# Please reccomend me some jazz that is gentle to my rock sensibilities



## 777 (Jun 26, 2009)

Pleaase reccomend me some *real* jazz thats enjoyable to people who are more into rock and metal. Thanks


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## liamh (Jun 26, 2009)

Pat metheny
Weather report/Jaco's solo stuff..
Larry Carlton
Wes Montgomery
These guys are my favourite jazz musicians, check 'em out.


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## distressed_romeo (Jun 26, 2009)

liamh said:


> Pat metheny
> Weather report/Jaco's solo stuff..
> Larry Carlton
> Wes Montgomery
> These guys are my favourite jazz musicians, check 'em out.



Good recomendations.

Also try some of Mike Stern's stuff (especially the 'Upside Downside' album), some Bill Connors solo stuff, Stanley Clarke's 'School Days', Allan Holdsworth's 'Metal Fatigue', 'Secrets' and 'Wardenclyffe Tower', and the first two Mahavishnu Orchestra albums.


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## liamh (Jun 26, 2009)

^ Oh my god, I can't believe I missed out Holdsworth, the guy is incredible.


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## TimothyLeary (Jun 26, 2009)

Esbjorn Svensson Trio
Dave Holland 
Brian Blade Fellowship
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Jim Hall
Dave Brubeck Quartet


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## kung_fu (Jun 27, 2009)

Depends on what your definition of "real jazz" is. All of the stuff mentioned so far is excellent. When i first went from metal/rock to jazz, the fusion bands were the easiest to get into. After that, i found some more experimental/free/third stream and acoustic jazz like Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Charles Mingus. Eric Dolphy in particular displays a muscular, out-there kind of playing that might appeal to fans of experimental metal and sci-fi soundtracks. By no means are coleman and dolphy "easy" to get into, but their free-thinking approach and overall energy may appeal to you.

You also might want to look into John Zorn. He's a saxophonist who's dabbled in all sorts of jazz and experimental groups. check out his band Naked City (jazz meets Hardcore)


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## JBroll (Jun 28, 2009)

Mahavishnu Orchestra.

NOW.

Jeff


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## MTech (Jul 1, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfYssAeqCVo


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## Scar Symmetry (Jul 1, 2009)

Weather Report


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 1, 2009)

Bruce Middle is another great jazz guitarist: The Bruce Middle Group on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads 
Learned a lot from him.

Steve Adelson's another one (Stick player) who is incredible on the jazz front.

John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension Live USA 2007 is a great sampler, too, if the Mahavishnu Orchestra is a bit much for you.

I'd also recommend checking out Charlie Hunter, Al Di Meola, and possibly Frank Gamble, too.

If you don't mind going a little more experimental, there's always Adrian Belew, David Torn and Robert Fripp. 

For the keyboard player doing a great job of being a guitarist there's always Jan Hammer.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 1, 2009)

Charles Mingus, definitely.
Cecil Taylor, if you like twentieth-century classical at all.
Thelonius Monk
Michael Brecker
Erroll Garner
Duke Ellington (Check out "Ko-ko")
Dizzy Gillespie did a really badass number with Chano Pozo, but I forget the name of the tune.

If those don't work out, here's some jazzy prog rock:
Van Der Graaf Generator
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
Gong
Khan
Hatfield and the North
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

I hesitate to put Henry Cow in there, but you might enjoy their chaotic style.


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## Andii (Jul 1, 2009)

Zevious. The first time I heard them I was hooked. Their album is really well recorded, it sounds like you're there. 

Zevious on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 1, 2009)

LOL! If you have Gong, you'll need to toss in some Ozric Tentacles.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 1, 2009)

phaeded0ut said:


> LOL! If you have Gong, you'll need to toss in some Ozric Tentacles.


Hey, they're both a healthy change of pace from Mahavishnu Orchestra. I know that John McLaughlin is thinking microtonally on The Inner Mounting Flame, but it just sounds like he's bending out of tune, and Jerry Goodman sounds too fiddley for me.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 2, 2009)

LOL! Both Gong and Ozric Tentacles are also a bit more rock oriented. Tangerine Dream if you're into the classical music thing for your electronica. LOL! 

