The Guardian Music Blog has a series called
50 Greatest Moments in Jazz. I've linked to them below and also put links for the music that the author thought typified the moment in the links below.
No 1: Why Livery Stable Blues was the fanfare for a revolution
Livery Stable Blues
2. Louis Armstrong
No 2: Armstrong's voice propelled him into the limelight, but it was as a trumpeter that he emerged as a great virtuoso soloist
Louis Armstrong - Riverside Blues
3. The invention of swing
No 3: Last week's great moment showed Louis Armstrong going from singer to trumpeting genius. This week: Satchmo's role in the invention of swing
Sugar Foot Stomp
No 4: Louis Armstrong's two sensational recording bands of the late 1920s saw the young musician laying the foundations of jazz improvisation
Potato Head Blues
No 5: Though he might not have invented the form (as he sometimes claimed) Jelly Roll Morton was the first jazz composer of importance, investing his music with spontaneity and diversity
Black Bottom Stomp
20 Mar 2009:
No 6: He was probably the first great jazz soloist who brought vibrant colours to the palette by introducing the soprano sax
Summertime
No 7: Of the jazz-influenced ensembles of the late 1920s, none showed greater vision than Duke Ellington's. In his hands, jazz kept its spontaneity, improvisational edge and dancefloor drive
East St. Louis Toodle-oo
No 8: Ragtime, boogie-woogie, New Orleans blues and the Harlem renaissance … it all went into the rich mix that made up Duke Ellington's groundbreaking 'jungle sound'
Duke Ellington - Creole Rhapsody Part 1
No 9: As big in his day as rock'n'roll would be two decades later, Goodman was hailed the 'King of Swing' for bringing jazz's good-time feel to a wider audience during the Great Depression
No 10: One of the most important jazz bandleaders of his day, Basie pioneered an infectious take on swing that stunned audiences
Oh Lady Be Good
No 11: Regarded by many as the greatest jazz singer of them all, Holiday's eloquent ability to sound both world-weary and innocent captivated audiences worldwide
The Man I Love
No 12: The song made Billie Holiday a star, but did so much more – telling of the horrors of lynchings in the deep south
Strange Fruit
No 13: Benny Goodman's racially integrated showcase unleashed jazz's great black innovators on a dazzled American public
Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938
No 14: The pioneering guitarist dazzled contemporaries and put the sound of the electric guitar on the map
No 15: Dismissed at the time as unlistenable and undanceable, bebop represented an outlet for imaginative, open-minded jazz musicians hoping to usher in a new age
Charlie Parker: Honeysuckle Rose
No 16: One of the most influential improvisational soloists in jazz, and a pioneer of bebop, Parker was able to move away from a tune's 'home' key and back without losing the thread.
6 of the Best
Cherokee
13 Aug 2009:
No 17: Writtten hastily during rehearsals, these songs contain some of the most memorable melodies in 20th-century music
Charlie Parker - Red Cross
Charlie Parker - Ko Ko
24 Sep 2009:
No 18: Parker's deal with the record
shop-owner was a defining moment for the saxophonist, as it led him to
create some of the most memorable jazz improvisation of all time
Ornithology
Famous Alto Break
Loverman
14 Oct 2009:
No 19: In the eight years following his release from a mental hospital in 1947, Parker produced a great deal of astonishing jazz
Relaxin' at Camarillo
Just Friends
No 20: Charlie Parker's final collaboration, featuring bebop's biggest stars, is one of the greatest recorded live shows in jazz
Night in Tunisia
No 21: Emerging from the shadow of his
hero Charlie Parker, Miles Davis rejected the aggressive tempo of bebop
to pioneer a smoother style that became a landmark in jazz evolution
The Birth of the Cool
22. The little-known genius of Lennie Tristano
No 22: One of the great jazz educators and innovators, this unheralded pianist was an inspiration to generations of musicians
No 23: Brubeck's 1953 live album showed
that jazz didn't have to follow the bebop route, and that there was even
a chart audience out there for it
29 Jan 2010:
No 24: The charismatic prince of cool jazz developed an elegant and intertwining sound after being forced to perform without a piano
24 Mar 2010:
No 25: One of the rare bands to be loved
beyond the jazz cognoscenti, this chamber ensemble gave the genre a
respect previously afforded to classical musicians
Audio
(7min 25sec),
14 Apr 2010:
John Fordham: This 1956 interpretation of
Thelonious Monk's typically flinty Bemsha Swing might not sound like a
jazz revolution in motion at first. But listen closer...
