1000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die

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OK, so who is crazy enough to put together THAT sort of list? Apparently the folks at Groove Notes!

The image I highlighted was of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 recording The Inflated Tear. This is my favorite recording of his, mixing free jazz elements, traditional hard-bop, and soul-flavored pop elements he’d later explore on Blacknuss and Volunteer Slavery. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad, because while it was a big hit for a non-mainstream jazz recording it wasn’t exactly setting the charts on fire – as stated in AllAboutJazz, “Roland Kirk won over the masses with this one too, selling over 10,000 copies in the first year.”

One artist I found missing from the first 500 was Emily Remler. She was an extremely talented guitarist and composer whose life was cut short by the all too common personal tragedies mixed with drugs that led to a weakened state that resulted in her dying of a heart attack at 32.

She has a solid catalog of original and cover music, including Catwalk, Transitions, and my personal favorite This is Me, which was her final recording. All are difficult to find, drifting in and out of publication – but definitely worth searching out. iTunes has her second-to-last release East to Wes, which is also excellent.

Here is a video of her performing her composition ‘Blues for Herb’ (from East to Wes) for a weekly show:

The list contains just loads of truly great music that spans a fairly broad interpretation of the ;what is jazz’ spectrum. I estimate I own more than half of the things on the list, and made some notes on some others that look cool. The authors continue to add 20 albums per week and have just reached 600! Still no Emily Remler, but each week adds loads more great music – if you have any interest, definitely check this list out!

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

11 Comments on "1000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die"

  1. No Rickie Lee Jones, either.

    • I guess I’ve always dismissed her as a Joni Mitchell wannabe … and since Joni is covered, adding Rickie Lee seems superfluous. Particularly on a Jazz list – I just don’t see anything Rickie Lee has done standing up with Joni’s Mingus or Shadows & Light.

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  3. Hear hear! http://bit.ly/cgHcTj RT @TferThomas: 1000 #Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die http://viigo.im/3pcz

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