Last Train Jazz Essential Recordings #0

Okay, so here it comes: a series of posts featuring what I consider to be must-have recordings for any discerning jazz fan. It's going to be much like those 100 records to hear before you die lists, except there may end up being more than 100. And they won't all come out in one go. And they won't be ranked in descending or, in fact, any particular order.

Why am I doing this? It's not because I have any delusions that my critical prowess will open the minds of any die-hard Winton Marsalis acolytes to the world beyond that perfectly preserved body of canonically pure classic jazz, whatever that is. As is usual with these lists, even the least-jaded musical palettes will deride the inclusion of this record in preference to that one, and wax incredulous about omitted favourites of their own. Even Jazzy G and I argue the toss at times. 

No, I'm doing this mainly because:

• I hope I might be able to turn a few open-eared people on to music they've not previously heard (one of the few redeeming qualities of some of the more exploitative streaming platforms out there - you know which ones I'm talking about)
• my choices might stir up debate and maybe even generate some alternative suggestions I haven't considered, or even heard - my CD racks could do with a little extra bloating, after all
• it's a good excuse to revisit some of the less-traveled corners of my collection.

And my criteria for induction to this exclusive inventory? You may well ask. As usual, I'm working more with feel than logic, but I'm listing recordings that stand out to me for one or more of these reasons:

• they're a landmark recording from a particular artist or band
• in my opinion, they're overlooked classics, or underrated examples of an artist's or band's back catalogue
• they hold a particular place in my affections for some other reason

In other words, they're my choices and I'll justify their inclusion however I like, got it?

To begin with, at least, I'm limiting my selection to one recording per artist/band. Inevitably that's going to be tricky with some artists. Being a man of very little self-discipline, I'm highly sceptical (away with you, American spell-checker) that I'll be able to keep that up for long without cheating. Let's see how we get on. 

I'm going to tag each post in the series LTJ Essentials, so you can search them, read them, and vent your frustrations by posting vehemently disagreeing comments in the best of jazz-fan traditions. 

Standby for my first selection.