A complete list of essential jazz recordings.
By Steve Williams
Salt Lake City, UT – This is a listing of artists and recordings I believe are essential to building a basic jazz library. Some are simply a 'Best Of' recording, meant to introduce a collector to a composite of the artist's work and not necessarily the most historic recording. Numbers don't determine importance of one recording over the other.
Miles Davis | Kind of Blue | Columbia |
Dave Brubeck | Time Out | Columbia |
Count Basie | April in Paris | Verve |
Bill Evans | Portrait of Jazz | Fantasy |
Stan Getz/Joao | Getz and Giberto | Verve |
Duke Ellington | Blues in Orbit | Columbia |
Oscar Peterson | The Lost Tapes | Verve |
Ella Fitzgerald | Sings the Blues | Pablo |
Sarah Vaughn | The Best of | Pablo |
Nat King Cole | After Midnight | Capitol |
Stan Kenton | Retrosepctive-4 | Capitol |
Erroll Garner | Magician & Gersh. | TelArcive |
Hi-Lo's | Columbia Years | Koch |
Mose Allison | Allison Wonder | Atlantic |
Louis Armstrong | Decca Highlight | Decca |
Ben Webster | Jaz Round Midnight | Verve |
John Coltrane | Gentle Side of... | Impulse |
Clifford Brown/Max | And Max Roach | EmArcy |
Billie Holiday | Billie Songbook | Verve |
Benny Goodman | Slipped Disc 1945 | Columbia |
George Shearing | Best of 1960-69 | CapitolCD |
Modern Jazz Quartet | Dedicated to Connie | Atlantic |
Gerry Mulligan | Concert Jazz Band | Verve |
Gill Evans/Miles Davis | Porgy & Bess | Columbia |
Lester Young | Blue Lester | Savoy |
Johnny Hartman | With Coltrane | MCA/Impulse |
Nancy Wilson | Swingin's Mutual | Capitol |
Herbie Mann | Evolution of Mann | Atlantic |
Woody Herman | Thundering Herds | Columbia |
Shirley Horn | Here's to Life | Verve |
Lionel Hampton | Reunion Newport | RCA/BlueBird |
Art Blkey | Best of Messengers | BlueNote |
Art Tatum | Best of Tatum | Pablo |
Coleman Hawkins | In a Mello Tone | Prestige |
Ella & Duke Ellington | Ella & Duke | Verve |
Maynard Ferguson | Chris Connor 2s | Capitol |
Keith Jarrett Trio | Standards Live | ECM |
Red Garland Trio | Groovy | Prestige |
Art Pepper | No Limit | Contemporary |
Milt Jackson | Reverence & Compass | Qwest |
Charlie Parker | Bird-Origin Recs | Verve |
Chet Baker | Chet | Riverside |
Dizzy & Bird | Jazz at Massey Hall | Fantasy |
Thelonious Monk | Best of | BlueNote |
Bud Powell | Best of | BlueNote |
Horace Silver | Song for Father | BlueNote |
Wes Montgomery | Plays the Blues | Verve |
Joe Pass | Appassionato | Pablo |
Basie & Williams | Swings/Sings | Verve |
Sonny Rollins | Best of BlueNote | Capitol |
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong | Verve |
This list could easily have contained hundreds of recordings, but I've narrowed my favorites down to this group . . . recordings that give an enthusiast a basic introduction to the important movers and shakers of the jazz scene.
Steve Williams is KUER's Jazz Director and weeknight jazz host from 8pm to midnight.