeve coat   dazzling and unignorable, just as the accompanying album would soon prove to be on the billboard charts. a performer who embodied country music, loretta lynn notched a 2004 comeback with the jack white produced album van lear rose. wearing a sparkling, sky blue dress that oozes grand ole opry elegance, lynn   standing in front of a rural manor’s porch, complete with dog and rocking chair   looks off into the distance with a faint smile, one hand on her acoustic guitar and the other on the old tree behind her. four decades of country history never looked so lovely. the pop polymath and electronic music pioneer broke new ground with his synth  and sequencer heavy solo album (separate from his work with ymo) and the cover art gives a vaguely surrealist impression of his creative mind; hosono gazes serenely into the future as his hairline disappears into a pine forest skyline, with a glorious, heavenly collection of clouds hanging overhead. on the cover of outkast’s 2000 classic, the duo   a shirtless andre 3000 rocking a hendrix styled headband with his fingers stretched out to the viewer; big boi defiantly staring you down in a white shirt and df (dungeon family) chain   stands in front of a black and white version of the american flag, seemingly the flag for the fictional country of stankonia. the pared down artwork is both an invite and a challenge to look at their complicated, multilayered take on america. on ian beck’s iconic graphic for elton john’s 1973 blockbuster, the bedazzled rocker   wearing ruby red platform heels and a bomber jacket with his name on it   steps into a poster of the famed yellow brick road dorothy and her coterie followed to the emerald city of oz. the defining image of a legendary career, this illustration came out three years before elton himself did   but if you didn’t get that he was a friend of dorothy based on this, that’s on you. while the marketing campaign that jay z was retiring after the black album seems ludicrous decades later, it did the job of putting all eyes on hova for this 2003 classic. it’s a nearly blacked out photograph of the greatest rapper of all time, so dark that you can just barely make out his hands and mouth. in the pic, jay pulls down a ball cap over his eyes, as if saying goodbye to the game, while his lips defiantly pout out from the shadows, indicating he’s doing this on his own terms. although he’s best (or in this case, worst) remembered for taking nude photos of a very underage brooke shields, garry gross’ cover photo for whitney houston’s self titled debut stands out as a beautifully less is more image in the visually explosive mtv era. wearing a simple, timeless toga with pearls, she announced herself to the world as a class act whose elegant ferocity went beyond any fashion trend. in front of a glowing, skeletal skyline set against a pitch black night, singer/model amanda lear struts along a shadowy promenade in sky high heels and a bluish black leather dress while leading a snarling black panther on a leash. seductive, striking and strange, this iconic image conjures up the allure and danger of a late night dalliance   a fair fit for an lp that housed a trembling love song to a blow up doll. the one that started it all   literally. brooklyn born, parsons educated graphic designer alex steinweiss was the first person to add graphic elements to the cover of albums (which in the 1930s resembled physical photo albums, as each album contained sleeves holding multiple 78 rpm discs made of shellac). this collection of hits by richard rodgers and lorenz hart (one of the 20th century’s greatest songwriting duos) boasted a striking mix of illustration and photography that marked the start of a new artform. for the cover of their mainstream breakthrough lp, blink 182 enlisted adult actress janine lindemulder to put a highly suggestive   and literal   spin on the album title. it’s an image that was burned into the mind of every trl viewer. for the cover of anti, rihanna turned to israeli artist roy nachum, who dug deep into rih’s past for imagery to accompany her greatest creative step forward. the artwork shows a doubled image of toddler rihanna on her first day of daycare, holding a black balloon with a gold crown covering her eyes. with an uneven column of red paint descending from the top of the black and white image, it’s unusual yet warm, and quite literally tactile   on the original canvas for the art, there’s a poem by chloe mitchell in braille. its first few lines: “i sometimes fear that i am misunderstood. it is simply because what i want to say, what i need to say, won’t be heard.” eschewing a friendly, fun image more conducive to ’80s pop chart success, janet jackson adopted a militaristic tone for her instantly iconic black and white rhythm nation 1814 cover art. with janet’s face only partially emerging from the shadows and