Rock music is less important for me now than before. I still get off to "Frankenstein" or "Blues From A Gun", though. And I carry "Dead Souls" and "Caribou" with me wherever I go.

BUT, new hunting ground is found within the jazz music territory. Sometimes bordering to rock or being "straight" jazz the songs listed below is music I've found interresting or good so far.

One starting point for me have been this top 100 list:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-100-jazz-songs--The-100-great-jazz-songs-of-all-time


From there I added my own favourites and removed a bunch of tracks that I see as merely "representatives" for different genres and eras within jazz.

In this thread add "songs" that YOU think is great, add links to jazz lists that you find useful or compile a list of your own or a RYM top list etc.

I hope you might get something out of this!


1. Herbie Hancock – Speak Like A Child
2. Pharaoh Sanders - The Creator has a Master Plan
3. Miles Davis - Shhh / Peaceful
4. Charles Mingus – Trio & Group Dancers-Single Solos & Group Dance-Group & Solo Dance
5. Pharoah Sanders – You’ve Got To Have Freedom
6. Stan Tracey Quartet – Starless And Bible Black
7. John Coltrane – Blue Train
8. Miles Davis - So What
9. John Coltrane - Acknowledgement
10. John Coltrane - Psalm
11. John Coltrane - My Favourite Things
12. Dave Holland – Monterey Suite I – Bring it On
13. Jimmy Smith – Walk On The Wild Side
14. Freddie Hubbard – Little Sunflower
15. Miles Davis – Gingerbread Boy
16. Erroll Garner – Autumn Leaves
17. Anthony Braxton – To Composer John Cage
18. Albert Ayler – Truth Is Marching In
19. Chick Corea’s Elektric Band – Eternal Child
20. Keith Jarrett - Expectations
21. Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
22. Miles Davis - Blue in Green
23. Pharoah Sanders – Black Unity
24. Wes Montgomery - Bumpin’ on Sunset
25. Anthony Braxton – JMK-80 CFN-7
26. Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack
27. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way / It's About That Time
28. Gary Burton – Vox Humana
29. Herbie Hancock - Dolphin Dance
30. Grant Green - Alone Together
31. Freddie Hubbard – First Light
32. Jaco Pastorious - Portrait of Tracy
33. Duke Ellington - Mood Indigo
34. Coleman Hawkins - Body & Soul
35. Art Blakey - Moanin’
36. Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser
37. Charles Mingus – Boogie Stop Shuffle
38. Charles Mingus – II B.S.
39. Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
40. Charles Mingus – Moanin’
41. Ornette Coleman – Skies Of America
42. Charlie Parker - Koko
43. Jeff Beck - Scatterbrain
44. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery
45. Miles Davis - Pharoah’s Dance
46. Sonny Rollins - A Night in Tunisia
47. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
48. John Coltrane - Giant Steps
49. John McLaughlin - Tones for Elvin Jones
50. Charles Mingus – The Shoes Of The Fisherman’s Wife Are Som Jive Ass Slippers
51. Dave Brubeck - Take Five
52. Frank Zappa - Son of Mr. Green Genes
53. Frank Zappa – Waka-Jawaka
54. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Orbits
55. Carla Bley & Luke Haines – Hotel Overture
56. Charles Mingus – Original Faubus Fables
57. Dave Holland – See Saw
58. David Murray – The Desegregation Of Our Children
59. David S. Ware – Godspelized
60. Peter Brötzmann Octet – Machine Gun
61. Dave Holland – Prime Directive
62. David S. Ware – The Way We Were
63. Donald Byrd – Free Form
64. Clifford Brown & Max Roach – Cherokee
65. Charles Mingus – Hobo Ho
66. Brecker Brothers – Straphangin’
67. Charlie Haden – Silence
68. Ahmad Jamal – Stolen Moments
69. Bill Evans – Solar
70. Chet Baker – My Funny Valentine
71. Gerry Mulligan – Prelude In E minor
72. Grant Green – Idle Moments
73. Herbie Hancock – Tell Me A Bedtime Story
74. Jan Garbarek – Where The Rivers Meet
75. Keith Jarrett – Endless
76. Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin – Thousand Island Park
77. Milt Jackson & Oscar Peterson – On Green Dolphin Street
78. Oliver Nelson – Stolen Moments
79. Oliver Nelson & Lonnie Liston Smith – In A Japanese Garden
80. Pat Metheny – The Truth Will Always Be
81. Cinematic Orchestra – Man With The Movie Camera
82. Michael Brecker – Choices
83. Miles Davis – Right Off
84. Art Blakey – A Night In Tunisia
85. Cannonball Adderley – Sticks
86. Charles Mingus – E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too
87. Dizzy Gillespie/Stan Getz – Bebop
88. Gary Burton – Chick Corea – Pat Metheny – Roy Haynes – Dave Holland – Question And Answers
89. Jack DeJohnette – Third World Anthem
90. Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder
91. McCoy Tyner – Passion Dance
92. Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie – Caravan
93. Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Bright Moments Song
94. Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas
95. Thelonious Monk – Well, You Needn’t
96. Donald Byrd – Design A Nation
97. Mahavishnu Orchestra – You Know, You Know
98. Return To Forever – Song to The Pharoah Kings
99. Mahavishnu Orchestra – Vital Transformation
100. Pat Metheny – Phase Dance

