The Jazz.com Blog
July 09, 2009 · 0 comments
A 1959 Jazz Playlist
As regular site visitors know, we occasionally feature a batch of track reviews in this column—highlighting a few of the more than 5,000 jazz performances covered by jazz.com’s crack team of more than fifty critics and guest reviewers.
Today we focus on tracks recorded in 1959.
1959 has come to be viewed by many as the peak year in a jazz golden age, due both to the sheer number of classic albums recorded during that 12 month stretch, and the creative ferment on the scene. Modal jazz and free jazz were literally brand new, while hard bop, soul jazz, Third Stream and other styles were still in their peak years. New releases were constantly breaking new ground, and if you didn’t pay attention to the latest music, you were out-of-date within a few months.
We can’t cover the full range of jazz from 1959 in a short playlist—Fernando Ortiz de Urbina tells me that Downbeat received 500 albums to review from 65 labels in that year. But the list below, in chronological order, covers a least one session from each month, and highlights both familiar tracks and some you may not have heard before.
Each title is linked to a review and a link for (legal) downloading.
Happy listening!
Horace Silver: “Cookin’ at the Continental”
Recorded: January 31, 1959
Reviewed by Bill Kirchner
Cannonball Adderley: “Stars Fell on Alabama”
Recorded: February 3, 1959
Reviewed by Darren Mueller
Lee Konitz: “Subconscious-Lee”
Recorded: February 24, 1959
Reviewed by Eric Novod
Terry Gibbs Dream Band: “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”
Recorded: March 17, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Miles Davis: “All Blues”
Recorded: April 22, 1959
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
Charles Mingus: “Better Git It In Your Soul”
Recorded: May 5, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Ornette Coleman: “Lonely Woman”
Recorded: May 22, 1959
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
Count Basie: “Counter Block”
Recorded: May 31, 1959
Reviewed by Peter Erskine
Thelonious Monk: “Jackie-ing”
Recorded: June 4, 1959
Reviewed by Kenny Berger
Dave Brubeck: “Take Five”
Recorded: July 1, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Jimmy Giuffre: "The Easy Way”
Recorded: August 7, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Horace Silver: "Peace”
Recorded: August 29, 1959
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
Shelly Manne & His Men: “Summertime”
Recorded: September 22, 1959
Reviewed by Thomas Cunniffe
The Jazz Makers: “The Real Funky Blues”
Recorded: September 23, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Chet Baker: “Lady Bird”
Recorded: September 25, 1959
Reviewed by Matt Leskovic
Jimmy Witherspoon: “'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do”
Recorded: October 2, 1959
Reviewed by Richard Abowitz
Oscar Peterson: “Blues for Big Scotia”
Recorded: November 5, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
Miles Davis: “Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)”
Recorded: November 20, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
John Coltrane: “Naima”
Recorded: December 2, 1959
Reviewed by Steve Greenlee
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: “Dance of the Infidels”
Recorded: December 18, 1959
Reviewed by Eric Novod
Bill Evans: “Spring is Here”
Recorded: December 28, 1959
Reviewed by Marcus Singletary
George Russell: “Chromatic Universe (Parts 1, 2 and 3)”
Recorded: December 29, 1959
Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
This blog article posted by Ted Gioia.
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