her body clad in a nondescript soldier’s uniform, the artwork made label execs uneasy, but in the end, she was right. this cover photo perfectly complements the increased social consciousness of the album, and it would go on to become her most recognizable album art. oddly enough, only 40 percent of fleetwood mac’s then lineup is featured on the cover to their biggest selling album, rumours. only the band’s stevie nicks (caught mid swirl with a shawl flowing behind her) and mick fleetwood (with a pair of toilet chain balls dangling between his legs) are pictured, photographed by herbert w. worthington. the album was designed by desmond strobel, while worthington conceived the cover concept with the band. beyond bowie, marc bolan was the glam rock icon, and the cover art of the slider captures his androgynous, otherworldly appeal. the photo was taken in the midst of ringo starr filming his t. rex documentary born to boogie, but the grainy, worn look was a happy accident that resulted from an incorrect photo development process. the effect is to make bolan’s vampire pale skin mirror the overexposed background, the black of his thin lips and eyes popping out like rudy valentino in a faded print of a silent classic. his cascading curls, which tumble out from his leather top hat, and the v neck lead the eye down to the bold, fire truck red t. rex lettering. portrait shots can be iconic when done just right, and if there’s one artist who knows about iconic imagery, it’s lady gaga. for the re release of her debut the fame, mother monster   framed by a wiry wig   went black and white, rocking a shiny, angular coat that shrouded the lower half of her face in this photo from hedi slimane. nicki minaj has always embraced her inner weirdo, extending her limbs on the cover of her debut album pink friday and splashing her face with paint for its sequel. but for the pinkprint, the harajuku barbie tapped kanye’s donda for an image that borders on high art without shedding her identity, showing a fingerprint crushed into pink powder. in the wake of seattle grunge and rise of rap, no doubt arrived in the mainstream crosshairs with the ska inflected tragic kingdom, an album equal parts sheen and punk lite ferocity. the cover echoes its content: there’s the pretty   lead singer gwen stefani channels ‘50s pinup poster girl imagery   and the ugly, a wilting tree with rotting oranges and flies circling the bruised fruit. the cover art for beyoncé’s 2013 surprise album was smartly simple. during the period when physical music sales were dropping and instagram hadn’t become ubiquitous, album cover art   when most people encountered it   was seen via small thumbnails. with a pared down aesthetic, the pink, all caps lettering over a plain black background was able to make an immediate impact even if viewed on a tiny screen. it’s no surprise the font found its way to shirts, mugs and memes all over the world. although it was a huge step forward for k pop, the cover art for f(x)’s second studio album pink tape found the south korean girl group rewinding the clock back to the ‘80s and ‘90s with the cover art for the album. quite literally, it’s a pink tape   a vhs tape with each member on the sticker and two film genre boxes (romance and cult) checked off as if it were snagged from a video store rental shelf. inventive and playful, the artwork was part of a record that pushed the group (and k pop as a whole) to greater international renown. few rappers played more compellingly with identity and gender over the course of the 2010s as young thug. so no surprise that his best remembered album cover was this garfield lamond photographed shot of a face covered thug in a long, flowing dress designed by alessandro trincone for his jeffery project   an image that would’ve been unthinkable in hip hop decades earlier, and would prove influential on everyone from rappers to pop stars in the years after. even in an america that’s become depressingly inured to mass shootings, the cover art for yoko ono’s first album after the assassination of husband john lennon is a gut punch. with a hazy view of new york city’s central park in the background, it shows a glass half empty (or half full?) of water next to lennon’s blood soaked glasses   yes, the ones he was wearing when he was shot to death at age 40 on dec. 8, 1980. despite misgivings from her label, ono insisted this had to be the cover: “people looked at me saying it was in bad taste to show the glasses to them. ‘i’m not changing the cover. this is what john is now,’ i said,” ono wrote in the liner notes to her 1992 box set onobox. this black and white cover is made all the more heartbreaking given that this was cash’s final album before he died less than a year after its release. this was the perfect artwork for the man in black’s fade to black. from movies to music, post apocalyptic visions