20 Essential Jazz Albums For Beginners

I found this article recently and thought it interesting enough to share...  it's a list of 20 albums for those who are new to jazz (you can read it here).

I started my journey into the world of jazz about 25 years ago.  Funny story...  I had gone fishing early one morning, and after a couple of hours of no bites, decided to head home.  I had the radio on, but was bored with what was being played on the stations I normally listen to, so I decided to use the search function.  I somehow ended up stopping on WSIE, and enjoyed listening to the music for the 45 minute trip home.

Now, fortunately I had a friend who had a vast jazz collection that helped me discover music that I would like (he asked me what I had heard and what I had liked, and was a bit surprised by my choices).  Also, at the time, there was a DJ on WSIE named Ross Gentile who also played a big part in getting me interested (man would bring in his own albums every day and build a show around whatever was in the crate that day).

Getting back to the article, I can say that I have 12 of the albums on the list, and all are excellent jumping-off points if you're interested in exploring the world of jazz.  And while I've not conducted a search myself, I'm sure you can find most everything listed in the article over at Myzuka (where you have the option to listen and download).

Enjoy!