Well judging by your tastes I think you would really be into Sarah Vaughn.

^ I listened to her too ... the thing is ... i only know this one style of jazz ... i'm asking for the total opposite ...

I dig me some Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ornette Coleman and of course Miles Davis

Well, if you mean OPPOSITE opposite, you can look for Ornette Coleman or Joe Maneri (who recently passed). They are the inventor and perfecter of Free Jazz (in that order).

Or if you want to stay in the vocal realm, you could try Nina Simone, who is a little more "out there", but still pretty accessible.

"Kind of Blue" (don't know why people are calling it "Kinda' Blue") is the one jazz album EVERY one should own. Start there.

What I do is take an album I like, listen to it, then do two things: 1) Read the track list and search for any songs that aren't originals, then search for the same songs by other artists, 2) Do the same thing with the players on the album. For instance, with Kind of Blue, you could choose an instrument you like, see who plays that instrument (Bill Evans, Coltrane, Art Taylor, Miles Davis, Adderly) and then look for albums by that artist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arbitter05 (Post 612254) Hi people, Can you guys point me towards some good jazz & blues songs & bands? Like good stuff to start of with?

blues - I'd have to say Davy Knowles (think he's Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam now but sure you can find him!)

jazz - can't say my jazz knowledge stretches much beyond Miles Davis but I listen to a lot of jazz/funk/soul and I can highly recommend a London band called Mama's Gun (myspace.com/mamasgun)

..

any recommendations for me??

if you want something fresh and modern, i suggest checking out Erik Truffaz. every album he puts out is absolutely brilliant.

I have yet to get into jazz.
For some strange reason I cannot sit and listen to instrumentals.

The weird part is, I dont even listen to the lyrics until the 6th or 7th time I hear a song. But if there are no vocals I just skip to the next song. Has anyone had that problem? I admire the sheer talent most jazz musicians have, I just haven't got into it yet. Can anyone recommend a good starting point for a Jazz nooby like me?

Thanks!

I recommend starting out by listening to some classic albums of the old masters and some of the current masters and this way try to find out what you like. I got introduced to jazz by watching "Bird" the Clint Eastwood movie about Charlie Parker. I then started listening to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk (old masters), etc. and later on to Joshua Redman, Eddie Palmieri, Branford Marsalis (current masters), etc.

I found out I like old bebop, hard bop, a bit of fusion and not so much vocals or big band. So then I started digging out more old bebop records, and new ones discovering new jazz styles I like on the go.

Awesome thanks! My friend gave me a copy of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. Ill start there.

They should really just give everyone a copy at birth.