Rotten Tomatoes for Jazz?
October 9, 2012 9:50 AM Subscribe
I'm buying CDs for a friend to fill in his jazz collection. What are good online resources to help me pick the best discs?
My friend is a jazz fan. He has lots of discs by his favorite artists, but there are still a lot of CDs he doesn't have.
I'm looking for sites that will help me figure out which discs are the best discs.
So, for example, say he likes Miles Davis but only has half of his CDs. What would be a good resource to help me figure out that Disc X is a classic but Disc Y is a badly-recorded bootleg?
Fan ratings are great, but something with some knowledgeable criticism would be even better - something along the lines of Rotten Tomatoes would be terrific.
Something that is both sortable by numeric ratings and complemented by text reviews would be ideal.
I would especially like something with albums ranked for each artist - so, using the Miles Davis example, a list of the best Miles albums would let me go through and check off which discs my friend has and then get the top albums he doesn't have.
(Note: I'm not worried about buying him something he already has; I have a good idea of what artists he likes and what discs he owns.)
Thanks!
My friend is a jazz fan. He has lots of discs by his favorite artists, but there are still a lot of CDs he doesn't have.
I'm looking for sites that will help me figure out which discs are the best discs.
So, for example, say he likes Miles Davis but only has half of his CDs. What would be a good resource to help me figure out that Disc X is a classic but Disc Y is a badly-recorded bootleg?
Fan ratings are great, but something with some knowledgeable criticism would be even better - something along the lines of Rotten Tomatoes would be terrific.
Something that is both sortable by numeric ratings and complemented by text reviews would be ideal.
I would especially like something with albums ranked for each artist - so, using the Miles Davis example, a list of the best Miles albums would let me go through and check off which discs my friend has and then get the top albums he doesn't have.
(Note: I'm not worried about buying him something he already has; I have a good idea of what artists he likes and what discs he owns.)
Thanks!
Allaboutjazz.com is another good internet resource.
There's also a wide world of Penguin (and other) guides, Down Beat best-of lists, etc.
posted by box at 10:46 AM on October 9, 2012
There's also a wide world of Penguin (and other) guides, Down Beat best-of lists, etc.
posted by box at 10:46 AM on October 9, 2012
I can't help but mention that this might be a sign to start branching out, not going completest. Miles is awesome, but jazz is a huge sprawling genre, and your friend may benefit more from one great album each from five artists he's not so familiar with.
Agreed, and something that AllMusic's "Similar Artists" lists can be very helpful with.
posted by Egg Shen at 11:23 AM on October 9, 2012
Agreed, and something that AllMusic's "Similar Artists" lists can be very helpful with.
posted by Egg Shen at 11:23 AM on October 9, 2012
Seconding allmusic.com and the Penguin Guide for jazz in general. They're largely what I used when I got into jazz a couple of years ago.
To be a little more specific, the Hard Bop Hundred is a great curated list of hard bop albums. Hard bop is what bebop evolved into and was the dominant form of jazz in the 1955-1965 period when jazz was at its heyday.
posted by dfan at 11:38 AM on October 9, 2012
To be a little more specific, the Hard Bop Hundred is a great curated list of hard bop albums. Hard bop is what bebop evolved into and was the dominant form of jazz in the 1955-1965 period when jazz was at its heyday.
posted by dfan at 11:38 AM on October 9, 2012
Best answer: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Core Collection List is the best eclectic great-records list I know (and the Penguin Guide itself is a fantastic way to learn about the field).
posted by languagehat at 12:37 PM on October 9, 2012
posted by languagehat at 12:37 PM on October 9, 2012
The Miles Davis example is almost more complicated than not providing any example. He really had so many periods and styles.
If one is looking for new artists and enjoys the Miles Davis music from Kind of Blue through his work with Herbie Hancock and others, maybe your friend could start with the Blue Note Records label. From the early fifties to late 60's they had lots of good stuff.
My Favorites
Grant Green
Hank Mobley
Dexter Gordon
Horace Silver
There are so many more on this one beautiful label. Most of the music is of the highest quality with little mediocre music.
posted by Che boludo! at 8:03 PM on October 9, 2012
If one is looking for new artists and enjoys the Miles Davis music from Kind of Blue through his work with Herbie Hancock and others, maybe your friend could start with the Blue Note Records label. From the early fifties to late 60's they had lots of good stuff.
My Favorites
Grant Green
Hank Mobley
Dexter Gordon
Horace Silver
There are so many more on this one beautiful label. Most of the music is of the highest quality with little mediocre music.
posted by Che boludo! at 8:03 PM on October 9, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks for all these great suggestions!
Egg Shen, it turns out AllMusic.com is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Being able to go to the Miles Davis page and click the Editors' Rating column to sort - plus the check-marked essential albums - is terrifically useful for focusing on the best of the bunch. Thank you so much!
posted by kristi at 9:48 AM on October 12, 2012
Egg Shen, it turns out AllMusic.com is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Being able to go to the Miles Davis page and click the Editors' Rating column to sort - plus the check-marked essential albums - is terrifically useful for focusing on the best of the bunch. Thank you so much!
posted by kristi at 9:48 AM on October 12, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Egg Shen at 10:04 AM on October 9, 2012 [1 favorite]