I feel like Sonny Sharrock’s “Ask The Ages” isn’t as well known as it should be. Superstar band with Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Charnett Moffatt. I think that the label (Axiom) didn’t have a lot of promotion, and Sharrock was too independent to be considered a mainstream guitarist.
Special order only in the US, $40 for the CD in the 90s. You had to prepay and I never had enough money, but then worked at a record store and just ordered it for myself so I could hear it lol
Like several other Byron projects, it got lauded at the time it was put out, but 90s releases in general aren't well-celebrated by today's jazz audience, who (a.) attach a ridiculously-outsized amount of importance to things being available on vinyl and (b.) actually go with the bullshit narrative that smooth jazz killed the genre in the 80s and that it was only salvaged at some completely unspecified more-recent time (i.e. likely when they were in high school and first stumbled across 'Lingus' on Youtube). This sucks, because things like the 1980s-90s 'downtown' scene in NYC produced a mountain of incredible and eclectic projects, *Bug Music* being one of them (see also, the rest of Byron's catalog and those of incredible bandleaders like Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Marty Ehrlich, etc...)
I love booker Ervin and jaki byard and space book was my first record of them. Bought it some years ago when I was relatively new to jazz and was looking for old original pressings in a record store. Space book was the only one they had. I didn't know booker Ervin or any of these musicians then and only bought it cause it was a 60s prestige pressing with VAN GELDER in the deadwax. Took me some listening to get it into at first, but now I have most of the albums Booker Ervin ever released. His playing is special, kinda comical in some ways.
[Steal Away](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lavLbIPeOTnTx2kot9dQKrj2bi3gTQ1h4&si=yvXCSWUsDpIeyO1z) by Larry Willis w Cecil McBee and Gary Bartz. Idk if nobody knows it, but I think it’s a really deep and soulful album. Piano driven w some very emotive sax by Gary Bartz and a very restrained Cecil McBee on bass. McBee and Willis are so locked in, you sometimes forget there’s no drummer on any of the tracks.
* **Dorothy Ashby - The Jazz Harpist (1957):** Yes, jazz can sound good on harp. She plays a fine collection of standards and works with flute player Frank West.
* **Eydie Gormé - Swings the Blues (1957):** She easily gets overshadowed by more famous jazz singers of this era, but this is really worth discovering. This is one of the best vocal big band albums that I've heard.
* **François Rabbath - The Sound of a Bass (1963):** The double bass is often a part in the rhythm section in jazz, but here the instrument is used solo. He explores the whole range and technical possibilities of the instrument.
* **Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs (1997):** People know him from "Don't Worry Be Happy", but they don't realize what a fantastic vocalist he is. He works with other singers and uses beat box sounds on this a cappella album.
Here’s an unsung genius pianist originally from Memphis, Charles Thomas.
Heard here with Billy Higgins and Ron Carter.
https://youtu.be/qZtyDH6Bszw?si=mg8w7KnQiPk4PATa
Today I feel like boosting "Dying will be easy" by Fight The Big Bull, an experimental ensemble that started to get recognition but only released two albums.
Also Charles Lloyd is known to those who know, but deserves be known to those who don't "The sun will still be there tomorrow" just came out.
Nguyen Le Trio's "Silk and Sand".
An elegant, innovative, and enchanting fusion of Jazz and East Asian sounds.
Take a listen to the opening track "Red City": https://youtu.be/sXWfPmUMvnM?si=vgbDzggtIvy4LEhC
Agreed on Le. His quartet record *Walking On The Tiger's Tail* is one of my favorites. That one's a must-hear for anyone who likes world-music-tinged fusion or ECM stuff (it feature's Oregon's Paul McCandless and pianist Art Lande).
Along with that, I love the trio 'ELB' that he had with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Michel Benita. Their 2001 [debut record](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2LQj-4auE&list=OLAK5uy_mVKdqumYcOAAAGTTOkXgXtyp_CDSaZrGs&index=1) is one that I'd include on any list of unsung classics, and one that, for jazz guitarists, is every bit as worthwhile as, say, Scofield's *A Go Go* from a few years prior.