of earth were hot in the ‘80s, and megadeth delivered one of the most indelible ones with the cover art to its thrash classic peace sells… but who’s buying? on ed repka’s iconic graphic, skeletal mascot vic rattlehead acts as a real estate agent for the bombed out united nations headquarters behind him as fighter jets swoop down from the throbbing orange sky. (sure, it didn’t look like a great investment at the time, but think of manhattan property values these days!) there’s a bit of magritte flavoring to the droll cover art of japanese breakfast’s third album, which features frontperson michelle zauner holding a persimmon in front of her left eye as 10 or so other pieces of the fruit dangle in the air around her. her duckling shaded dress is a quirky contrast with her prominent tattoo sleeve, and her direct gaze with the viewer suggests the music within is anything but passive. werner herzog once told roger ebert about the value of “forgery for the sake of a much deeper truth,” and even if rosanne cash isn’t a fan of new german cinema, she certainly illustrated his point with the cover for her 1987 album. king’s record shop shows cash   rocking cowboy boots, jeans and a long black coat   leaning against the time worn, beautiful façade of a record shop in louisville, kentucky, emphasizing cash’s deep connection to country history. in reality, the cover is actually two separate photos, both taken by hank devito, with a pic of cash superimposed onto the image of the store. jack and meg white delivered some indelible imagery through their tenure as the white stripes, but the cover to elephant stomps on the competition. a distraught meg, wearing a loretta lynn esque gown, looks down as she dries her eye with a handkerchief, while jack   also sporting fancy, old school nashville threads   looks up at a solitary lightbulb dangling from above as he clasps a cricket bat. naturally, it’s all rendered in their stark red, black and white chiaroscuro, and there’s a bonus easter egg for completist collector fans: their seated positions on the old timey travel trunk are reversed for the u.k. version, meaning both covers placed together create a sort of mirror effect. leading up to her debut album, the genre blurring fka twigs made a name for herself on stunning visuals: music videos, ep covers, and even magazine shoots. this porcelain sheen headshot was an exquisite introduction to the wonder of her music. unlike the ‘7’ heavy cover art for map of the soul, 7, the artwork for map of the soul: 7 ~ the journey is a stark illustration done in primary colors. various flowers unfurl behind two opaque white panes, which pop against a black background. in a cute, cartoonish touch, two of the flowers have a set of eyeballs peeping out from the center, tipping to the band’s sense of humor. taylor swift’s fifth studio album 1989 was a departure for the singer, so it only makes sense that the cover broke with tradition as well. shaped as a polaroid photo from the era, swift’s face is cut off, highlighting an ’80s sweatshirt while evoking memories of a different time. the cover was instantly replicated all over the internet, with thousands of fans putting their own spin on various homages to what will likely become one of the most identifiable works of her career. madonna’s third studio album, true blue, was covered by a striking image of the diva by celebrated photographer herb ritts. (he would later re team with madonna for both the you can dance and like a prayer covers.) before his death in 2002, ritts would also direct a number of music videos   including madonna’s “cherish”   and earn an mtv video music award nomination. joni mitchell’s streak of classics continued with the 1976 folk jazz album hejira, which boasted her best artwork. set against wisconsin’s lake mendota after an ice storm, winter clad mitchell stares down the viewer as an open highway extends mysteriously into her person (via a superimposed photo), suggesting the freedom and limitless possibilities contained within her music. with one arm around a guy (who happens to be jack nicholson’s grandson) and the other hand reaching out to the listener, lana del rey stares directly into your eyes while posing on an american flag sporting sailboat. the album’s title blasts out in a roy lichtenstein styled version of a comic book’s kapow semiotic, while her own initials appear in a font befitting the pulp aesthetic; it’s the kind of classic, clever americana that ldr excels at. as art director kenny gravallis put it, “the concept of ‘visual failure in society’ on the cover of an album called things fall apart just made sense.” one of five original covers, the image that stuck was a civil rights era photo of two black youths running from police in riot gear in brooklyn’s bedford stuyvesant neighborhood   a powerful image of the inequality the group was trying to