Thanks a lot for posting this. I've really been trying to listen to more jazz and incorporate jazz songs into my lists lately, but it's such an intimidating genre to approach. I can't wait to check out a lot of these songs. Of the songs I already know, it's nice to see the gigantic Mingus and Coltrane tracks in the top ten like they should be.

Yes, some kind of overview is helpfull when you approach jazz. This is how I see jazz right now:

First there were "old jazz" which seemed more "pop-oriented"

in the 40's - 50's came "bop" which is "swinging" or "fast" or "rhythmic" music with stretched individual solos with a more emotional content etc.

Bop-link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop

Then came "free jazz" without any rules how to play.
Some avantgarde music might appeal to jazz listeners.

Late 60's jazz approached rock and purists went mad.

The thing with "Kind Of Blue" might have been it was very "timeless" and could be listened to effortlessly. It also has small "hooks" that never tire you out.

Coltrane is incredible in how he could stretch a theme and cause variation.

A few NAMES: (with emphasis on post-1945)

Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Charles Mingus
Cannonball Adderley
Herbie Hancock
Pat Metheny
Pharoah Sanders
Thelonious Monk
Sonny Rollins
Ornette Coleman
Keith Jarrett
Mahavishnu Orchestra/John McLaughlin
Art Blakey
Chick Corea
Anthony Braxton!

A bit "older":

Duke Ellington
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie
Louis Armstrong

This is a GREAT list. (Fred, is that you?)

I of course will have to come up with my own list now, but probably not until I check out some of those that I don't know.

It's me! :) I Don't know where I will end up, life is funny that way. But if you approach jazz from a rock perspective different listeners might have the same fav artists initially, say Mingus and Pharoah Sanders.

You might like Anthony Braxton, David S. Ware and Dave Holland. Maybe even David Murray. Enjoy!

I like Braxton pretty well, especially Creative Orchestra Music, which is a little more concise and crazily mixes his avant-garde penchant with traditional marching band music. Works better than it sounds.

As far as Holland, I enjoy Conference of the Birds but that's all I've heard. Looks like more to seek out.

Davids Ware and Murray are now on the list.