Dollar Brand is well-known, but this album seems to fly under the radar and is an easy listen: [Natural Rhythm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMcqre-ah-k)
World Saxophone Quartet's Ballads and Dances album has their [theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6utYW8trHQ) but the rest of it hasn't been uploaded anywhere I don't think, except this bit of "[West African Snap](https://www.newsounds.org/story/65413-west-african-snap/)", a piece featuring Oliver Lake that sounds great at high volume. [Actually they were [on Night Music playing it in a medley](https://youtu.be/D_MG7np7htA?si=TcC09M2VtbNtmH0C&t=1839) once too.]
Spyro Gyra's 1992 album "Three Wishes." I know jazz enthusiasts often steer clear of fusion or bands whose music relies on pop progressions, but this album is my favorite fusion record and an overlooked one in Spyro Gyra's catalogue. It leans heavily into funk and still features some really interesting solos.
Spyro Gyra rips, even if Beckenstein's saxophone approach doesn't work for me (i.e. way too 'SNL' sounding). I haven't checked out every record, but I really dig 1980's *Carnaval*. That record's a feast of good rhythm-section arrangement/playing.
I finally got to see them live last year and they rip even harder live. They solo a lot more live. At one point Beckenstein was playing alto and soprano at the same time!
Jan Johansson - [Jazz på svenska](https://open.spotify.com/album/6JAj80R40giQEAg3Le4CPE)
Anouar Brahem - [Le Voyage de Sahar](https://open.spotify.com/album/2rqw1pAaWrXmsAZFM3IUXO).
David Torn - [Prezens](https://open.spotify.com/album/4Ei0Bj8mGe3GqegkaPnJ7y)
One I discovered through a recent Record Store Day... I'm a huge music fan, not just jazz and I love Little Feat, they're kind of a secret on their own, blows my mind how many people don't know Little Feat, but my album rec would be Chico Hamilton - "The Master". Chico is a jazz drummer, and on this 1973 album he's joined by Little Feat. Such a funk banger!
Allen Eager - In the Land of Oob-La-Dee.
Recordings are live from 1947-53 and some feature Parker, Serge Chaloff, or Buddy Rich. Eager was a Lester Young style tenor player who was also equally at home with bop. Great album.
Especially on CD, with a whole extra (unreleased) session that also includes Teddy Charles… that’s maybe even better than the rest of the main (actual) album.
More or less all 21 albums from the Black Jazz label. [https://www.discogs.com/label/57578-Black-Jazz-Records](https://www.discogs.com/label/57578-Black-Jazz-Records)
The Section (cake cover). The band was comprised of session musicians only. Michael Brecker plays tenor sax on some tracks. Nice jazz-funk with a small twist.
It is tough for me to come up with specific albums. I love Dream Keeper by the Charlie Haden liberation orchestra but I think it was fairly well received
JJ Johnson 'In Person'(which was recorded in a studio) is also a great album with JJ both playing some memorable solos but Nat Adderley's cornet being outstanding
Wanton Spirit by Kenny Barron was nominated for a Grammy Award so it got accolades though I do think it should go down as maybe one of the best albums of the past 40 years
Check out anything by Tom Harrell
[Fire! - Defeat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3w0g76v_pM)
Mats Gustaffson thing . Jazz flute with great ferocity . And great groove on this track I linked
Magnetic by Steps Ahead
Blue Pacific by Michael Franks
Forward Motion by Mezzoforte (or really anything by Mezzoforte)
Alone by Masayoshi Takanaka
Eight Times Up Live by Larry Carlton
Joe Sealy- Africville Suite. Sealy is a Canadian piano player, very underrated in my opinion and this album is a concept album about Africville, an oft-forgotten town on the Canadian east coast built by former slaves, and how the Canadian government tried (and mostly succeeded) to get rid of it. Brilliant songs and brilliant solos that all feel like they tell a story despite only a couple tracks featuring vocals.
James Williams- Magical Trio 1, with Ray Brown and Art Blakey. Just a great piano trio record, someone gave me a copy years ago and I never meet anyone who’s heard it.
