Jazz music encompasses a wide range of styles, genres and periods, so it can be difficult and confusing for the non-jazz listener to find a satisfying entry point. There have been many “greatest of all time” jazz album lists developed by jazz publications and critics over the years. The following is a brief sampling of some of the top-rated albums from some of these lists.
- Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (1959) Miles Davis’ masterpiece. One of the most influential albums of all time, because of its widespread influence on jazz, rock and classical genres. It is the greatest selling jazz album of all time, and usually the number one pick on critics’ albums rankings. It features a cool, atmospheric modal approach that is immediately recognizable, tuneful and approachable for just about any listener.
- John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (1964). Widely regarded as John Coltrane’s masterpiece, it is an intense modal jazz through-composed spiritual meditation in four parts. Every critic interprets John Coltrane’s intent and meaning of A Love Supreme differently. Whether you think he’s searching for some form of soulful purity, or cutting out the middle man to speak directly to God, your jazz-listening life won’t be the same after hearing this searing testament.
- Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Collosus (1957). Sonny Rollins’ breakthrough and best-known album. Rollins emerges here as a true jazz giant belonging in the same pantheon as Coltrane, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. His strong and highly rhythmic thematic improvisational voice is on brilliant display in ‘St. Thomas’ and ‘Blue 7’. Not to be missed is his powerful rendition of the jazz standard ‘You Don’t Know Love’ and his lovely solo during Kurt Weil’s ‘Moritat’ (also known as ‘Mack the Knife’).
- Dave Brubeck: Time Out (1959) Featuring uncommon time signatures and mix of Cool and West Coast jazz, Time Out was the first jazz album to sell over a million copies and produced a single, ‘Take Five’ that became the first jazz single to sell over a million copies. Brubeck described his saxophone player Paul Desmond’s sound as “like a dry martini”. You’ll want to ice up a glass and pour yourself another with each listen to this enduring jazz mainstay.
- John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963) is a reluctant jazz ballad summit of giants. Johnny Hartman initially resisted the idea of recording an album with John Coltrane, believing they wouldn’t complement one another musically. Following an after-hours session with Coltrane and pianist McCoy Tyner, they agreed to work together and went in to the studio to record their self-title album that contained the definitive versions of ‘Lush Life’, ‘They Say It’s Wonderful’, and ‘My One and Only Love.’ This is an absolute essential album.
- Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin (1958) Holiday’s album of Great American Songbook standards - lushly arranged around her abused, fragile, but powerfully rhythmic voice - is a testament to her professional powers of persuasion and artistic willpower in what turned out to be the last year of a 44-yr life. She told her producers she wanted “a pretty album, something delicate.” They paid her $150 a side, in advance. Well, she gave them their money’s worth…and then some. Essential.