It's one thing that is kinda funny to see when John McLaughlin is playing on that Godin undermodel he's somewhat pushing, vs. the one he would normally use. No string bends! The trem system doesn't make it back, when he does his typical string bending (very Indian Sitar based). 

Kind of the reason I didn't offer up John Scofield as a Jazz Guitarist (a bit too fiddley).

One thing that generally helps out is to list off a few bands with whom you are familiar/like when asking questions about getting into something new.

Don't want to hijack this thread.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 2, 2009)

OP, "Birds of Fire" is the better of the early Mahavishnu albums (in my opinion), if you decide to check it out.


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## Daoloth (Jul 2, 2009)

Tribal Tech

Mats & Morgan


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## Scar Symmetry (Jul 2, 2009)

ILYG are one of the best jazz bands I've ever heard.


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## TimothyLeary (Jul 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> ILYG are one of the best jazz bands I've ever heard.



What's ILYG?


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## 777 (Jul 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> ILYG are one of the best jazz bands I've ever heard.


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## JakeRI (Jul 2, 2009)

weather report is not jazz


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 2, 2009)

JakeRI said:


> weather report is not jazz


What makes them not jazz?


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## damigu (Jul 2, 2009)

mahavishnu orchestra for sure.
weather report great stuff, too.
charlie hunter trio should be easy to get into for rock/metal people, also.


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## JakeRI (Jul 2, 2009)

SchecterWhore said:


> What makes them not jazz?



Lack of improvisation and working with each other as a group, which is the fundamental of any jazz group, including dixie land. They have some examples of these, but no more of it then your average funk band (i.e. tower of power for example).

Its good stuff, for what it is, and i love Weather Report, but it isn't jazz. Its pop. And I love actual fusion too, so I'm not playing the "I only listen to swing, nothing else is real jazz" card.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 3, 2009)

Fair enough. 

Art Blakey is pretty rocky, and counts as real jazz.


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## JakeRI (Jul 3, 2009)

SchecterWhore said:


> Fair enough.
> 
> Art Blakey is pretty rocky, and counts as real jazz.



some of art blakey's stuff isnt jazz.

however:




you have to consider that he did music for over 40 years, obviously straying later on in life


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## Luan (Jul 8, 2009)

Listen to the song Devil take the hindmost by holdsworth. Tribal tech is a great band too.
Yeah, call it fusion or whatever, doesn't matter, listen to it.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jul 8, 2009)

+1 on Tribal Tech

There's Stepping Out, that's kinda fusion as well though. 

Some more in addition to all the good jazz already mentioned (if not already)

Benny Goodman
Louis Prima
Glenn Miller
Ken Woodman
Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker
Miles Davis
John Coltraine

I don't think I can recommend Free Jazz as of yet... too soon for that.


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## Blackrg (Jul 14, 2009)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> +1 on Tribal Tech
> 
> There's Stepping Out, that's kinda fusion as well though.
> 
> ...




Page three and at last someone mentions Miles!

Because jazz seems to be about messing with the harmony, familiar rock instruments might or might not help the Rock/Metal listener 'get into it'

Rock-ish instruments

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, In a Silent way (last two have Mclaughlin on guitar), someone will say it's not jazz but Fat Time from 'Man with the Horn' with Mike Stern doth rock verily

Jazz instruments

Great Jazz albums all made in 1959
Coltrane - Giant Steps - Mr PC
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Mingus - Ah Hum

Jazz is the greatest export of the USA to the world


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## Xiphos68 (Jul 14, 2009)

Three words Alex Skolnick Trio!!!


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## Luan (Jul 14, 2009)

Blackrg said:


> Jazz is the greatest export of the USA to the world



In which sense?


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## kung_fu (Jul 14, 2009)

Luan said:


> In which sense?



in quality, not quantity


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 15, 2009)

Well, if you want to "make" it in Jazz you end up having to leave the country (USA) in order to get popular and then be "accepted" in your home country, let alone getting some form of radio play. LOL! Alex is very correct on this one. 

Stayed away from mentioning "Miles Davis" mainly because he might be a bit much for some folks, remember that the point of this thread was to suggest groups/individuals who would be a bit easier to grasp for someone coming from a rock or metal background. Trying to follow some of Miles' progressions can be a bit of a task, especially in his Fusion period (when he would have different members play each others lines in order to mask who was playing what within a song). Granted, the same (a bit more of an acquired taste vs. being readily accessible) can be said for a few of the ones I mentioned, too.