Added since yesterday:

Bill Evans – Peace Piece (damn good, i'm weak for beautiful piano music)

Erroll Garner – I’ll Remember April
Cannonball Adderley & Miles Davis – Autumn Leaves
Louis Armstrong – West End Blues

Alfabetic and adjusted plus the usual polarization in fast and beatyful:

Ahmad Jamal – Stolen Moments
Albert Ayler – For John Coltrane
Albert Ayler – Truth Is Marching In
Anthony Braxton – JMK-80 CFN-7
Anthony Braxton – To Composer John Cage
Art Blakey - Moanin’
Bill Evans – Peace Piece
Bobbi Humphrey – New York Times
Brecker Brothers – Straphangin’
Cannonball Adderley – Sticks
Cannonball Adderley & Miles Davis – Autumn Leaves
Carla Bley & Luke Haines – Hotel Overture
Charles Mingus – Boogie Stop Shuffle
Charles Mingus – E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too
Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Charles Mingus – Original Faubus Fables
Charles Mingus – The Shoes Of The Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers
Charles Mingus – Trio & Group Dancers-Single Solos & Group Dance-Group & Solo Dance
Charlie Haden – Silence
Charlie Parker – Koko
Chet Baker – My Funny Valentine
Chick Corea’s Elektric Band – Eternal Child
Clifford Brown & Max Roach – Cherokee
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Dave Holland – Monterey Suite I – Bring It On
Dave Holland – See Saw
David Murray – The Desegregation Of Our Children
David S. Ware – Godspelized
Detroit Experiment – Space Odyssey
Dizzy Gillespie/Stan Getz – Bebop
Django Reinhardt – Limehouse Blues
Donald Byrd – Design A Nation
Erroll Garner – Autumn Leaves
Erroll Garner – I’ll Remember April
Frank Zappa - Son Of Mr. Green Genes
Frank Zappa – Waka-Jawaka
Freddie Hubbard – First Light
Freddie Hubbard – Little Sunflower
Gary Burton – Las Vegas Tango
Gary Burton – Vox Humana
Gary Burton–Chick Corea–Pat Metheny–Roy Haynes–Dave Holland – Question And Answers
Gerry Mulligan – Prelude In E minor
Grant Green – Idle Moments
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
Herbie Hancock – Speak Like A Child
Herbie Hancock – Tell Me A Bedtime Story
Herbie Hancock – You Will Know When You Get There
Jack DeJohnette – Third World Anthem
Jaco Pastorious - Portrait of Tracy
James Mason – Rhythm Of Life
Jan Garbarek – Where The Rivers Meet
Jeff Beck - Scatterbrain
Jimmy Smith – Walk On The Wild Side
John Coltrane - Acknowledgement
John Coltrane – Blue Train
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
John Coltrane - My Favourite Things
John Coltrane - Psalm
John McLaughlin - Tones for Elvin Jones
Keith Jarrett – Endless
Keith Jarrett – Expectations
Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder
Louis Armstrong – St. James Infirmary
Louis Armstrong – West End Blues
Mahavishnu Orchestra – You Know, You Know
Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin – Thousand Island Park
Manhattan Transfer – Why Not! (Manhattan Carnival)
McCoy Tyner – Passion Dance
Michael Brecker – Choices
Miles Davis - Blue In Green
Miles Davis – Gingerbread Boy
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way / It's About That Time
Miles Davis – Miles
Miles Davis – Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
Miles Davis - Shhh / Peaceful
Miles Davis - So What
Milt Jackson & Oscar Peterson – On Green Dolphin Street
Oliver Nelson – Stolen Moments
Oliver Nelson & Lonnie Liston Smith – In A Japanese Garden
Ornette Coleman – Eventually
Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie – Caravan
Pat Metheny – Phase Dance
Pat Metheny – The Truth Will Always Be
Peter Brötzmann Octet – Machine Gun
Pharaoh Sanders - The Creator has a Master Plan
Pharoah Sanders – You’ve Got To Have Freedom
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery
Return To Forever – Song to The Pharoah Kings
Sonny Rollins - A Night in Tunisia
Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas
Stan Tracey Quartet – Starless And Bible Black
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Riviera Paradise
Thelonious Monk – Well, You Needn’t
Vince Guaraldi – Linus And Lucy With The Band
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
Wes Montgomery - Bumpin’ On Sunset