address through their music. the world wasn’t paying enough attention in the ‘70s when raunchy funk provocateur betty davis brought female sexual empowerment, space age looks and bold black pride to undersung classics like this one. it’s called they say i’m different, and the album cover is exhibit a. wearing an egyptian goddess meets barbarella one piece in line with what sun ra was doing at the time, davis crouches casually in an asymmetrical pose, holding what seems to be two pool cues as gigantic chopsticks as she looks defiantly off camera. with the fur lined, sky blue platform heels and a gorgeous afro wider than her waist, davis embodies a new breed of confidence the world just wasn’t ready for. though technically, yes, it’s an image of three topless women caked in mud, there’s nothing remotely sexualized about this album cover. instead, the three main women of post punk outfit the slits are portrayed as unflinching tribal warrior women. as viv albertine later told the guardian, “we knew, since we had no clothes on, that we had to look confrontational and hard. we didn’t want to be inviting the male gaze.” it’s safe to say they succeeded. metallica’s third album boasts one of the most stark, sobering illustrations in metal, a genre ripe with memorable cover art. blood red hands float in the sky, pulling strings attached to seemingly endless rows of crosses in a military cemetery. the gut punch, anti war imagery brings the lyrics of master of puppets gem “disposable heroes” to life and tips to the theme of manipulating the masses that runs throughout the record. with five years passing between her acclaimed debut ctrl and follow up sos, it’s understandable that sza might’ve been feeling adrift, isolated and a bit lost as she prepped what would turn out to be a creative and commercial breakthrough. this image of her alone on a diving board, wearing a sports jersey with her name on it as she dangles above the vast blue sea, was inspired by a photograph she saw of princess diana. after a handful of album covers featuring the dropout bear and a simple, kaws designed image for 808s & heartbreak, kanye west transitioned into high concept art for my beautiful dark twisted fantasy. teaming with artist george condo for a series of paintings, the rapper matched the widescreen brilliance of the album’s music with boundary cracking art, including a controversial image of a demonic west being straddled by a nude angel. even if you don’t speak spanish (un verano sin ti was the first all spanish language album to top billboard’s year end chart, so it’s likely many of its fans didn’t), this album’s cover art primes you for what bunny delivers on this modern classic. a scribbly drawing   all bright colors and flattened perspective, like a filled in coloring book   shows dolphins sailing through the air as the sun rises over a glorious, palm laden beach. but all is not well in paradise: a one eyed heart stands alone on the beach, frowning, priming the listener for an album where introspective, sad moments can exist alongside vibrant, energetic sounds. the title of drake’s 2015 “mixtape” certainly proved apt, as the unexpected release kicked off one of his most commercially dominant years of the 2010s, cementing him as a superstar on the level of any other contemporary top 40 idol. but its minimalist cover art was similarly impactful, becoming one of the first such images to become a twitter phenomenon in its own right, as fans substituted their own scrawled messages into its format and made it an unmissable mid ’10s music meme. marvin gaye’s socially conscious masterpiece what’s going on marked a major turning point in the soul hitmaker’s career, and the gorgeous cover photo conveys the shift. with precipitation glistening on his slick black raincoat and short cut hair, gaye looks off into the distance, his mouth just barely open, with his eye wincing slightly. he seems to be quite literally weathering bad times, watching things unfold around him with a critical eye as he tries to make heads or tails of an america that was by then fully invested in the vietnam war overseas while grappling with racial and economic inequalities at home. this is the face of the artist reflecting upon his times and making us look at them from a fresh, vital perspective. you gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, and when it came to kenny rogers’ the gambler, millions of fans were eager to hold a copy of this album, thanks not only to the country hits within but the visual feast you can find on the album cover. it’s a campy, theatrical snapshot of the long mythologized riverboat gambler, those high rolling risk takers running from their debts and into the arms of saloon singers back in the 19th century. from the mae west knockoff giving rogers the lascivious eye to the diamond draped widow to the cigar chomping old west