Hello all.

One of my friends asked me to make her a CD of different types of jazz music .
She wants the most famous and well known jazz tracks on this CD.

I'm no jazz expert , so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
Dina

Just one CD?

It would be easier to put together a list of say 10 or so must have CDs, but I've jsut been through my iTunes library and have pulled off the following selection which would more than fill a CD and is all classic post-50s American jazz.

Miles Davis - Summertime from Porgy and Bess
Miles Davis - So What from Kind of Blue
Miles Davis - Concerto de Aranjuez (Adagio) from Sketches of Spain
Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser from Straight, No Chaser
John Coltrane - Giant Steps from Giant Steps
Charles Mingus - Fables of Faubus from Ah Um
Joe Henderson - Blue Bossa from Page One
Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man from Takin' Off
Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments from The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Freddie Hubbard - Little Sunflower from Backlash

Tomorrow I could quiet easily put a completely different list together - it would still feature Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus though.

Wow!
Thanks a lot!

I should tell you that list misses off a lot of stuff that most jazz fans would consider classic jazz - there's no Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker.....and no vocalists

Yes, I would probably include some Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong on a CD plus the likes of Ella Fitzgerald - what about her and Louis' version of 'Summertime'? I also think Dave Brubeck is pretty important, especially with his use of 5/4 in Take Five and his merging of classical and jazz genres.

I love John Coltrane's 'Favourite Things' and Cantoloupe Island- another popular Hancock classic.

But yes, it would be hard to cram it all into one CD!

Not that long ago in what was Tower Records, I came across this list of "100 Jazz Albums that shook the World". It was compiled by Keith Shadwick, Stuart Nicholson , Kerstan Mackness & Giles Quinnell. I shall give you the first 20, it may help

1. Miles Davis Kind of Blue Columbia
2. John Coltrane A Love Supreme Impulse
3. Duke Ellington The Blanton-Webster Band RCA Bluebird
4. Theolonius Monk The complete Blue Note Recordings Blue Note
5. Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um Columbia
6. Louis Armstrong Hot Fives & Sevens Columbia
7. Charlie Parker Complete Savoy Master Takes Savoy
8. Sonny Rollins Saxophone colossus Prestige/OJC
9. Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch Blue Note
10. Miles Davis B itches Brew Columbia
11 Billie Holiday The Legacy 1933-1958 Columbia
12 Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come Atlantic
13 Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage blue Note
14 Bud Powell The Genius of Bud Powell - Verve
15 Bill Evans The village Vanguard Sessions Riverside/OJC
16 John Coltrane Giant Steps Atlantic
17 Art Blakey Art Blakey's Jazz messengers with Theolonius Monk Atlantic
18 Albert Ayler Spiritual Unity ESP
19 Count Basie Original Decca Recordings GRP/Decca
20 Herbie Hancock Headhunters columbia
And cant resist adding these two!
21 Charles Mingus Black Saint & The Sinner Lady Impulse!
22 Miles Davis Sketches of Spain Columbia

The other 78 include most of those mentioned by others including Roland Kirk, Larry Young, Lee Morgan Ella Fitzgerald,Pharoah Sanders, Steve coleman, Art Tatum, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Yuri Honing Trio etc. As TSax has said only one CD! Good Luck

The question was about different types of Jazz music, not someones favourite style.
Though audio recording was in its infancy at the birth of Jazz, we have the famous recording of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band followed by the New Orleans greats in the 20's like Johnny Dodds classic recordings 1923/29.
Chicago style of the 30's with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five recordings.
The Swing era of big bands, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman leading to the revivalist period of the older styles in the 40's E.G. Bechet-Spanier Big Four recordings. Humphery Lyttelton,Ken Colyer,George Lewis.
Then the revolution:- Lester Young, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker leading the way. Night in Tunisia & Lover Man are surely classics.
Duke Ellington must have a place during this period with his big band.
We all have our favourite players and recordings but I think they are only examples of the greatest musical development of the 20th century. You just can't get enough examples on a CD !