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## damigu (Jul 15, 2009)

chick corea (particularly the "return to forever" work)


pretty mellow and laid back, and should be easy to step into (a *LOT* softer than metal/rock, though).


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## jacksonplayer (Jul 16, 2009)

There's a reason why the two following albums are the two most famous jazz albums of all. A very good place to start for anyone:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Oh, and as to Weather Report not being jazz. You can't listen to the first two WR albums (plus the hard-to-find "Live in Japan") and say that. Really, all the WR albums through "Mysterious Traveler" have lots of the 'group improvisation' concept that Joe Zawinul was aiming for. It was the albums after that which started to go in a pop direction, so that they could all afford to buy bigger houses and better drugs.


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## METAL_ZONE (Jul 20, 2009)

Wes Montgomery
Herbie Hancock (esp. if you like funky stuff)
Jeff Beck (more like fusion but still great)


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## damigu (Jul 20, 2009)

^^ i don't know if i'd recommend herbie hancock to someone trying to make an easy transition from rock/metal.

herbie's stuff is a big departure from rock/metal and is pretty cerebral. not an easy transition from rock/metal.

if you're into electronic music, his work with the headhunters is an easy transition, though.


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## kung_fu (Jul 20, 2009)

damigu said:


> ^^ i don't know if i'd recommend herbie hancock to someone trying to make an easy transition from rock/metal.
> 
> herbie's stuff is a big departure from rock/metal and is pretty cerebral. not an easy transition from rock/metal.



 I must respectfully disagree. Jazz in general is quite distinct from rock and metal, so anything we recomend will take him slightly away from his rock/metal comfort zone. Herbie has dabbled in rock, pop, electronic, funk, RnB, Soul.... pretty much any jazz/rock fusion idiom you can think of. I personally can't think of a better place to start, apart from maybe something with guitars ala Mahavishnu. I do se your point though, he has also done countless "pure"  jazz albums as well.


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## keeper006 (Jul 21, 2009)

Al DiMeola "Elegant Gypsy"
Allan Holdsworth "Sixteen Men of Tain"
The Guitar Trio "Friday Night in San Francisco"
Larry Coryell. These are all easy transitions from basic metal. If you're into polyrhythmic like Meshuggah then you could step up to more complicated stuff like Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis. But definitely find "Arcana" by Arc of the Testimony. It's jazz by Bill Lasell with the famous jazz drummer Tony Miles (his final album) with Buckethead on guitar. It's exactly what you're looking for.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 22, 2009)

Good call on "Elegant Gypsy" and "Arcana." I'd say some of the Tony Levin Band work would also be a good way to go, too. Pretty much it's Tony Levin (stick, bass, upright cello and upright bass), Jesse Gress (guitars), Larry Fast (keyboards), and Jerry Marotta (drums) giving you Peter Gabriel's early backup band minus David Rhodes (guitars) and Robert Fripp (guitars). "Double Esspresso" is the album you'll want to look for. I think that there was another one with the same line up, too.

For something a bit more adventuresome, I'd then go to look to Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (start with the studio disk and then get the double live cd). You'll hear a bit of improv modal work to it. David Torn adds a great Persian flavor to the live version over the studio one.


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## Holy Katana (Aug 4, 2009)

JakeRI said:


> Lack of improvisation and working with each other as a group, which is the fundamental of any jazz group, including dixie land. They have some examples of these, but no more of it then your average funk band (i.e. tower of power for example).
> 
> Its good stuff, for what it is, and i love Weather Report, but it isn't jazz. Its pop. And I love actual fusion too, so I'm not playing the "I only listen to swing, nothing else is real jazz" card.



I agree with that, but only for their later stuff. Their first few albums were full of improvisation, and were anything but pop. I'd say that they started going in their poppy direction with _Black Market_, although they'd had plenty of tunes earlier on that were mostly arranged, with solo sections over a short, repeating set of changes, or a one- or two-chord vamp. Even then, though, the solos tended to be several minutes long.

