(A Somewhat Arbitrary) Jazz Top Ten

Duke Ellington, 1899 - 1974

I'm finally getting around to posting my jazz "desert island discs." Once I accepted that dozens of essential recordings simply would have to be left off, I was ready to proceed. (Yes, I do take this parlor game that seriously.) I also accepted that this list is not the same as a "best" jazz recordings list. Though these are all great recordings, to be sure, and many would in fact make some all-time best lists -- most notably the Rollins and Coltrane selections. I do know that I have listened with great appreciation to these for many years and would continue to enjoy them for many years to come, if they were the only ones available to me. (I did feel the need to cheat a bit, and take two recordings from Jarrett and Shorter.) I'll write about these individually in future posts, offering some of the merits of each as well as my rationale for choosing it.

1. Steve Swallow, Home

2. Arthur Blythe, Lenox Avenue Breakdown

3. Keith Jarrett, At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings / The Koln Concert

4. Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland

5. Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil / Native Dancer

6. Duke Ellington, The Far East Suite

7. Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus

8. Billie Holiday, The Essential Billie Holiday (the Columbia Years)

9. Joe Lovano, From the Soul

10. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme