#The sound the 1975 album cover series#

He was, though, one of the most influential early musicians on his instrument and deserves a place in every jazz fan’s collection. Unlike almost every other musician on this list, jazz guitarist Christian barely recorded as a bandleader. Charlie Christian: Solo Flight, The Genius of Charlie Christian The whole dazzling package launched his name as a force to be reckoned with in the music world. More importantly, the album made clear that Pastorius had a musical mind as brilliant as his playing ability. Pastorius starts off with a jaw-dropping version of Miles Davis’s “Donna Lee” (all via a single bass part accompanied by congas!) and goes on to showcase a collection of jazz fusion royalty, from Lenny White and Herbie Hancock to the Brecker brothers and Wayne Shorter.Ĭlassy strings and Latin rhythms share space with catchy funk and bouncy bebop. Jaco Pastorius : Jaco PastoriusĮvery facet of electric bass player Jaco Pastorius’s ability is on kaleidoscopic display in this wildly ambitious debut album.

#The sound the 1975 album cover series#

‘The First Lady of Jazz’ (as she was known), works through standards including Take The ‘A’ Train, Perdido & Satin Doll, with the album also being notable as the only one in the Song Book series where the composer is also featured as a performer. Whilst each of these (plus a bonus 9th, released in 1981) deserves careful listening, her collaboration with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra is perhaps the highlight. Many of these came from her ‘Songbook’ series, a collection of 8 albums released between 1956 & 1964 which saw her team up with songwriting greats of the day. Legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, providing many of the definitive versions of classic jazz songs.

Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook Look out for links to more in-depth reviews of some of these albums which we commissioned international jazz journalists to write.

So, as a result, here’s our updated selection of 50 essential – or dare we say it – best jazz albums ever, from some of the greatest musicians of all time. We started out with the goal of highlighting the 10 best albums of all time, but there were just too many amazing records missing. Music that has stood the test of time, influencing other musicians and receiving critical acclaim over the years. There are, though, a core collection of releases that have come to be seen as essential jazz records: ones that every jazz fan knows – or should know. With so many thousands of amazing records in the history of jazz, maybe a definitive list of ‘best albums’ is not feasible. If you ask any serious jazz fan or musician to tell you what the best jazz albums of all time are, you’ll probably receive either a very short answer (“impossible!”) or a long one, which is subject to change depending on the day of the week