Since a lot of other guys have been mentioned, I'm going to try to recommend some people who haven't been:

Bill Frisell
Gary Burton
David Fiuczynski
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Brad Mehldau


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## rodia (Aug 17, 2009)

Davis, Coltrane, Parker or Mingus are all great, but I'd say John Zorn's projects are more appropiate for someone from a rock/metal environment. What is more, Marc Ribot gets usually involved into his bands, who is a GREAT guitarist, of jazz background, but he simply owns most blues, jazz or rock guitarists out there. He provided lots of magnificent guitar work for Tom Waits' albums too.

John Zorn's Naked City - already mentioned
Electric Masada - some of their work might be hard to grasp at first, but it'll turn out to be pure gold




+Medeski, Martin & Wood


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## meganutt7 (Aug 31, 2009)

There are alot of people you may dig.. Holdsworth was mentioned of course, but there is a cool album with Holdsworth on it... it's by a band called Gong. The album is called "A Wingful of Eyes". Awesome stuff... Also, The Mahavishnu stuff IS badass.. You may also want to check out Shakti, Mclaughlins' Indian music group.... Also, Larry Coryell is pretty badass.. Check out his album, Spaces. John Scofield is someone I really dig... A few great albums are: Still Warm, Time On My Hands, A-Go-Go (with Medeski Martin and Wood) and En Route. (different vibes). On a more fusiony tip, you will love Wayne Krantz and Oz Noy.. Both of these guys are beasts and groove like a mofo. Also, check out Scott Henderson... With Tribal Tech or on his own... He is just the mack daddy of mutant blues/jazz/fusion phrasing... super tasty and contemporary...

Also, you might like MY stuff... By all means let me know if you do...

www.myspace.com/dannyhayounakaprofessorparkinson

I play all the instruments on every track, bascially...

Some is more jazzy, some more metal, some fusiony and some, well.. beyond categorization....

Hope you dig.


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## ellengtrgrl (Aug 31, 2009)

This is pushing the envelope jazzwise, but The Dixie Dregs, and Jean Luc Ponty, are always pretty cool. Oh, and don't forget James Blood Ulmer, and the late Sonny Sharrock.


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## yingmin (Aug 31, 2009)

Some Japanese jazz groups like P'ez, Soil & "PIMP" Session, Jill-decoy Association, etc, will probably be easy for you to dig.


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## InCasinoOut (Aug 31, 2009)

Im surprised nobody's mentioned Return to Forever even though a few have mentioned Al Di Meola. RtF is probably the easiest way to get into fusion for metalheads.



edit: Al has some pretty ridiculous runs in this song. I was really bummed they didn't play this when I went to see them last year with my parents.

Also, on the subject of Al Di Meola, this is one of my favorites of his solo work. Fusion in harmonic minor!


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## AvantGuardian (Sep 1, 2009)

I definitely second the above RTF recommendation. I was just rocking out to Romantic Warrior (with a title like that, how could it not rock?) this weekend. 

Also, the Yellowjackets are great. Russ Ferrante and Jimmy Haslip are amazing players. Their first couple of albums had Robben Ford on guitar, but they went on without him after that (and got a sax player).


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## jjjsssxxx (Sep 7, 2009)

Bill Frisell was mentioned earlier but I gotta say his new album "Disfarmer" is amazing.
Also Kurt Rosenwinkel was mentioned. Check out the album "The Next Step." Very good.
Another guy I highly recommend is Adam Rogers.


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## Maestro (Sep 27, 2009)

I had the same problem with I started college as a music major. I was a jazz guitar major at first but couldn't get into it coming from a prog rock/metal background. I listened to so many different jazz guitarrists but after two semesters I decided to try classical guitar. I've been enjoying it a lot more. I feel like it is a lot closer to the kind of music I had been listening to.

For some reason I just couldn't get into jazz, at least not jazz guitar. I can enjoy a big band playing jazz, but for some reason the guitar thing didn't connect with me. It might have had something to do with my teacher, but who knows.

So hmmm, I can't recommend much in terms of jazz. I like Al di Meola, but that more fusion that pure jazz. Good luck on your journey to connect with jazz, I hope you have better luck than I did.


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## defchime (Sep 27, 2009)

ive been into it since i originally heard it, but its definitlely grown on me since i started this thread...im even considering starting a jazz/tech death band


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