CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

.

Kind of Blue

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Miles Davis

Release Date April 07, 1997
As a non-aficionado of jazz, I bought this album with mixed feelings. Excitement at the prospect of listening to a true masterpiece, mixed with a certain amount of scepticism...surely it can't be THAT good...can it?

I must admit, I look for a bit more out of my music. Being transported to another plane, however, is something I rarely experience. But then Kind of Blue is not an ordinary album. The skill and inherent ability of the players shines through, but it's so much more than the sum of its parts. It's one of those rare things, in that it's a album you could listen to all day and yet never grow bored.

You can't describe Kind of Blue...you just know you've never really heard anything like it before. You're not likely ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

.

Birth of The Cool

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Miles Davis

Release Date January 08, 2001
I own several of MD's album - my personal favourite being Sketches of Spain. This album, which is rather dull, I made the mistake of buying on the basis of the track Rocker on a compilation. It's dificult to describe, but to me the sound is too undifferenciated to let the melodies and tune speak. It is an ambient album. Pleasant, but doesn't set the blood racing. Instead, buy in A Silent Way, Sketches... or Kind of Blue.....Or better yet by the Best of Blue Note Comp' - not a duff track on it

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

.

The Best of Chet Baker Sings

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Chet Baker

Release Date January 29, 1990
A lovely introduction to Chet. But often with "best of" albums there is a lot of good music all crammed onto 1 cd, but I'm not complaining. I'm happy to have it in my Chet collection.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

.

Getz/Gilberto Vol.1: Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Release Date May 25, 1999
Bossa Nova was and is not to everybody's taste. Many jazz aficianados can't stand Astrud Gilberto's singing either. The thing with this session in particular, however, is Stan Getz's playing. There is only one word for it - divine! Which is why I suspect there are so many accolades for this CD. The brevity and melodiousness of his ideas is quite exceptional, not so on many other examples of his work before or after.

I love jazz and I like this, but I can't say I can listen to Bossa Nova all the time. Stan Getz on this CD, however, I don't think I'll tire of...

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

.

Sketches of Spain

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Miles Davis

Release Date October 06, 1997
'Sketches of Spain' is one of those albums that, for some reason, has been talked up so much over the decades that it has now become something that people buy, and say they love, simply because that's what's expected.
A lot of Davis' albums fall into this category - 'On The Corner' is another good example - an almost unlistenable album that many self-conscious music-lovers profess to 'get' when, in reality, they would only be able to tolerate listening to it a few times before putting it away for good (in a smugly conspicuous position, I might add) in the hope that they can impress their friends by owning it.
OK, I'm being a bit extreme here, 'Sketches of Spain' is far from unlistenable; in many places it is very tender and beautiful, in ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

.

Time Out

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Dave Brubeck Quartet

Release Date April 07, 1997
Below is the review I recently posted on Amazon.com for the Dave Brubeck Take Five SACD. I really felt I should post the reveiw on Amazon.co.uk also, as there appear to be reviews which relate only to the CD release - same story with US Amazon. Surely there must be others out there that could stand up for this superb SACD album??!!

Although I'm not what I consider to be a great fan of jazz, I have enjoyed Dave Brubeck's music for quite some time. For the last two and a half years or so, I have bought almost only high resolution music (DVD-A or SACD), and was determined to buy this disc soon. For a short while, several years ago, I owned the standard CD version of this album - until I donated it to my father-in-law. For anyone reading this ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

.

White Blues

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Chet Baker

Release Date May 24, 1997
Up until recently I used to have a time on a Monday afternoon where I had to sit down, concentrate and get on with some paper work. This was often my cd of choice. Instead of being in my office at work I was transported to a jazz bar in New York, relaxing and enjoying myself. That was my happy place, to help me get through the paper work. Soon people were asking me if they could borrow this cd because they also found it to be the musical version of someone stroking your head.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

.

Let's Get Lost

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Chet Baker

Release Date May 26, 1989
This album is a must in any real music lover collection
the emotion it reveals is one of the most sensitive I've ever heard
I even think that it's as cool as miles and coltrane kind of blue

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

.

My Funny Valentine

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Chet Baker

Release Date January 31, 1994
I cannot believe how cheap this cd is. This is truly a wonderful album that is up there with my other favourite Chet cds and yet it has a bargain basement price. If you buy it I promise you wont be disappointed.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

.

Porgy and Bess

CD-Charts > Music > Cool and West Coast
by: Miles Davis

Release Date April 07, 1997
The great thing about Miles Davis was that his trumpet playing was so transcendent. He's probably the only jazz player whose albums frequently appear in top 100 rock lists. I fail to see how anyone could not take the lilting sentiments of 'Porgy & Bess' to heart no matter what your musical tastes.

The 'Buzzard Song' opens the album with a grooving bass line by Paul Chambers, cleverly imitated by a tuba that follows suit (how many albums have you heard with a grooving tuba?). Then the lyrical note changes of 'Bess, You Is My Woman', before one of the highlights of the album, 'Gone'. This is something of a departure from Gershwin's opera itself, but the backing players relish the opportunity for some pure jazz playing, topped off with Jones's ramshakle ... Read More: