Your number one jazz song recommendation...?

knuckleberryfinn · January 2015

I'm just beginning to teach myself some jazz guitar after 25+ years playing and only flirting with it. The thing is, where do you start? So how about a list of great jazz songs from a guitarist's perspective...If you could name only one jazz track that you love to play/listen to, what would it be? (Doesn't have to have guitar on it!)

I suppose I'd better start: Charlie Parker, Billie's Bounce

Jalapeno · January 2015

Anything by Duke Ellington - however Satin Doll is used by very many as a 251 learning tune so it can grate, and lot's of people don't like it because of that.

JAYJO · January 2015

The only one ive heard of is So What (I think Miles Davis)and its Dm all the way through so you could jam over that!

bigdawg · January 2015

so what by miles davis

Alfie by sonny rollins

Blue Train by John Coltrane

Sidewinder by Lee Morgan

All quite easy to learn or work out by ear

Megii · January 2015

Can't really pick one out as a favourite, but I always like minor key tunes, so I'll say Yesterdays - it has enough harmonic movement to be interesting, but it tends to lead the ear in a natural way, and not too tricky.

Megii · January 2015

Actually "I Should Care" is a nice one too...

Megii · January 2015

Also "What Is This Thing Called Love" is another that I like a lot, good at faster tempos.

hobbio · January 2015

Autumn Leaves.....

Also, I'm fond of Tune Up and Summertime.

bigjon · January 2015

All Of Me - full of II V Is and they go a lot slower than Satin Doll

rpr · January 2015

Not sure if this could adapted for guitar, but it's a cracking tune

ArchtopDave · January 2015

Just about anything by Emily Remler. If you want an actual song, then Cry Me A River sung by Julie London (the original recording had Barney Kessel on guitar).

viz · January 2015

So so so many. And this one isn't even jazz lollll. But it's one of the best, and certainly a characteristic, song from the awesome jazz metaller, Greg Howe. If you like it, there's a whole world waiting for you out there!

Roland · January 2015

What style of playing are you thinking about? For finger style then Summertime (Martin Taylor did a nice version in Em) or Moondance are easy starting points. For more traditional jazz then All Of Me is an easy strum which is easy to solo around. After that the list becomes endless

Jalapeno · January 2015

ArchtopDave said:

Just about anything by Emily Remler. If you want an actual song, then Cry Me A River sung by Julie London (the original recording had Barney Kessel on guitar).

Oh hell yeah - How to Comp in one tune.

knuckleberryfinn · January 2015

Roland said:

What style of playing are you thinking about? For finger style then Summertime (Martin Taylor did a nice version in Em) or Moondance are easy starting points. For more traditional jazz then All Of Me is an easy strum which is easy to solo around. After that the list becomes endless

I'm just curious as to what other people like and thought a 'pick your favourite' thread might be interesting. I love Wes Montgomery - that version of Yesterdays @megii is so much better than the trio studio version I have - and am pretty much obsessed with Charlie Christian. Some great tracks so far - but alas, I'm sorry to say I really don't like Greg Howe @viz. More to do with the production than the playing to be honest, but I can't really get round it.

knuckleberryfinn · January 2015

Jalapeno said:

ArchtopDave said:

Just about anything by Emily Remler. If you want an actual song, then Cry Me A River sung by Julie London (the original recording had Barney Kessel on guitar).

Oh hell yeah - How to Comp in one tune.

Yep, this is amazing - just listening to it for the first time...

viz · January 2015

knuckleberryfinn said:

Roland said:

What style of playing are you thinking about? For finger style then Summertime (Martin Taylor did a nice version in Em) or Moondance are easy starting points. For more traditional jazz then All Of Me is an easy strum which is easy to solo around. After that the list becomes endless

I'm just curious as to what other people like and thought a 'pick your favourite' thread might be interesting. I love Wes Montgomery - that version of Yesterdays @megii is so much better than the trio studio version I have - and am pretty much obsessed with Charlie Christian. Some great tracks so far - but alas, I'm sorry to say I really don't like Greg Howe @viz. More to do with the production than the playing to be honest, but I can't really get round it.

no worries. I love his playing! Each to his own though!

meltedbuzzbox · January 2015

this is mine

Chalky · February 2015

The Nearness of You by Hoagy Carmichael. Like Autumn Leaves, it works very well on solo jazz guitar because the chord progression and rhythmic structure are not 'busy' and the melody is strong so it doesn't need a great deal of support.