gentlemen, this is a cornucopia of americana. just as lyrics to “god save the queen” had british authorities up in arms, the word “bollocks” strewn across the album’s cover prompted mass censorship. it didn’t stick, since this burst of punk artwork quickly became iconic. the album art controversy even fed into its advertising campaign, with some ads reading, “the album will last. the sleeve may not.” staring down the viewer with an unflinching detachment, sophie comes across as a blade runner replicant crossed with a homeric siren on the gorgeous, unearthly cover art to sophie’s solo studio album. with a thick choker that almost seems to separate the head from the body, plastic, flesh covered gloves (one bearing the word “nothingness”) and one leg covered in glittery scales, sophie looks like a supermodel assembled from discrete sources, hitting you with that challenging gaze in a primordial lavender sea. for an album that breaks down identity, gender and musical structures, this cover image couldn’t be more perfect. one of the most iconic images of the new wave era, the cover photo of parallel lines shows how a simple concept can make a substantial impression. the male members of the band sport black suits, crisp white shirts and thin black ties, a visual parallel to the black and white lines behind them. while they smile (or in the case of chris stein, smirk), debbie harry stands slightly in front, arms akimbo in her classic white dress and heels (a contrast to the band’s beat up converse), staring down the viewer with a no nonsense demeanor that conveys her icy cool. an album based on a 13th century novel (flamenca) needed an appropriately esoteric cover to accompany it, and spanish croatian artist filip ćustić more than met the challenge. standing atop a cloud with a halo around her (and white robes hanging from rings on her arm like a shower curtain), rosalía stretches out her arms as a light emanates from her womb and a dove rises above her. presenting the spanish star as a dual christ/virgin figure, the artwork taps into religious medieval iconography with a feminist twist. it won ćustić the latin grammy for best recording package, while the album   itself a heavenly, heady work of art   nabbed rosalía the grammy for best latin rock, urban or alternative album. aretha franklin’s best album, i never loved a man the way i love you, shows her dressed in an elegant gown with a gauzy old hollywood haze bordering the photo. but it’s her expression   and the canted angle of the photo   that make this so important. in 1967, representation of black women in pop culture was political whether intentionally or not, and aretha’s quiet, un posed album cover speaks volumes. unlike many female pop stars of the era, she doesn’t smile invitingly at the viewer, attempting to please or impress or seduce   she simply exists, exuding confidence and a quiet sense of majesty. everything about springsteen’s persona is conveyed in this one image. there’s the american flag backdrop, the worn in jeans, the white t shirt, and red hat hanging out of his back pocket after a long day of work. the boss is the epitome of blue collar america on this unforgettable album cover. janis joplin’s final album, released after her death at age 27, features one of the era’s most iconic images. joplin drapes herself over a victorian era loveseat, decked out in eye catching san francisco hippie garb, cradling a drink and a huge smile. the image is bittersweet: alcohol reportedly played a role in joplin’s fatal heroin overdose, yet her radiant smile seems to transcend the sadness of the impending tragedy. derek riggs’ skeletal creation “eddie” has provided iron maiden with an embarrassment of kick ass album covers, but the best of the bunch just might be the acrylic art for the metal legends’ second album, killers. on it, the undead eddie stands on a shadowy city street at nighttime, his wrinkled, peeling flesh illuminated by a harsh yellow streetlamp. with a title like killers, you can assume he’s not here to help you cross the street, and sure enough ol’ eddie is sneering downward, hoisting a blood soaked axe above the head of a person we only glimpse via their hands clawing desperately at his clothes for mercy. it’s not exactly nice, but at least eddie’s a little more upfront than thatcher was. the low end theory, a stone cold classic from a tribe called quest, also gave us one of hip hop’s greatest album covers of all time. while it might look like an illustration at first, it’s actually a doctored photograph of a kneeling woman covered in thick, bold brushstrokes of neon paint. glowing in afrocentric colors against the black background, she looks poised to rise at a moment’s notice   this is a pose of preparation, not submission. grace jones and frequent collaborator jean paul goude (yes, the man who tried to “break the internet” with a