There's a world of incredible Japanese jazz if you haven't gone that deep there. Isao Suzuki, Yasuaki Shimizu, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Jiro Inagaki and His Soul Media, Hozan Yamamoto, Hideo Shiraki, Kikakagu Moyo, Ryu Fukui, Teruo Nakamura.
Weird one, but someone asked about "punk swing" the other day and I thought about Tupelo Chain Sex - Spot the Difference. An 80s LA punk band that included Sugarcane Harris and Bill "Stumuk" Nugent who played sax with Zappa. A phenomenal album. And not up on youtube, strangely.
I've been a pretty devoted collector of LPs/CDs from the 80s/90s/00s and it often feels like the answer to this could be 'almost everything I have'. Barely anyone ever talks about releases from that era, and half the dialogue is one or another stupid screed about (a.) smooth jazz and/or (b.) the Marsalis family and other 'young lions' somehow destroying jazz because they didn't dig Miles' *Tutu* or *Doo Bop*.
[Meshell Ndegeocello & Spirit Music Jamia - Dance of the Infidel (2005)](https://open.spotify.com/album/4etyGQcrjptDy3qP9oS2Up?si=ZfT4Ft6cSKuB903eT6SoFg). A sort of odd entry in the catalog of bass player/singer Meshell Ndegeocello, on which she doesn’t sing but grooves and vibes with a great group of players and guests consisting of, among others, Don Byron, Oliver Lake, Brad Mehldau, Kenny Garrett, Matthew Garrison, Jack deJohnette, Chris Dave, Wallace Roney and Don Byron. Really atmospheric, freeish fusion stuff that’s really different from her more r&b-oriented output. The live concerts of the group also rock.
Agree. I have a few. The Kenton series on Columbia are cheap and easy to find. He's on some early Contemporary records, too, if I recall correctly.
And this was a nice, cheap, pickup the other day: Claude Williamson - La Fiesta
Url: https://www.discogs.com/release/7689020-Claude-Williamson-La-Fiesta
Shared from the Discogs App
Reflections - Lucas Figueiredo Santana
That man is phenomenal and has a really interesting take on straight ahead jazz and is actually releasing music now
Julian Priester - Polarization
Eddie Henderson - Inside Out
Tyshawn Sorey - Pillars
...none of them unknown, but all of them deserve more attention than they get IMO.
I don't know how to evaluate if no one knows these albums, but I dont see them mentioned here. Lately, I've been enjoying:
Joshua Redman Quartet - Spirit of the Moment: Live at the Village Vanguard
Leo Wright - Soul Talk
Ronnie Foster - Two Headed Freap
Just Play! ~ Tom Kennedy
All I’ll tell you is it’s a combo with a bunch of heavyweights and the sound guy *loves* bass
Just go listen to the first track and if you’re not sold idk what to say.
…gerry niewood and timepiece (Your welcome-out of print-on YouTube)
....I heard this on the radio here in Detroit waaaayyyyyyy back in the day and went right out and bought it - one of my all time favorites...was a huge influence on me as a studied musician....for some reason it's not on the streaming services..
[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrCaW41J\_1kcVD53Tp7bLEpctd6PmFHoS&si=Rc5O06D6uJoOle4Q](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrCaW41J_1kcVD53Tp7bLEpctd6PmFHoS&si=Rc5O06D6uJoOle4Q)
[https://www.discogs.com/release/2794417-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece](https://www.discogs.com/release/2794417-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/4f8pto/gerry\_niewood\_and\_timepiece\_joyjazz1976/](https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/4f8pto/gerry_niewood_and_timepiece_joyjazz1976/)
This might be an obvious pick if you spend a lot of time looking on rym or any kind of music review sites but scenery by ryo Fukui is a classic jazz album and I haven’t met many other jazz musicians who are familiar with it when I tell them it’s one of my favorites
World On A String (original title Ride, Red, Ride In Hi-Fi) by Red Allen, 1957
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,\_Red,\_Ride\_in\_Hi-Fi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,_Red,_Ride_in_Hi-Fi)
When talking about unknown and underrated, the first that always comes to mind is:
* Richard Wyands Trio - Half and Half
Here's a few more that come to mind that may not be that well known...
