Another way to fall into jazz is by looking up the samples and going from there. I think the easiest hip hop that can get you more into jazz is A Tribe Called Quest, then maybe Madlib for more experimental stuff. Another great thing about jazz is that you can easily see the personnel on the back or front cover if you collect CDs or records. I do agree that starting with Miles makes sense, because he has multiple phases to his career and personnel that became well-known outside of him. My favorites are Miles, Donald Byrd, Chick Corea, Bobbi Humphrey, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, Grover Washington Jr., Idris Muhammad and Weather Report. I also recommend Hiroshi Suzuki, Sun Ra, Kamasi Washington, Bobby Hutcherson, Thelonious Monk, Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws and Lee Morgan. Maybe watching jazz docs helps too? The Lee Morgan doc is a fascinating story that might pull people into the genre for instance.
I think the internet has done incredible things for a resurgence in jazz appreciation. One record that comes to mind is Scenery by Ryo Fukui (which is a FIRE album). As a Japanese jazz musician, his popularity while alive never really got footing in the states and it wasn’t until the past couple years that he was sort of “discovered” because of the internet, and I feel like that’s the case with a lot of jazz musicians who never made it as big as Miles.
You can definitely tell Jazz is in your wheelhouse, especially because that subtle excitement to share showed through on this one. Appreciate the background, recommendations and playlists too! I've always liked Jazz but maybe now I should put some more serious attention into what I'm listening to so I can enjoy it with intention!
Lee Morgan’s Search For The New Land is the album was a game changer for me. I spent about 5 months last year listening to nothing but jazz and it this album that took from liking jazz to loving jazz. Would love more episodes like this on jazz.
I guess I'm a Modal jazz guy. Hard bop and bebop are way up there too for me. Free jazz, not so much for my taste too. I started getting into jazz in high school when I did a paper on Thelonious Monk that really kicked things into gear. Also started with Kind of Blue and Blue Train as the seeds for my "jazz tree". From there I would look up one of the players on the album for their own works. Jazz has this wonderful cross pollination of artists that play together. The label suggestion is a great place to go off of too. Around the time I started there were a bunch of Rudy Van Gelder remasters coming out and I started listening to anything he worked on. Lastly to expand my view I used to buy a used CD now vinyl of anything that had an interesting cover on each trip to the shop. Discovered some great ones that way and that's how I discovered Rashaan Roland Kirk. Great episode! Thanks.
love the mention of Donald Byrd! That man did almost all of these jazz sub-genres and even disco in the 80s. His jazz-funk era (and more of the Mizell Brothers produced) really inspired neo-soul in the 2000s! Personally love Byrd in Flight. What's your fave Byrd album Derrick?
I may be showing my age, but I grew up during the "golden age" of hip hop circa mid-90s. As I got older I really got into samples and starting learning about jazz (especially soul jazz) based off hip hop tracks I loved. There is an amazing Biz Markie (RIP) mix he did for Blue Note where he mixes his favorite tracks. Check it out!
Another way to fall into jazz is by looking up the samples and going from there. I think the easiest hip hop that can get you more into jazz is A Tribe Called Quest, then maybe Madlib for more experimental stuff.
Another great thing about jazz is that you can easily see the personnel on the back or front cover if you collect CDs or records. I do agree that starting with Miles makes sense, because he has multiple phases to his career and personnel that became well-known outside of him.
My favorites are Miles, Donald Byrd, Chick Corea, Bobbi Humphrey, Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, Grover Washington Jr., Idris Muhammad and Weather Report. I also recommend Hiroshi Suzuki, Sun Ra, Kamasi Washington, Bobby Hutcherson, Thelonious Monk, Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws and Lee Morgan.
Maybe watching jazz docs helps too? The Lee Morgan doc is a fascinating story that might pull people into the genre for instance.
Low End Theory must’ve unlocked entire populations to jazz!
@derrickgee Tribe, Digable Planets, Pete Rock and DJ Premier did a lot for introducing jazz to people.
Donald Byrd changed everything for me. A+ Vid
I think the internet has done incredible things for a resurgence in jazz appreciation. One record that comes to mind is Scenery by Ryo Fukui (which is a FIRE album). As a Japanese jazz musician, his popularity while alive never really got footing in the states and it wasn’t until the past couple years that he was sort of “discovered” because of the internet, and I feel like that’s the case with a lot of jazz musicians who never made it as big as Miles.
For sure! Fukui is mentioned to me probably more than any other jazz artist. Which is pretty interesting in itself.
You can definitely tell Jazz is in your wheelhouse, especially because that subtle excitement to share showed through on this one. Appreciate the background, recommendations and playlists too! I've always liked Jazz but maybe now I should put some more serious attention into what I'm listening to so I can enjoy it with intention!
Lee Morgan’s Search For The New Land is the album was a game changer for me. I spent about 5 months last year listening to nothing but jazz and it this album that took from liking jazz to loving jazz.
Would love more episodes like this on jazz.
I guess I'm a Modal jazz guy. Hard bop and bebop are way up there too for me. Free jazz, not so much for my taste too.
I started getting into jazz in high school when I did a paper on Thelonious Monk that really kicked things into gear. Also started with Kind of Blue and Blue Train as the seeds for my "jazz tree". From there I would look up one of the players on the album for their own works. Jazz has this wonderful cross pollination of artists that play together.
The label suggestion is a great place to go off of too. Around the time I started there were a bunch of Rudy Van Gelder remasters coming out and I started listening to anything he worked on.
Lastly to expand my view I used to buy a used CD now vinyl of anything that had an interesting cover on each trip to the shop. Discovered some great ones that way and that's how I discovered Rashaan Roland Kirk.
Great episode! Thanks.
love the mention of Donald Byrd! That man did almost all of these jazz sub-genres and even disco in the 80s. His jazz-funk era (and more of the Mizell Brothers produced) really inspired neo-soul in the 2000s! Personally love Byrd in Flight. What's your fave Byrd album Derrick?
derrick gets jazzy!
I may be showing my age, but I grew up during the "golden age" of hip hop circa mid-90s. As I got older I really got into samples and starting learning about jazz (especially soul jazz) based off hip hop tracks I loved. There is an amazing Biz Markie (RIP) mix he did for Blue Note where he mixes his favorite tracks. Check it out!