nude kim kardashian) partnered to create one of the decade’s most memorable covers for 1985’s island life. featuring a nearly nude jones in a seemingly superhuman pose, the art was actually a composite of the singer in a series of different poses, cut and pasted together for an unforgettable result. chicago born designer pedro bell created a lot of indelible looks for funkadelic, but his vibrant illustration for the funk titans’ 1978 opus is his finest. planet earth, dripping blue, black and brown, rockets upward through a lilac pink void, with a quartet of alien musicians standing atop an explosion of sea foam atop the globe as they hoist a pan african flag with the words “r&b” emblazoned on it. next to the extra terrestrial funk stars is a woman rocking an afro and green dress sitting atop a different flag covered in the album’s title and an assortment of other slogans (“a mind is a terrible thing to waste,” “it ain’t illegal yet”). imbued with messages both clear and obscure, this embellished album cover is a rich testament to artwork that’s best experienced in your hands as opposed to on a screen. while this isn’t the album that introduced the world to bowie’s space man alter ego, when music fans think of ziggy stardust, this is the image they see. the lightning bolt eye makeup, the red mullet   this is quintessential bowie. in 1969, artist andy warhol was approached by the rolling stones to create the cover art for their upcoming greatest hits album, through the past, darkly (big hits vol. 2). whatever warhol created for the set was seemingly never used, but his concept of employing a working zipper on an album cover came to fruition on the cover of sticky fingers. with photographs by warhol (focused on the bulging jeans of a still unidentified male model) and graphic design by craig braun, the set would earn a grammy award nomination for best album cover. one year after the new york daily news ran the infamous “ford to city, drop dead” headline, ramones burst out of queens with a look that seemed to come from a city that, if not quite dead, was at least teetering on the edge. sporting ripped jeans, black leather, sunglasses and looking very much like they wouldn’t mind kicking your ass, the punk forefathers pose in front of a crumbling, graffiti strewn wall and look like they couldn’t give less of a damn if you listen to their music or not. you’d be hard pressed to name the most definitive shot of an artist who has appeared on countless posters and t shirts, but the neville garrick designed cover to rastaman vibration is a strong contender. garrick applied earthy watercolors to a xeroxed photo of marley   his hand raised thoughtfully to his chin as he looks off into the distance   and placed it against a burlap sack background. emphasizing the idea of marley as an everyman activist for rastafarianism, images like this one went a long way toward establishing the iconography of marley that continues to this day. the surrealist art for bitches brew was created by german painter mati klarwein, who was also responsible for the art on santana’s abraxas, another entry on this list. a study in contrasts, the full gatefold cover shows a modified negative rendition of the more familiar front cover   together, they embody davis’ searching musical manifesto. artist patrick nagel was commissioned by duran duran’s then manager, paul berrow, to create the cover art for the band’s rio album. the group’s bassist, john taylor, wrote in his autobiography in the pleasure groove: love, death and duran duran, that when they received the “massive” “five foot by five foot” canvas, he thought, “there she was, the girl who was dancing on the sand” (a reference to the lyrics of the set’s title track). designer peter saville’s decision to go with pulsar radio waves is right up there with martin hannett’s spellbinding production in making this album a goth classic. disney’s mickey mouse shirt parody four decades later only reaffirmed its legend. one of metal’s most iconic album covers, judas priest’s british steel   depicting a hand emerging from studded leather holding a razor blade   is also one of its most fascinating. how is the hand holding the blade without bleeding? does this cover capture the moment just before the blood bursts out and covers the blade? while many metal bands would compete to out gross each other throughout the rest of the ’80s, this simple, menacing image outlives them all. taken from a mati klarwein painting, the cover for santana’s abraxas album is a surreal, psychedelic feast for the eyes. inspired by the biblical story of the annunciation, this painting gives us a naked, black virgin mary and a red angel with a conga between her legs. one of the priestesses on the back cover also appears on the back cover of bitches brew (klarwein did the artwork for both). the london calling cover simultaneously