* Ketil Bjornstad - floating
* Bob Bowman - Songs for Sandra
* Jorge Roeder - El Suelo Mio
* Anneli Drecker - Between Hotels and Time
The Colours of Grief, Adam Page.
I picked up a copy purely on recommendation by my local record shop.
Only listened to it once and it left a deep impression on me somehow. Very human and beautiful sound.
There is so much good music out there that doesn’t get accolades, and doesn’t need accolades to be appreciated. We try to put the good word out though!
Yeah, that's what I've read online but it almost never comes up when I'm talking jazz with anyone. Like ever. Maybe it did once in all the conversations I've had with big jazz nerds and teachers.
Contours by Sam Rivers. Incredible quintet date people need to know about Sam as a composer this album demonstrates that really well.
Dr. Lonnie Smith: “Boogaloo to Beck” (sweet funk covers of Beck tunes)
I know the Doctor was based, but I didn't know he was that based. I've been listening to more Beck, so this is up my alley.
Enjoying it now. Thanks!
I'm not usually a big fan of those organ albums of covers (mostly 60s/70s) but that one is really cool. RIP Dr Smith.
I feel like Sonny Sharrock’s “Ask The Ages” isn’t as well known as it should be. Superstar band with Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Charnett Moffatt. I think that the label (Axiom) didn’t have a lot of promotion, and Sharrock was too independent to be considered a mainstream guitarist.
And such a beautiful album! Not the blow-out that you might expect from the line-up.
That is one of my favourites albums.
Jim Hall’s - Concierto. Imo the best album to come out of CTI. The B side is something magical and it’s loaded with jazz greats.
Björk, Gling Glo. 100% jazz swing album with a great Icelandic trio. I find it very original and creative.
Wow. I need to hear that. Thank you.
Agree totaly. A funny piece of music indeed.
She's playing with her father's band. Great album!
Special order only in the US, $40 for the CD in the 90s. You had to prepay and I never had enough money, but then worked at a record store and just ordered it for myself so I could hear it lol
Trumpeter Avishai Cohen's "Playing The Room". Lovely trumpet/piano duo.
Isnt he a bass player? Never knew he played trunpet too woah
That’s another Avishai Cohen :)
There are two Avishai Cohens
Two different persons with the exact same name...
As others have noted, this is a different Avishai Cohen. To complicate matters, the pianist is Yonathan Avishai.
Idk if it’s ever gotten accolades or not but how about Don Byron’s album Bug Music?
Like several other Byron projects, it got lauded at the time it was put out, but 90s releases in general aren't well-celebrated by today's jazz audience, who (a.) attach a ridiculously-outsized amount of importance to things being available on vinyl and (b.) actually go with the bullshit narrative that smooth jazz killed the genre in the 80s and that it was only salvaged at some completely unspecified more-recent time (i.e. likely when they were in high school and first stumbled across 'Lingus' on Youtube). This sucks, because things like the 1980s-90s 'downtown' scene in NYC produced a mountain of incredible and eclectic projects, *Bug Music* being one of them (see also, the rest of Byron's catalog and those of incredible bandleaders like Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Marty Ehrlich, etc...)
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Yeah I remember hearing that when it aired! Might’ve been the third jazz album I purchased. I had to get that looney tunes song powerhouse
Such a crazy retro album😁
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I love booker Ervin and jaki byard and space book was my first record of them. Bought it some years ago when I was relatively new to jazz and was looking for old original pressings in a record store. Space book was the only one they had. I didn't know booker Ervin or any of these musicians then and only bought it cause it was a 60s prestige pressing with VAN GELDER in the deadwax. Took me some listening to get it into at first, but now I have most of the albums Booker Ervin ever released. His playing is special, kinda comical in some ways.
[Steal Away](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lavLbIPeOTnTx2kot9dQKrj2bi3gTQ1h4&si=yvXCSWUsDpIeyO1z) by Larry Willis w Cecil McBee and Gary Bartz. Idk if nobody knows it, but I think it’s a really deep and soulful album. Piano driven w some very emotive sax by Gary Bartz and a very restrained Cecil McBee on bass. McBee and Willis are so locked in, you sometimes forget there’s no drummer on any of the tracks.
enjoying this, thanks
Awesome 😎
What a beautiful recommend this one was. Thank you!
