The Jazz Room
Excellent jazz, no homework required.
Chet Baker, Miles, Bill Evans, Peterson, Getz, Brubeck, Coltrane, Ellington — with instructions on when and where to play them.
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Bill Evans Trio · 1961
Three men listening to each other more carefully than most people listen to anything.
Kind of Blue
Miles Davis · 1959
The one everybody owns, and the one everybody is right to own.
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane · 1965
John Coltrane's spiritual journey, realised in four movements of unparalleled intensity and devotion.
Waltz for Debby
Bill Evans · 1961
Recorded live at the Village Vanguard, Bill Evans’s 1961 masterwork captures a moment of sublime interplay, a profound dialogue between piano, bass, and drums that has since become the gold standard for the modern jazz trio.
Brilliant Corners
Thelonious Monk · 1957
Thelonious Monk's 1957 opus, a landmark recording that redefined the boundaries of modern jazz composition and improvisation, offering an intricate and essential listen.
Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington · 1956
The Duke’s triumphant return, a live performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival that reinvigorated a legendary career and captured a pivotal moment in jazz history.
Ella and Louis
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald · 1956
The unforced elegance of two vocal titans, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, as they find a natural, swinging rapport across an album of American standards.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald · 1956
The First Lady of Song takes on the urbane wit of Cole Porter, setting the standard for the vocal album.
Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown
Sarah Vaughan · 1954
The collaboration that solidified a legend: Sarah Vaughan and Clifford Brown’s incandescent 1954 recordings.
I Put a Spell on You
Nina Simone · 1965
The High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone, at her most commanding and vulnerable, exploring the intoxicating power of love and obsession through a masterful blend of jazz, blues, and pop. A definitive vocal performance from 1965.
Diagnostic
Ibrahim Maalouf · 2011
Ibrahim Maalouf’s trumpet, at once soaring and deeply resonant, finds its fullest expression in this compelling exploration of identity and heritage.
Viaticum
E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) · 2005
The Esbjörn Svensson Trio’s 2005 album, Viaticum, offers a propulsive, at times meditative, and always inventive take on the jazz trio format, cementing their place as leading lights in contemporary European jazz.
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
Tony Bennett · 1962
The Voice of San Francisco: Tony Bennett’s enduring tribute to a city and a standard.
Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley
Mel Tormé · 1960
Mel Tormé interprets the golden age of Broadway with sophisticated panache, transforming theatrical classics into elegant jazz standards.