Absolute beginners

Friday, 14th November 2008

Dom Joly wrote an odd piece recently: "Jazz: love the lifestyle, can't stand the music". I was annoyed, naturally, but while writing a short response in The Times, I started to put together a list of ten records that newcomers ought to try. Miles's "Kind of Blue" is the obvious starting-point. (Even Joly owned that one.) My guiding principle is that they should aim at the heart rather than the head. Here are the other nine:

1. Kenny Burrell: "Midnight Blue" . 2. Charles Mingus: "Mingus Ah-Um" . 3. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: "The Complete Sessions". 4. Thelonious Monk: "Genius of Modern Music, Vol 1" . 5. Miles Davis: "Porgy & Bess" . 6. Benny Goodman: "B.G. in Hi-Fi" . 7. Oscar Peterson: "Night Train" . 8. Gene Harris: "The Gene Harris Trio Plus One" . 9. Horace Silver: "Song For My Father".

Finally, three albums I'd particularly recommend to people who normally have pop or indie-rock playing on the iPod: Curtis Stigers, "You Inspire Me" , Patricia Barber: "Live - A Fortnight in France" and The Neil Cowley Trio, "Loud... Louder... Stop!" (my favourite British disc of the year.)