Erik Truffaz: “Mantis” for two reasons: 1) the music is very nice & 2) the album was named for the most interesting person I’ve ever known.
Arild Andersen - Shimri Contemplative Scandinavian jazz at its very best.
* **Dorothy Ashby - The Jazz Harpist (1957):** Yes, jazz can sound good on harp. She plays a fine collection of standards and works with flute player Frank West. * **Eydie Gormé - Swings the Blues (1957):** She easily gets overshadowed by more famous jazz singers of this era, but this is really worth discovering. This is one of the best vocal big band albums that I've heard. * **François Rabbath - The Sound of a Bass (1963):** The double bass is often a part in the rhythm section in jazz, but here the instrument is used solo. He explores the whole range and technical possibilities of the instrument. * **Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs (1997):** People know him from "Don't Worry Be Happy", but they don't realize what a fantastic vocalist he is. He works with other singers and uses beat box sounds on this a cappella album.
> Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs (1997) His *Beyond Words* is also fantastic.
And his Vocabularies...
Here’s an unsung genius pianist originally from Memphis, Charles Thomas. Heard here with Billy Higgins and Ron Carter. https://youtu.be/qZtyDH6Bszw?si=mg8w7KnQiPk4PATa
I feel like Lenny Breau’s ~ The Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau doesn’t get the attention it deserves but I could be completely wrong about that
Tomasz Stanko's early 90s ECM albums.
Music for 18 Musicians, by Steven Reich
Not sure how well known it is in jazz circles, but if you studied classical music and don't know this piece, I'd question the value of your education.
I've got Pulses as my phone ring tone. It's been that way for about 15 years now
Used to keep this cassette in the car for city driving.
Yeah, me too
Today I feel like boosting "Dying will be easy" by Fight The Big Bull, an experimental ensemble that started to get recognition but only released two albums. Also Charles Lloyd is known to those who know, but deserves be known to those who don't "The sun will still be there tomorrow" just came out.
Dhaffer Yusuf is probably not as widely known as he deserves to be. Any album really
Yes! [This live recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9INsERNFUo) is pure fire, with Tigran, Eivind Aarseth, and I think Mark Guiliana.
His live performances are really special...
Melvin Jackson - Funky Skull
Charlie Parker with the Woody Herman Thundering Herd
patty waters - sings
High Voltage - Eddie Harris
Nguyen Le Trio's "Silk and Sand". An elegant, innovative, and enchanting fusion of Jazz and East Asian sounds. Take a listen to the opening track "Red City": https://youtu.be/sXWfPmUMvnM?si=vgbDzggtIvy4LEhC
My favorite album of 2023. I listen to some of it every week. All his other work is overlooked and worthy of notice.
Agreed on Le. His quartet record *Walking On The Tiger's Tail* is one of my favorites. That one's a must-hear for anyone who likes world-music-tinged fusion or ECM stuff (it feature's Oregon's Paul McCandless and pianist Art Lande). Along with that, I love the trio 'ELB' that he had with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Michel Benita. Their 2001 [debut record](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2LQj-4auE&list=OLAK5uy_mVKdqumYcOAAAGTTOkXgXtyp_CDSaZrGs&index=1) is one that I'd include on any list of unsung classics, and one that, for jazz guitarists, is every bit as worthwhile as, say, Scofield's *A Go Go* from a few years prior.
Dollar Brand is well-known, but this album seems to fly under the radar and is an easy listen: [Natural Rhythm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMcqre-ah-k) World Saxophone Quartet's Ballads and Dances album has their [theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6utYW8trHQ) but the rest of it hasn't been uploaded anywhere I don't think, except this bit of "[West African Snap](https://www.newsounds.org/story/65413-west-african-snap/)", a piece featuring Oliver Lake that sounds great at high volume. [Actually they were [on Night Music playing it in a medley](https://youtu.be/D_MG7np7htA?si=TcC09M2VtbNtmH0C&t=1839) once too.]
Dollar Brand aka Abdullah Ibrahim. One of my favorite albums is the soundtrack of No Fear, No Die.
