All of these great jazz albums appear on Pop Thruster’s Best 1,000 Albums Ever, which is worth noting up front, because while I love jazz, it’s not quite core to my musical identity in the way R.E.M. or Nirvana or even Wu-Tang Clan is. That said, I’ve grown into appreciating and straight-up digging jazz over the years.
What’s striking is that every single jazz album I slotted into the 1,000 hails from the 1950s or ’60s – and not a single one later – except for Buena Vista Social Club, which is its own kind of time machine anyway.
It took compiling the entire project to realize it, but that era is my jazz wheelhouse: the postwar golden age when bop, modal, and swing collided, when smoky clubs, after-hours jams, and restless experimentation defined the sound. That’s the sound that struck a chord in my soul, and that’s what you’ll see below.
So here they are: Coltrane’s My Favorite Things (#201), Mingus’s Mingus Ah Um (#254), Miles’s Kind of Blue (#264), and more — fourteen records in total, each one a classic, each one its own little portal into a cool and swinging era of American music.
Lee Morgan – Cornbread (#200 of best 1,000 albums ever)
Hot, fresh, and tasty.
John Coltrane – My Favorite Things
John Coltrane’s music was my gateway into exploring and then falling in love with jazz, and My Favorite Things is the album that best represents that journey for me.
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (#254)
On the Road, The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1950s-1960s jazz, and Charles Mingus’ brilliant, engaging, and swinging album.
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (#264)
Wherein we take the journey through the three phases that led to Kind of Blue.
John Coltrane – Giant Steps(#502)
You’re going to want to take a few long-ish steps or multiple little ones to get your ears closer to this one.
Various Artists – Mad Men (Music From The Original TV Series), Vol. 1 (#590)
From series composer David Carbonara’s contributions to period-specific pieces that zooms you back to the early 1960s, the music is one of the elements that makes Mad Men so special.
Thelonious Monk – Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (#737)
Perfect jazz listening ‘round midnight – and into the wee hours, too.
Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin(#742)
Beautiful and heart-wrenching.
Sarah Vaughn – After Hours(#753)
Transportive as though to be whisked back to a very specific scene and mood and vibe in 1955.
Nina Simone – Wild Is The Wind (#846)
Striking, powerful, and evocative vocals mapped against a wild variety of musical styles.
Louis Armstrong and King Oliver – Louis Armstrong and King Oliver (#909)
Old timey New Orleans jazz performed by true masters including a then young Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, and Jelly Roll Morton.
Count Basie – The Atomic Mr. Basie (#934)
When I think about what I want out of lively, jumping jazz from the 1950s, this album answers the call.
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club (#964)
An album that makes you think about music as a lifelong lifeline.
Milt Jackson & Thelonious Monk Quintet – Milt Jackson With John Lewis, Percy Heath, Kenny Clarke, Lou Donaldson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet (#982)
Exquisite 1950s-era New York City jazz replete with vibraphone tidings and jazz lounge vibes.