14 Apr 2010:
No 27: This 1956 interpretation of
Thelonious Monk's typically flinty Bemsha Swing might not sound
revolutionary at first. But listen closer ...
29 Apr 2010:
No 28: The high priest of improv's 1956 album Brilliant Corners is a remarkable insight into his wayward musical mind
11 May 2010:
No 29: Though he had recorded with the
Modern Jazz Quartet, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, it was from early
1956 that Sonny Rollins really took off …
30. Jimmy Smith and the Hammond organ
2 Jun 2010:
No 30: The Hammond was designed as a low-budget organ for churches, but it was Smith who marked its place in jazz history
5 Jul 2010:
No 31: This groundbreaking 1959 album is as close to perfection as jazz gets without sacrificing its spontaneity
23 Jul 2010:
No 32: Initially regarded as a fraud or
fool, he influenced half a century of jazz – and this album defines his
greatness more than any other
9 Aug 2010:
No 33: Perhaps the most influential
saxophonist all of time, Coltrane produced an intensely soulful sound
that reached way beyond the jazz cognoscenti
17 Aug 2010:
No 34: Rock'n'roll effectively kept jazz out of the charts in the 60s, but the samba craze briefly rekindled hopes of a renaissance
6 Sep 2010:
No 35: It's almost impossible to choose just one great moment from the legacy of this pioneering bassist and compositional genius
Joy Beyond the Sorrow by Indelible Grace - Indelible Grace may well be the name most closely associated with today’s trend of setting old hymns to new music. I still remember listening to their music for the first time while driving my sister’s car around Atlanta—listening to it and loving it. Indelible Grace has just released their sixth studio album and I think it may be their best yet. Joy Beyond the Sorrow includes 14 traditional hymns set to new music. Many of the melodies are ideal for corporate worship, something that has always been a strength of their albums. Standout tracks include “From the Depths of Woe (Psalm 130),” “Did Christ Over Sinners Weep?,” and “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.” You can buy theCD at their website or listen to the complete album (and buy MP3s) at Bandcamp.
Together for the Gospel Live II by Sovereign Grace Music. In April of 2010 and 2012, thousands of people gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, to participate in the Together for the Gospel conferences. This album contains 16 of the songs they sang, led by Bob Kauflin on piano. The tracks include traditional hymns, contemporary hymns, and songs by Sovereign Grace. While all of these songs can be found on other recordings, the joy of this album is being able to sing along with thousands of voices (mostly male) raised in the praise to the Lord. It is available at Amazon for $8.99 as is the first volume, recorded at the 2008 conference.
Come Ye Sinners by Sojourn. According to Sojourn, “Come Ye Sinners was recorded live on Good Friday, 2012 at Memorial Auditorium in Louisville. It’s not just a record for that day or for the Easter season. It’s a reminder—every day—that we’re invited to meet God at the cross, where mercy abounds, sin is paid for, and death itself is conquered by the blood of Jesus.” I see Sojourn as the older, hipster cousin of Indelible Grace and Sovereign Grace Music. If Sovereign Grace is wearing corduroys and Indelible Grace is wearing khakis, Sojourn is wearing skinny jeans and sporting the perfect soul patch. Their music is less congregational then the others and fits more closely with contemporary musical trends. I can’t deny that I prefer their older albums to their more recent ones, and almost feel like they are trying a little bit too hard these days (I consider Before the Throne and Advent Songs their best). I may well be the exception here and certainly would not knock their musical talents. You can listen to samples and buy the new album at Amazon.