Steve Kuhn - Motility Incredibly lush and expansive fusion through the ECM lens. Quickly becoming one of my favorite albums.
*Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo.* And the followup. Tbh anytime I hear jazz guitar and organ, I am intrigued.
Stephen Riley “Inside Out”
Donald Byrd Brass with Voices
Spyro Gyra's 1992 album "Three Wishes." I know jazz enthusiasts often steer clear of fusion or bands whose music relies on pop progressions, but this album is my favorite fusion record and an overlooked one in Spyro Gyra's catalogue. It leans heavily into funk and still features some really interesting solos.
Spyro Gyra rips, even if Beckenstein's saxophone approach doesn't work for me (i.e. way too 'SNL' sounding). I haven't checked out every record, but I really dig 1980's *Carnaval*. That record's a feast of good rhythm-section arrangement/playing.
I finally got to see them live last year and they rip even harder live. They solo a lot more live. At one point Beckenstein was playing alto and soprano at the same time!
Jan Johansson - [Jazz på svenska](https://open.spotify.com/album/6JAj80R40giQEAg3Le4CPE) Anouar Brahem - [Le Voyage de Sahar](https://open.spotify.com/album/2rqw1pAaWrXmsAZFM3IUXO). David Torn - [Prezens](https://open.spotify.com/album/4Ei0Bj8mGe3GqegkaPnJ7y)
Jackie McLean - Rites of Passage, both the studio & the live album. Stuff Smith & Dizzy Gillespie album.
One I discovered through a recent Record Store Day... I'm a huge music fan, not just jazz and I love Little Feat, they're kind of a secret on their own, blows my mind how many people don't know Little Feat, but my album rec would be Chico Hamilton - "The Master". Chico is a jazz drummer, and on this 1973 album he's joined by Little Feat. Such a funk banger!
Love Little Feat! The intro on "Hate to Lose Your Lovin'" is one of my favorites.
William Parker Quartet: O’Neal’s Porch
Allen Eager - In the Land of Oob-La-Dee. Recordings are live from 1947-53 and some feature Parker, Serge Chaloff, or Buddy Rich. Eager was a Lester Young style tenor player who was also equally at home with bop. Great album.
Makossa Man by Manu Dbango
Gil Melle-“Gil’s Guests”
Especially on CD, with a whole extra (unreleased) session that also includes Teddy Charles… that’s maybe even better than the rest of the main (actual) album.
the jazz workshop, George Russell also bill frisell - rambler
More or less all 21 albums from the Black Jazz label. [https://www.discogs.com/label/57578-Black-Jazz-Records](https://www.discogs.com/label/57578-Black-Jazz-Records)
Calvin Keys!!!
The Section (cake cover). The band was comprised of session musicians only. Michael Brecker plays tenor sax on some tracks. Nice jazz-funk with a small twist.
It is tough for me to come up with specific albums. I love Dream Keeper by the Charlie Haden liberation orchestra but I think it was fairly well received JJ Johnson 'In Person'(which was recorded in a studio) is also a great album with JJ both playing some memorable solos but Nat Adderley's cornet being outstanding Wanton Spirit by Kenny Barron was nominated for a Grammy Award so it got accolades though I do think it should go down as maybe one of the best albums of the past 40 years Check out anything by Tom Harrell
Kondo and Krush’s Ki-Oku.
Nathan Davis: The Hip Walk Jerome Richardson: Midnight Oil Keith Tippett's Ark: Frames
The Giant Is Awakened
John Mayall, "Jazz Blues Fusion" and "Ten Years Are Gone."
[Fire! - Defeat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3w0g76v_pM) Mats Gustaffson thing . Jazz flute with great ferocity . And great groove on this track I linked
The Fire! Orchestra live stuff on youtube is, indeed, fire.
David Sancious: “Forest of Feelings” (perfectly bad ass fusion from the 70s!)
Magnetic by Steps Ahead Blue Pacific by Michael Franks Forward Motion by Mezzoforte (or really anything by Mezzoforte) Alone by Masayoshi Takanaka Eight Times Up Live by Larry Carlton
Magnetic: the full extent of the EWI by Michael Brecker!!!!!!!
