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This is a list of hard bop and hard boppish albums. Recently, i’ve been feeling for hard bop – especially albums i havent really listened to much. And, i’m hoping to learn something.

Many are prototypical hard bop. Some are marginally hard bop. And, some are more post-bop, whatever that means. Some are somewhat cool (as in cool jazz), others somewhat soul jazz. And, sometimes free jazz creeps in. In other words, they kinda make up the mainstream trends in jazz and are mostly hard boplike. But, you should always let the music speak for itself – this is just for fun. (Theres not really any fusion here.)

Many of the albums are classic. Most are major works of art and craft. I dont know if i dig all the albums, but most are pretty good. If you check out about a quarter of these albums, you’ll get a real good idea of what hardbop is if it’s anything at all.

This is a long list because jazz is big. There are top 10 or top 100 lists, but this is a mother. …

I thought that this was interesting.

Just some thoughts by Ed Rhodes a few years ago about how much John Gilmore, the great tenor who played with Sun Ra, influenced John Coltrane.
(In the big picture, it dont really matter cause it's just artists making art. But, maybe it’s fun for some people to think about these things.)

I cleaned up typos, abbreviations and added links.
And, I also note that people now know that Sun Ra recorded the Jazz In Silhouette (Images And Forecasts Of Tomorrow) and Sound Sun Pleasure!! albums later in 1959 (March 6).


‹ Some comments are in order, particularly since the anniversary of Gilmore’s death has just passed.

‹ First, John Gilmore and John Coltrane had a complex, reciprocal influence on each other in a musical relationship that evolved and changed over the ten plus years between the mid-50s and Coltrane’s death. Second, it was almost certainly not a simple binary relationship. Other figures from Sonny Rollins to Albert Ayler played key roles…

You know the drill from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s lists. I wasn't originally planning on doing a 60s list, hence why it's appearing out of order, but I enjoyed making the other ones so I decided to put one together. Several greats knocked off because they were featured on previous lists, including John Handy, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock, Gary Burton, Alice Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans, and Miles Davis. This means some obvious classics were lost (Maiden Voyage, Inner Urge, Nefertiti, Hub-Tones), but I kind of like that because it gives me a chance to promote other lesser known but great albums. Also cut were Sonny Rollins, Andrew Hill, Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Wes Montgomery, Oliver Nelson, Albert Ayler, Lee Morgan, and some wild free jazz blasts from the BYG label including albums by Dave Burrell and Alan Silva.

Autumn - Don Ellis And His Orchestra (1968 Columbia)
Back At The Chicken Shack - Jimmy Smith (1960 Blue Note)
…

Cross-posted to A Stable Reference

Same deal with my 70s and 80s list, not a definitive best of, just good stuff. Again, good stuff cut, so no albums by Myra Melford, Gerry Hemingway, Chris Cheek, Michael Brecker, Danilo Perez, Marty Ehrlich, Butch Morris, Don Byron, Jon Jang, David Binney, Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-Star Orchestra, or The Vandermark 5. Also cut was the posthumous Charles Mingus Epitaph album, an over two hour work utilizing a 30-piece orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis, John Abercrombie, George Adams, Randy Brecker, John Handy, and Bobby Watson, as well as Trey Anastasio's unusual one off side project Surrender to the Air, an avant-garde jazz group featuring Sun Ra alums marshall allen and Michael Ray, John Medeski from Medeski, Martin & Wood, and guitarist Marc Ribot, which is, obviously, much different from his better known jam-/folk-rock work with Phish and his solo albums.

Ask The Ages - Sonny Sharrock (1991 Axiom)
…

January
001. V/A - Soul Brothers (5CD)
002. Led Zeppelin - Coda (CD)
003. V/A - Kaikki paitsi Mårtenson on turhaa (CD)
004. Mike Oldfield - Music of the Spheres (CD)
005. YUP - Vapauden kaupungit (CD)
006. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head (CD)
007. Fleshpress / Bud Junkees - Split (CD)
008. Butthole Surfers - Independent Worm Saloon (CD)
009. Kivesveto Go-Go - Saatana kutsuu minua (7")
010. KTL - 3 (12")
011. Sunn O))) & Pan Sonic / Alan Vega / Stephen Burroughs - Che (10")
012. Sunn O))) - Black One (CD)
013. Sunn O))) - Oracle (2CD)
014. Ville Leinosen Unilehto - Ville Leinosen Unilehto (CD)
015. Revolution Renaissance - Age of Aquarius (CD)
016. Medeia - Cult (CD)

February
017. CMX - Kaikki hedelmät (2CD)
018. Indica - Pahinta tänään -kokoelma (CD)
019. Stam1na - Raja (CD)
020. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (CD)
021. Vaasankatu SS - Mä haluun kamaa (7")
022. Can - Soundtracks (CD)
023. Circle - Tulikoira (LP + 7")
024. Boris - Smile (CD)
…

http://musicupdate.radio6.nl/files/2009/12/kind_of_blue_1959.jpg
1 Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
(1959)
Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What". From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz -- tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. …

Andrew Morrison:
Andy's June show features the third and final part of Errors' live set from Southampton, as well as a studio session from SWATHES. There's new music including Autons, Ikonika, Crystal Castles, Flying Lotus and The Joy Formidable, along with five funky minutes from Scott, and Teresa's tasty tippage. Elsewhere in the show you'll hear tunes from three acts lined up as future session guests: Vacuum Spasm Babies, Spiral Into The Storm and Document 3.

Greg Healey:
This month's show is a 4 hour long celebration of Dandelion Radio's 4th birthday (do you what I did there). As part of the birthday celebrations I have three exclusive live sessions (and what I didn't do there), featuring Farmer Joe & The Ignorant Corpses, Wire Mother and Autorotation. Add to this a brief trip down memory lane with tracks from Kevin Ayers and Magazine, wonderfully sharpe and eccentric brass band music from the new album by the Molotow Brass Orkestra, and other exciting party favours…