re: How does one get into Jazz?

Obviously, there are plenty of different styles and variations of jazz. My best advice is to narrow it down to which instrument you prefer. If you really enjoy the trumpet, you're on the right track with Miles Davis. Hugh Masekela is another trumpeter I really enjoy.

Personally, I prefer piano driven jazz. Check out Bill Evans Trio and Dave Brubeck.

If you're into the guitar, check out Jim Hall. He's a superb jazz guitarist.

Go to the Blue Note catalog and pick a few and start listening.

Jazz back in the day was full of improv...many of these guys would just start playing when the mics were turned on in the studio.

I'm into it. I just want to learn more about what differentiates artists and styles.

Pretentiousnes: [Engaged] Not Engaged

I would just check out some of the big names on Spotify (Miles Davis, Coltrane, Mingus, Ellington, etc.)

Just go by what sounds good to you. A lot of these artists have gone through different styles. There's a big difference between Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and In a Silent Way. If you notice you prefer a particular sound, explore more albums in that style.

You can also go by instrument. I really like jazz piano. I just find it very relaxing. So I often listen to Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk.

Here's a list of the highest rated jazz albums by users on the RYM community. This might be a good place to start: LINK

I've just been starting to explore the genre myself and it's been really cool.

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How does one get into Jazz?


Watch the Ken Burns Jazz documentary for starters

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this ... there is no other answer ...

You can't do wrong with Thelonius Monk, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong (early), Stan Getz, Pandora stations, assortment CDs and Ken Burns show.

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I want to learn more about what I'm listening to.

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LSU has a History of Jazz course that took a pretty good approach to this.
1) start from the beginning. In the beginning, late 19th, early 20th century, ragtime was big/rising in popularity. Scott Joplin wrote/published Maple Leaf Rag. Rag time isn't jazz. But listen to his version followed by Jelly Roll Morton's version. If you were able to interview Mr Roll today, he'd tell you this is when he invented jazz (there's plenty of tongue in cheek here. There's not necessarily an inception of the style that is recognized, but this is as good a place as any to start).
2) move along to who that inspired- your early jazz (that's a style and a period which can be read about) trumpet players like Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke (okay, the trumpet and cornet player)
3) it became more popular and less focused on the individual performer. There's the move to- and I forget which came first but I think it was- big band followed by swing. Relatively similar sounds, with swing moving back to a smaller sized ensemble. Count Basie, Duke Ellington (Big Bands) and Benny Goodman (the king of swing) would be the next iteration of artists.
4) from here, the focus moves away from mass appeal and back to the performer more or less just showing off- this is the bebop era. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, your John Coltrane...some of it is hard to listen to, and the purpose wasn't so much "hey, listen to how awesome the music is" so much as "look what I can do."
5) most of those same guys continue to progress and become more musical (re: the mass appeal to their sound rather than their performance comes round as it matures, more or less) and you get hard bop
6) it goes on. Funk comes to be. Fusion with other styles comes in. The "progressive" era rises in popularity.


I don't claim expertise. I've probably misclassified artists above. Most of the eras coexisted. I didn't even mention vocal jazz. There are lots of forks in the road and styles influencing styles which coexisted and reinfluenced the parenting style. Some artists fall into multiple categories.

But if you're looking for a place to start, listen to the artists mentioned above in the order listed, and you'll hear a decent enough "evolution" in sound.

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Also, I don't like that they sped up So What in subsequent performances. Am I alone in that?

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I remember reading about the original pressings of Kind of Blue containing a recording speed error. The record store version of the album contained this error for decades until it was corrected with new re-masters of the album. This corrected version came out 20 years ago, I think?

Are you talking about this?

sketches of Spain is my favorite miles
Bitches brew is ambitious and influential but not really a relaxing listen
Actually a good ease into jazz is to go backwards...I got into it thru Bela fleck and the flecktones