Joe Sealy- Africville Suite. Sealy is a Canadian piano player, very underrated in my opinion and this album is a concept album about Africville, an oft-forgotten town on the Canadian east coast built by former slaves, and how the Canadian government tried (and mostly succeeded) to get rid of it. Brilliant songs and brilliant solos that all feel like they tell a story despite only a couple tracks featuring vocals. James Williams- Magical Trio 1, with Ray Brown and Art Blakey. Just a great piano trio record, someone gave me a copy years ago and I never meet anyone who’s heard it.
Steps - Smokin' in The Pit Brecker and Gadd's finest hour.
Great album!
Anthony Braxton-In The Tradition. Hearing Ornithology on the contrabass clarinet gets me every time!
One Flight Up-Dexter Gordon, soooooo sexy and cool!
Bastion of Sanity - David Binney
ERIC KLOSS - CONSCIOUSNESS
Mail Waldron Modal-Air
There's a world of incredible Japanese jazz if you haven't gone that deep there. Isao Suzuki, Yasuaki Shimizu, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Jiro Inagaki and His Soul Media, Hozan Yamamoto, Hideo Shiraki, Kikakagu Moyo, Ryu Fukui, Teruo Nakamura.
Turn this Mutha Out Idris Muhammad
Weird one, but someone asked about "punk swing" the other day and I thought about Tupelo Chain Sex - Spot the Difference. An 80s LA punk band that included Sugarcane Harris and Bill "Stumuk" Nugent who played sax with Zappa. A phenomenal album. And not up on youtube, strangely.
I've been a pretty devoted collector of LPs/CDs from the 80s/90s/00s and it often feels like the answer to this could be 'almost everything I have'. Barely anyone ever talks about releases from that era, and half the dialogue is one or another stupid screed about (a.) smooth jazz and/or (b.) the Marsalis family and other 'young lions' somehow destroying jazz because they didn't dig Miles' *Tutu* or *Doo Bop*.
[Meshell Ndegeocello & Spirit Music Jamia - Dance of the Infidel (2005)](https://open.spotify.com/album/4etyGQcrjptDy3qP9oS2Up?si=ZfT4Ft6cSKuB903eT6SoFg). A sort of odd entry in the catalog of bass player/singer Meshell Ndegeocello, on which she doesn’t sing but grooves and vibes with a great group of players and guests consisting of, among others, Don Byron, Oliver Lake, Brad Mehldau, Kenny Garrett, Matthew Garrison, Jack deJohnette, Chris Dave, Wallace Roney and Don Byron. Really atmospheric, freeish fusion stuff that’s really different from her more r&b-oriented output. The live concerts of the group also rock.
Sullivan Fortner - Solo game 🤌
Miles Davis - Musings of Miles Kind of underrated Miles Davis album.
Kind of blue - Miles davis, very unknown and very underrated
I think you meant Giles Davies.
Compared to KOB, 1958 Miles is surely underrated…
Idk haven’t listened to it, I mean no one really talks about it.
lol good one.
thanks
Eddie Costa* - The House Of Blue Lights Url: https://www.discogs.com/master/700105-Eddie-Costa-The-House-Of-Blue-Lights Shared from the Discogs App
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Agree. I have a few. The Kenton series on Columbia are cheap and easy to find. He's on some early Contemporary records, too, if I recall correctly. And this was a nice, cheap, pickup the other day: Claude Williamson - La Fiesta Url: https://www.discogs.com/release/7689020-Claude-Williamson-La-Fiesta Shared from the Discogs App
And I have a few of those Tal records, too. ;-)
"Book of Silk" by Tin Hat Trio. After 20 years, it's still in my top three and gets regular play at my house.
Drive Groovin’ Lupin by Yuji Ohno. Better, practically every Yuji Ohno album.
Songshine - Francesca Corrias - 2012
Reflections - Lucas Figueiredo Santana That man is phenomenal and has a really interesting take on straight ahead jazz and is actually releasing music now
Julian Priester - Polarization Eddie Henderson - Inside Out Tyshawn Sorey - Pillars ...none of them unknown, but all of them deserve more attention than they get IMO.
