10. Tenor Madness
Artist: Sonny Rollins
Genre: Hard Bop
The production on Sonny Rollins’ breakthrough LP is rich and vibrant. The sound of his tenor saxophone is full of warmth and full-bodied color, as if the instrument is gently whispering in your ear. Tenor Madness is crazy in all the right ways. Continue reading…
9. Ellington at Newport
Artist: Duke Ellington
Genre: Big Band
Ellington at Newport, a comeback album of sorts, is one of the most famous of all jazz LPs. Recorded on July 7, 1956, it captures one of the most legendary performances in the genre’s history. The pièce-de-resistance is Paul Gonsalves’ epic tenor sax solo in the show-stopping “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.” For seven-minutes, Gonsalves ascends to a higher plane of existence. Continue reading…
8. Elvis
Artist: Elvis Presley
Genre: Rock and Roll
With word to Chuck D, who famously penned “Elvis was a hero to most/But he never meant s**t to me” — music as we know it would not exist without Mr. Presley. His second self-titled LP of 1956 is one of his defining statements. Continue reading…
7. Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street
Artist: Clifford Brown & Max Roach
Genre: Hard Bop
Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street is the sound of things ending too soon. It sounds like the musicians themselves can somehow realize it too. As a result, this electrifying LP is a fitting end to the greatest partnership in hard-bop history. Continue reading…
6. Johnny Burnette and the Rock ‘n Roll Trio
Artist: Johnny Burnette
Genre: Rockabilly
Johnny Burnette was a gritty sumb***h, and his Rock n’ Roll Trio matched his cockeyed intensity. Full of fuzz guitars and yelps and screams — this is rockabilly at its rawest. Continue reading…
5. The Wildest!
Artist: Louis Prima
Genre: Swing
For Louis Prima and his excitable cohorts, the party never stops. If you don’t believe that 1950s humor still holds up today, I highly suggest you listen to this exuberant blend of big-band jazz and lowbrow comedy. The Wildest! is one of the most flat-out fun albums of all time. Continue reading…
4. Songs for Swingin’ Lovers
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Genre: Swing
In contrast to the solitary torch songs of In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers is bright and sunny. Instead of the sad, lonely and drunk Sinatra, this is happy, horny and buzzed Sinatra. Frank’s voice never resounded with more confidence, and it’s his immense swagger that really makes this album swing. Continue reading…
3. Jazz Advance
Artist: Cecil Taylor
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz
Cecil Taylor’s piano runs are a thing of wonder, astonishing in how he conjures up a world of sound — so much sound — in such a short space. One moment he’s playing bebop, the next it’s pure atonal expressionism. Taylor’s music contains more surprises in one measure than most jazz musicians can muster in an entire career. Continue reading…
2. Elvis Presley
Artist: Elvis Presley
Genre: Rock and Roll
On the heels of this landmark LP, Elvis Presley shot to international superstardom the likes of which have never been seen, before or since. And while some may dispute Presley’s innovation and originality, one only need listen to this 1956 debut to alleviate all doubt. Continue reading…
1. Pithecanthropus Erectus
Artist: Charles Mingus
Genre: Post-Bop
Emerging out of jazz’s primordial ooze like the Earth’s first bipedal amphibious fish-monkey, Charles Mingus’ Pithecanthropus Erectus represented a drastic shift in the way we listen to music. Never before had improvisation been so tightly arranged, and never before had tight arrangements felt so improvised. Featuring a 10-minute tone poem depicting the the early evolution of man, a noisy George Gershwin cover, a soft-spoken lo-fi ballad and a grand finale that joins the pantheon of great jazz epics, Pithecanthropus Erectus is one of the most important LPs in modern musical history. Without it, we wouldn’t be what we are today. Continue reading…