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In reply to the discussion: What are your favorite record albums? [View all]klook
(12,151 posts)... and a DU heart for you as a thank-you!!
I didn't chime in on this thread because I have too many favorites to even begin to narrow it down to five, but your selection includes some strong contenders for me. Miles Smiles and Miles in the Sky were the two records that got me truly hooked on jazz.
Conversations with Myself is wonderful both as a document of Bill Evans's genius, but also as a fascinating experiment in music, psychology, and the art of recording.
Blues and the Abstract Truth belongs, for "Stolen Moments" alone. Such beauty in sonic form! Amazing.
The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis album you cite and Dizzy's Something Old, Something New are not familiar to me, although I love a number of other recordings by each!
Two other big band records I love are Tales of a Courtesan by the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band -- featuring the incredible Basie-esque workout, "Road Time Shuffle" -- and Africa/Brass by John Coltrane (with Eric Dolphy's brilliant arrangements). Well, and then there's Crystals by Sam Rivers, Living Time by George Russell (with another somewhat experimental outing by Bill Evans), The Spirits Of Our Ancestors by Randy Weston, I Hate To Sing and Big Band Theory by Carla Bley, Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus, Sing Along with Basie by the Count Basie Orchestra with Lambert Hendricks & Ross, The Individualism of Gil Evans, The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (with Hall Overton's swinging arrangements), Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath: Live at Willisau, Atlantis by Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra, Jazz Underground: Live at Smalls (featuring the fantastic "Hexophony" by the Jason Lindner Big Band), and....
Oh wow, and these are just some of my favorite big band recordings! And just in the jazz realm!! I honestly think I would have trouble limiting my favorites to just 50, let alone five. But thank you for taking up the challenge and listing your choices -- and for prodding me to remember some of mine!