pays tribute to elvis presley while also blowing up his version of rock n’ roll. the pink and green title letters mimic presley’s 1956 self titled album cover, but the king probably never smashed a bass guitar on stage. the closest incendiary equivalent the 21st century has produced to sly & the family stone’s original bullet hole filled american flag cover for 1971’s there’s a riot goin’ on. the image is of a celebratory photo of dozens of mostly shirtless black men rejoicing in front of the white house   with a white judge, gavel in hand, lying motionless at the bottom of the photograph. confrontational, exciting, joyful, disturbing and timely, it was a provocative and evocative cover for one of the best rap albums of the 2010s. one of the most recognizable album covers of all time features an underwater, naked baby reaching for a dollar bill on a string, making a statement about the values our society passes on to its youth. three decades later, the nevermind baby   by then an adult man   sued the band; a judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2022. the most iconic grunge album cover after nirvana’s nevermind, hole’s live through this depicts a sobbing beauty queen with mascara running down her face. the desperation on the woman’s face reveals the tragic self doubt fueling the beauty industry, but she’s not made to look entirely ridiculous   we’re still forced to view her as a human instead of a broad parody of an archetype. this is the rare satiric album cover that still manages to be empathetic. the image of seven year old nas superimposed over a danny clinch photo of the rapper’s native queensbridge housing projects has been burned into many a hip hop hed’s memory. “the projects used to be my world,” he told mtv of the meaning behind the aimee macauley designed art in 1994, “until i educated myself to see there’s more out there.” where to begin with this album cover? the image features the beatles, in their sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band military getups, standing in front of dozens of celebrities, including marilyn monroe, bob dylan, marlon brando and sonny liston, as well as wax figures of themselves. while listeners try to discern the secret meaning of the high minded music, they can also try to identify the 60 plus faces on the crowded cover. there were other rap acts courting harder or more serious images when n.w.a’s straight outta compton arrived, but absolutely nothing else was this brutal. a photograph from the perspective of someone lying down on the ground shows eazy e pointing a gun at the viewer while the rest of the group looks down without mercy at the person about to die. grim and provocative, it’s probably the most iconic image in gangsta rap history. elvis knew what a killer combo green and neon pink were some 20 years before the clash copped the cover style for london calling. there’s something about that mid strum snapshot of a vocal howl that gets us every time   it visually introduced rock n’ roll to an unsuspecting america even before the needle hit the vinyl. a nod to the afrofuturism of artists like sun ra, the artwork for fear of a black planet was conceived by chuck d, who imagined the titular black planet eclipsing earth. appropriately, given the interplanetary concept, the group hired nasa illustrator b.e. johnson to draw the final design. cyndi lauper informed the world that “girls just want to have fun” on her classic 1983 debut, and one look at the cover of she’s so unusual would convert any non believer. photographed by annie leibovitz in front of a derelict wax museum in brooklyn’s coney island, lauper strikes a willfully weird pose wearing a second hand prom dress, fishnets and a mish mash of clashing jewelry. tellingly, her heels are kicked off to the side. more so than any album cover from a female pop queen, this remains the ultimate rallying cry to stay strange and love yourself for it. this simple art says so much. the light going through a prism and coming out as a rainbow was meant to convey the band’s stage lighting and the album’s lyrics. and, as evidenced by the number of t shirts bearing this image today, the prism has become synonymous with floyd itself. somehow the image of a burning airship erupting into flames just moments before plummeting to the ground and claiming dozens of lives is the perfect visual introduction to led zeppelin’s debut masterpiece. whether you see it as an indication of the explosive music within the sleeve, or a heartless shock tactic capitalizing on a real life tragedy, this black and white rendering of the hindenburg disaster has become of the most indelible images in hard rock. the innocence of a baby sized biggie on the cover of his classic debut ready to die contradicted the lyrical content inside. but that was the point: the album traced his life from beginning to a