Chalky · February 2015

Cry Me A River is the definitive torch song but solo jazz guitar versions struggle because the lyrics and delivery are key to its impact, and without them the melody is not that strong and the lengthy sustained notes from Julie over Barney's arpeggiated walking notes are difficult to (satisfyingly) recreate on the guitar. I tried it while arranging it for a sax quartet - I've searched youtube but the best version I've found (on an old Martin acoustic if I remember) does Barney's part pretty good but the melody sounds weak compared to Julie's part.

Fretwired · February 2015

A fun place to start is Miles Davis 'So what' which is pretty easy to play [I can tab it out for you if you like] and is great fun. I also think you need to listen to a wide range of jazz guitarists to work out what you like. For example, Joe Pass liked to play finger style chord-based melodies where as Grant Green never played chords and only played lead. Grant Green is one of my favourite jazz guitarists and is another good place to start.

The late, great Ronny Jordan ..

Fretwired · February 2015

Another Ronny J track ...

bingefeller · February 2015

Good question and there are so many answers! First thing came to my head is Pat Metheny's Au Lait. I love how it just builds and builds until about 2.25 then it changes direction:

EricTheWeary · February 2015

I did once have a go at So What, which pretty much taught me how crap I am at improvisation - trying to make something interesting over such a sparse chord sequence was well beyond me!

Fretwired · February 2015

EricTheWeary said:

I did once have a go at So What, which pretty much taught me how crap I am at improvisation - trying to make something interesting over such a sparse chord sequence was well beyond me!

I had jazz guitar lessons and So what was pretty much the first thing I went through .. keep it simple .. it's a song you can revisit as your technique improves. There's only basically one chord ...

Fretwired · February 2015

bingefeller said:

Good question and there are so many answers! First thing came to my head is Pat Metheny's Au Lait. I love how it just builds and builds until about 2.25 then it changes direction:

Love this album .. bought it when it came out in the early 1980's .. love Are you going with me .. great guitar synth solo

Catthan · February 2015

I'd start with smth easy but harmonically involved, not a 2-chord modal song like So What. As said previously, the 2-chord structure of it is what makes this song difficult unless you've already build some vocabulary.

All of me (Cmaj), Summertime (A-, G- or D-), Fly me to the moon (Cmaj - A-).

Branshen · February 2015

Not strictly straight ahead, but waves by Jobim is a great tune. Sounds great on guitar too.

knuckleberryfinn · February 2015

Shit, I didn't know Ronny Jordan had died. Funny that So What has been suggested so much. I've been teaching it for years because it's such a good song for getting both hands working fast and in sync. The thing I'm finding challenging is playing over changes - I'm liking Charlie Christian's approach best at the moment. I've been learning his solos in Solo Flight. Bloody amazing playing, and easy to see how he approached playing over changes using chord shapes.

I'll start having a go at the more progressive stuff once I've got to grips with this early stuff I think. Really enjoying listening to all these suggestions though - keep them coming.

Jalapeno · February 2015

Latin stuff is good, doesn't let you get lazy as it flips between maj/min 251 and chromatic walkdowns and what have you.

The Girl From Ipanema - is a good one - you can't bluff it with blues licks, you have to play the changes.

I love Charlie Christian - it's a shame some of the recordings are so shonky.

bingefeller · February 2015

Fretwired said:

bingefeller said:

Good question and there are so many answers! First thing came to my head is Pat Metheny's Au Lait. I love how it just builds and builds until about 2.25 then it changes direction:

Love this album .. bought it when it came out in the early 1980's .. love Are you going with me .. great guitar synth solo

Yeah that's another great track from it. Love that synth guitar solo.

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Your number one jazz song recommendation...?

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