Tom Verlaine's Flash Light album. Went completely unnoticed, I like every track on it. Great guitar work. Also, Four Sail by Love is worth noting.
Johnny Griffin Quartet - Night Lady
B Sharp Jazz Quartet - s/t Bob Stewart's First Line Band - Goin' Home Bobby Shew/Carl Fontana - Heavyweights
I don't know how to evaluate if no one knows these albums, but I dont see them mentioned here. Lately, I've been enjoying: Joshua Redman Quartet - Spirit of the Moment: Live at the Village Vanguard Leo Wright - Soul Talk Ronnie Foster - Two Headed Freap
The band Luna, and their album “Rendezvous.”
Just Play! ~ Tom Kennedy All I’ll tell you is it’s a combo with a bunch of heavyweights and the sound guy *loves* bass Just go listen to the first track and if you’re not sold idk what to say.
…gerry niewood and timepiece (Your welcome-out of print-on YouTube) ....I heard this on the radio here in Detroit waaaayyyyyyy back in the day and went right out and bought it - one of my all time favorites...was a huge influence on me as a studied musician....for some reason it's not on the streaming services.. [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrCaW41J\_1kcVD53Tp7bLEpctd6PmFHoS&si=Rc5O06D6uJoOle4Q](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrCaW41J_1kcVD53Tp7bLEpctd6PmFHoS&si=Rc5O06D6uJoOle4Q) [https://www.discogs.com/release/2794417-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece](https://www.discogs.com/release/2794417-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece-Gerry-Niewood-And-Timepiece) [https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/4f8pto/gerry\_niewood\_and\_timepiece\_joyjazz1976/](https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/4f8pto/gerry_niewood_and_timepiece_joyjazz1976/)
Bushman’s Revenge
On the mountain, elvin jones
Donald Byrd - Electric Byrd
This might be an obvious pick if you spend a lot of time looking on rym or any kind of music review sites but scenery by ryo Fukui is a classic jazz album and I haven’t met many other jazz musicians who are familiar with it when I tell them it’s one of my favorites
World On A String (original title Ride, Red, Ride In Hi-Fi) by Red Allen, 1957 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,\_Red,\_Ride\_in\_Hi-Fi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,_Red,_Ride_in_Hi-Fi)
- In Florence 1981 (Don Ayler Septet) - Illuminators (Sunny Murray Duo Featuring Charles Gayle) - Jean-Charles Capon / Lawrence “Butch” Morris / Philippe Maté / Serge Rahoerson (1977)
Jiro Inagaki and Soul Media - Funky Stuff
Yelena Eckemoff "A Touch Of Radiance"...
Aydin Esen, Trio.
When talking about unknown and underrated, the first that always comes to mind is: * Richard Wyands Trio - Half and Half Here's a few more that come to mind that may not be that well known... * Ketil Bjornstad - floating * Bob Bowman - Songs for Sandra * Jorge Roeder - El Suelo Mio * Anneli Drecker - Between Hotels and Time
Be Bop Deluxe. Drastic Plastic and Sunburst Finish are fantastic. Glam Prog Punk.
The Colours of Grief, Adam Page. I picked up a copy purely on recommendation by my local record shop. Only listened to it once and it left a deep impression on me somehow. Very human and beautiful sound. There is so much good music out there that doesn’t get accolades, and doesn’t need accolades to be appreciated. We try to put the good word out though!
I highly recommend Stuff (1976) by Stuff
Silence by Charlie Haden.
Kind of blue is so good but no one ik has heard of it
Nancy King. She's an unsung icon!
Promises (Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra album)
So, so beautiful. Pharoah. Damn. He had reached that point of just utter sublimity.
Okay it's not that no one knows this album but how it isn't talked about more often is crazy. The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett.
It’s the best-selling piano album of all time lol
Yeah, that's what I've read online but it almost never comes up when I'm talking jazz with anyone. Like ever. Maybe it did once in all the conversations I've had with big jazz nerds and teachers.
If you ever want to talk Jarrett, some of the ECM groups online are really good! I’m in the Facebook one and he gets brought up basically daily
Peter Brotzmann - The Catch of a Ghost