mournful, foreshadowing end, using the innocence of a child to illustrate how a cruel world imprints on unmolded minds. aside from the critical acclaim for smith’s beat poetry infused lyrics mixed with punk rock, horses‘ cover is a visual masterpiece. photographed by close friend and fellow artist robert mapplethorpe, the photo of smith was considered by critic camille paglia as one of the greatest photographs ever taken of a woman. with smith describing her look as sinatra like, all elements combined to create one of the greatest album covers (and rock photographs) ever. does any other album cover on this list stop traffic? it’s a testament to the lasting impression of this street crossing photo that hundreds of fans re create it every day outside abbey road studios. there’s even a webcam live feed of the attraction. another notable fact: it’s the first beatles cover that doesn’t feature the band’s name. this iconic andy warhol banana picture with “peel slowly and see” instructions is a great cover on its own, but the original version actually included a peel off sticker revealing a flesh colored banana beneath. a perfect combination of art, music and humor. get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox a daily briefing on what matters in the music industry send us a tip using our anonymous form. a daily briefing on what matters in the music industry send us a tip using our anonymous form. billboard is a part of penske media corporation. © 2025 billboard media, llc. all rights reserved.

something went wrong. wait a moment and try again.
jazz has been a catalyst for political and social change throughout it’s entire history. the music of john coltrane, miles davis, dizzy gillespie, max roach, sonny rollins, thelonious monk, louis armstrong, charles mingus, darius jones, tia fuller, jazzmeia horn, and fay victor among many others has been used as a vehicle to find express and maintain freedom as human beings. today the music of artists like robert glasper, wynton marsalis, gregory lewis, terence blanchard, christian scott, antonio sanchez, and ben williams continue that expression of freedom as a wider forum for the depth and richness that persons of color have contributed to this culture. musicians like the late saxophonist fred ho, and dave brubeck used jazz as a social consciousness medium throughout their careers. ho’s work, particularly as an improviser and play wright was a harrowing look into what asian americans have endured in this country, and his aligning with far left leaning philosophies only served to amplify his goals. in the 2009 documentary jazz in the present tense, a sort of answer to and follow up on the limited scope of ken burns jazz from 2000, one of the experts interviewed in the film ruminated the music of davis, gillespie and others was relatable to average people because it expressed their struggles in being human beings in a way that certain artists today did not. in 1939, billie holiday’s rendering of the graphic, emotionally wrenching “strange fruit” described the horror of observing blacks being lynched during the height of the jim crow era south. the lyrics are a chilling account of the treatment of black americans, and a prescient reminder today that this is still going on. it does not matter that civil rights laws have been in place since 1965, black americans, men especially, have been at the end of some heinous crimes. on march 19, 2015 otis byrd, aged 54 was found hanging in a tree; a disturbing throwback described in “strange fruit”. 17 year old lennon lacy was found hung in bladenboro, north carolina, another example of the present mirroring history. every performance holiday sang of her signature tune was rife with emotion, check out the famous 1957 performance taped for the cbs special: the sound of jazz. below are the evocative lyrics from the song. southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root, black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. pastoral scene of the gallant south, the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, then the sudden smell of burning flesh. here is fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop in 1956, the u.s. state department selected some of the greatest and most visible jazz musicians to be ambassadors to the soviet union in the wake of the cold war. dizzy gillespie, dave brubeck, duke ellington, and louis armstrong were all invited. the political and social circumstances are well detailed in the recent pbs documentary, the jazz ambassadors. sending such well known icons of the music to promote world peace, with music as the weapon instead of nuclear warfare was as smart of a move to promote u.s. image as much as political change. congressman adam clayton powell was a champion for jazz and advocated strongly for the inclusion of the musicians involved as a peace making gesture.