Top five jazz albums for drummers?

supermac

Senior Member
I'm trying to get deeper into my jazz playing - Max, Elvin, Tony and more modern stuff.

What are the definitive, must-have top five "jazz-drumming" albums?

Cheers.
 
The top five records are going to be whichever ones you actually listen to a lot. For your purposes, you can't really go wrong with:

  • Any John Coltrane record with Elvin Jones as the only drummer
  • Any Miles Davis record with Tony Williams or Philly Joe Jones
  • Really, any Miles Davis record period
  • Any Sonny Rollins or Clifford Brown record with Max Roach
  • Any Blue Note record with Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, or Billy Higgins on drums
  • Any Thelonious Monk record with Frankie Dunlop of Ben Riley

Since few of the online retailers tell you personnel, I'd get to a record store and get whatever you like the price of, that fits any of those categories.
 
I'm trying to get deeper into my jazz playing - Max, Elvin, Tony and more modern stuff.

What are the definitive, must-have top five "jazz-drumming" albums?

Cheers.

Let's see,a twofer:

McCoy Tyner Super Trios (Tony Williams and Jack Jack DeJohnette)

Freddie Hubbard Red Clay (Lenny White)

Time Out Dave Brubeck (Joe Morello)

Buddy Rich Swingin' New Big Band (West Side Story is the holy grail of drum solos).

Steps Ahead first album (Peter Erskin)

And one more to grow on ,Chick Corea Three Quartets (Steve Gadd)
 
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Only five?

Alright... I'm going to miss a lot good people here. Here's some examples...

Miles: The last 3 Prestige releases that he fired off 1-2-3 in short order to complete contractual obligations and move to Columbia. These count as 1 album for me as the sessions were all during the same timeframe.
Drummer: Philly Joe Jones

Anything with Max Roach
I like Jimmy Lovelace too - he played some with Wes Montgomery
Joe Morello

Al Foster... Played with Miles in the 70's , Miles dug his work. Kept in communication with Miles during Miles 75-81 "retirement"

Elvin Jones of course

Art Blakey
Weckl
Kirk Covington - Slaughter House 3
Gary Novak - with Holdsworth

Steve Smith with Gambale

Davy Tough

--------------------------

So narrow it down by release (and this is a really short list)

Miles - the last Prestige sessions
Weckl - Chic Corea Electrik Band Inside/Outside (but Weckl's Rhythm of the Soul is a great release too)
Gary Novak - The 16 Men of Tain
Kirk Covington - Slaughter House 3
Al Foster - I Remember Miles (with Shirley Horn, 1998)
 
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Rather than spend too much time telling you how impossible this is, I'm just gonna play ball and give you five of my choosing that fit your description. You're welcome.

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus (Max Roach) http://www.amazon.com/Saxophone-Col...1-1&keywords=sonny+rollins+saxophone+colossus

John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (Elvin Jones) http://www.amazon.com/Love-Supreme-...&qid=1441390468&sr=1-1&keywords=John+Coltrane

Miles Davis: Milestones (Philly Joe Jones) http://www.amazon.com/Milestones-Mi...390518&sr=1-2&keywords=miles+davis+milestones

Chick Corea: Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (Roy Haynes) http://www.amazon.com/Now-He-Sings-...keywords=chick+corea+now+he+sings+now+he+sobs

Jackie McLean: One Step Beyond (Tony Williams) http://www.amazon.com/One-Step-Beyo...&qid=1441390632&sr=1-2&keywords=jackie+mclean
 
As others have stated, there's just so much stuff out there. Give a listen to any of the Booker Ervin stuff that Alan Dawson drummed on. Also check out Roy Haynes on "We Three" or "Out of the Afternoon".
 
I've recently been getting into jazz - here are 5 awesome albums I've found so far:

- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Moanin' (Awesome swing - Blakey does a great backbeat throughout the whole album and he absolutely nails a trading section in the title track)

- Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Further Out (Joe Morello is a beast. Imagining that he's one of the firsts to take jazz and explore time is awesome - we're standing on the shoulders of giants!)

