Intro to Jazz
 

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board, and also very new to jazz, although it seems like a genre that's crucial to understanding a lot of 20th century music. My brother lent me the soundtrack from the Ken Burns docu but it's all over the place and hard for a newcomer to follow. What's a good place for a jazz newbie to start? I'm most interested in fusion which I know isn't actual jazz but might be a good place to begin, you think?

Other people have told me to start with Miles Davis, since he basically marked most trends in jazz after the 1940's.

oh I should've made a thread similar to this earlier. I'd love to delve deeper into jazz. I'll take any suggestions/recommendations also.

A good way to get into jazz is to sample fusion, which is Jazz-rock. You can appreciate the rock riffs while listening to some improvisation. Try Lenny White.

Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Frank Zappa's Hot Rats are my favorite fusion albums.

Bitches and Rats are definitely classics. However, they also do speak to a very narrow, very controversial form of jazz. You could also try albums like "Kind of Blue" -- modal workouts -- or Cannonball Adderly's "Mercy Mercy Mercy" -- sort of soul-jazz -- and a lot of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea albums from the 70's, they covered a lot of ground (folk, flamenco, rock, free jazz, etc, etc). It's really about testing out what kind of jazz ya might like, it's got a lot to offer

Chick Corea just did some work with Bela Fleck that was amazing.

I like Weather Report too. It's fairly commercial as Jazz goes but Jaco Pastorius can play a mean bass!

desperately trying to learn teen town as we speak.

If you hate fusion & modern elevator jazz (like me)...

I would recommend 'Birth of Cool' from Miles Davis. Actually, I would recommend most jazz albums from the late 1940's & 1950's which was the bop & post-bop era of jazz. Also check out Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, & Dizzy Gillespie.

My favorite jazz albums:

'Miles Smiles' -Miles davis
'A Love Surpeme' -Coltrane
'Somethin' Else' -Cannonball Aderley
'Straight, No Chaser' -Monk

These are all 'Classic' jazz, and a good place to start.