Help! Im a jazz novice.

Rubberbandits

I am a huge blues fan (son house, Robert Johnson, Muddy waters, Blind Willie Mctell etc) and a fan of all types of music for that matter. I would really like to get into jazz but I do not know where to start. I have Cds by Django Reinhardt, Lonnie Johnson and Tom Waits but other than that I havent a clue about jazz. Where should a begginner start? And should I be listening to jazz in a different way to other types of music? Is Jazz purely about aesthetic beauty or is there more?

JacoStanley

I'd recommend finding someone you know from blues and see if ya can find them sitting in with some jazz heads. Find out who the other musicians are and then if ya like it, go get it.

Doctor J

Maybe start off with some Jazz guitar, it'd be something you can relate to from blues guitar. The likes of Wes Montgomery or Charlie Christian perhaps.

Rubberbandits

Thanks, I will look into those chaps. Can anyone recommend a jazz guitar album that is just guitar? (as in unacompanied by any other instruments)

jwb1

Well...you could get a Cd by Louis Stewart or Mike Nielsen...two Irish jazz guitar greats. If you're in Dublin, Paul Ryan Music in Temple Bar is a good source for these. Online, check out www.imc.ie - interesting selection of Irish jazz there. In terms of classic jazz guitar stuff, the ultimate is Wes Montgomery's "The Incredible Guitar of Wes Montgomery"....widely available and usually cheap.

But....if you want to get into other forms of jazz, then start with the usual suspects....Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" and John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"....and for something more up-to-date and European, try EST's "Strange Place for Snow".

Happy listening....JB

Setun

^^ sound advice up there.

Kenny Burrel's Midnight Blue has a solo guitar track on it, and the rest is quite bluesy also. Stanley Turrentine plays some real nice tenor sax on it too. It's a great album.

Desmo

jwb1 wrote:

Well...you could get a Cd by Louis Stewart or Mike Nielsen...two Irish jazz guitar greats. If you're in Dublin, Paul Ryan Music in Temple Bar is a good source for these. Online, check out www.imc.ie - interesting selection of Irish jazz there. In terms of classic jazz guitar stuff, the ultimate is Wes Montgomery's "The Incredible Guitar of Wes Montgomery"....widely available and usually cheap.

But....if you want to get into other forms of jazz, then start with the usual suspects....Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" and John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"....and for something more up-to-date and European, try EST's "Strange Place for Snow".

Happy listening....JB

The url is

www.cmc.ie

you had me baffled there for a bit; I thought Peter Barry was paying you for web hits or something :-).


Louis Stewart and Mike Nielsen CDs? I second that; tnese guys are class but they are hard to buy in real (analogue) shops rather than on-line. Thanks for the tip on the shop in Temple Bar.

Uncle Desmondo

stevejazzx

birelli langrene and sylvan luc have a duo acoustic guitar which is one of most accessible jazz recordings for a non jazzer

the mike of nielsen might be a bit too rich for a first timer

check out anything by wes montgomery, pat metheny.

and you were asking which way you listen to jazz?
A great question!

I think of Jazz as having more detail so it requires greater inspection and concentration. In time your ear will bend to the different voicings.
A love of jazz can be instrinsic or acquired but most people need to work at it, although some say whats the fun of only being able to enjoy a piece of music if I work at it, I answer that like any art form its creators have embedded it with all their love and knowledge so to extract this we too must work. Ultimately listening becomes effortless and thouroughly rewarding.

jwb1

Actually, I had never come across the CMC site - eclectic selection! When I referenced IMC as a source for jazz, I meant http://www.improvisedmusic.ie

Must check out the langrene and luc disc....I'm intrigued...

And...as regards how rewarding jazz can be if you're willing to put the effort in (a la stevejazzx)...I second that! Hey, my journey (over about 25 years) took me from Led Zep, to Jackson Browne, to Van Morrison and, for about 2+ years, I've really got into jazz in all its forms...and...of all the stuff I've dug, it is the most absorbing music I've ever come across...too bad it has a small audience.