- Buddy Rich Big Band: The New One (Check out Buddy's solo on Diabolus - truly legendary)

- Duke Ellington Big Band: Live at Newport (Not so much focused on drummers but on Jazz as a whole - well worth checking out. An absolutely legendary performance that brought back Ellington's flagging career back into the spotlight!)

- Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (An amazing step rhythmically for jazz - this drew the line between fusion and jazz)

There's so much more!
 
My head gets 'option paralysis' from this. Trying to pick 5 albums is quite difficult for me. Todd Bishop & 8Mile have good suggestions. Also look at some suggestions from John Riley and Keith Copeland.

I won't limit it to 5 and I'm on my phone so excuse typos and it's too hard to list all the personnel but I've got the drummers and bass on each. Also, I won't say it's a fundamental list, just what came to mind (I had to look up about 1/3 of the bassists). Plus, it's missing all of Tony with Miles, Joe Chambers, Charlie Persip, Alan Dawson- so many more...

Out Of The Afternoon- Roy Haynes- drums, Henry Grimes- bass
Moanin- Art Blakey- drums, Jymie Merritt- bass
Monk and Trane- (forget the album title)- Art Blakey- drums, Wilbur Ware- bass
Any Monk album with Frankie Dunlop (John Orr on bass)- you'll get a university course in how to play melody/song form on drums.
Jo Jones Trio- Jo Jones- drums, Tommy Bryant- bass
Blue Train- Philly Joe- drums, Paul Chambers- bass
Giant Steps- Art Taylor- drums, Paul Chambers- bass
The Avant-Garde- Ed Blackwell- drums, Charlie Hayden & Percy Heath- bass
Mingus Ah Um- Danny Richmond- drums, Charles Mingus- bass
Smack Up- Frank Butler- drums, Jimmy Bond- bass
The Elvin Jones Trio- Elvin Jones- drums, Jimmy Garrison- bass
Kind of Blue- Jimmy Cobb- drums, Paul Chambers- bass
The Shape of Jazz to Come- Billy Higgins- drums, Charlie Hayden- bass
At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm- Charles Moffett- drums, David Izenzon- bass
Sax No End- Kenny Clarke- drums, Jimmy Woode- bass
Trident- Elvin Jones- drums, Ron Carter- bass
Village Vanguard- Elvin- drums, Reggie Workman- bass
Coltrane plays the Blues- Elvin- drums, Jimmy Garrison- bass
Elvin Jones Trio- Elvin- drums, Jimmy Garrison- bass
Simple Matter if Conviction- Shelly Manne- drums, Eddie Gomez- bass
Clifford Brown/Max Roach- Max Roach- drums, George Morrow- bass
Drums Unlimited- Max- drums, Jymie Merritt- bass
Out to Lunch- Tony Williams- drums, Richard Davis- bass
 
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I think a really useful album for learning jazz drumming is "Giant Steps" because of how clean it sounds and how well it can be heard which makes it very accessible.

Drummer: Art Taylor
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of these records come from a 20-year period. The preceding 30 years of jazz and the following 50 years are kind of left out.

You're right; at least mine are. I was just getting excited. It's not really a list to formally progress through historic milestones.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of these records come from a 20-year period. The preceding 30 years of jazz and the following 50 years are kind of left out.

There is Tony Wiiliam "Young at Heart" was his last work and definitely worth having.

Or better yet "Tony Williams Quintet Live in New York" DVD if you can find it. That tour was in 1989 if I recall.

Maybe not the top 5 but more recent and hugely influential.....
 
Modern straight ahead records

Branford Marsalis - Trio Jeepy
Wynton Marsalis - Standards Time volume 1

Both feature Jeff Watts playing everything from softly restrained ballads to ridiculous metric modulation stuff.

Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Next Step features Jeff Ballard, there's some amazing 3/4 and brush playing on this record, as well as a great introduction to the straight 8th feel on the tune "Minor Blues".

Kenny Garett - Triology features Brian Blade, possibly my favorite drummer ever, just absolutely killing it, it's a sax/bass/drums trio and Brian's playing is in top form, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this one.

Joe Henderson - Lush Life - Featuring Gregory Hutcherson, there's a great sax/drums duo version of Take the A Train, plus a really cool calypso style take on Raincheck.

Joshua Redman - Wish - Features Billy Higgins with Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny, enough said.
 
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