The most influential jazz compositions .... ?

[ProfD]

What about for the organ crowd? The Sermon or Back At The Chicken Shack perhaps?

Great call.

 

Jimmy Smith made the world hip to jazz organ with those compositions.

[retrokeys]

+1. I'm not sure if it is the composition or the overall "sound" that makes the Jimmy Smith catalog as influential as it is. For sure, "Chicken Shack" on piano doesn't have the same impact as it does on the B3, yet Smith did real justice to standards all through his career. Many of these entered the public ear as piano tunes first before he got them. If I had to pick a Smith tune that was really influential for me, at least, it would be "The Cat." The use of the organ within the big band setting on that tune sure legitimized organ as a jazz instrument for me and after hearing his version of the blues standard "I Got My Mojo Workin'" I knew that for me, piano would be a secondary interest from then on.

 

[retrokeys]

Just to prove how strongly a player can be identified with a tune....I went to give the "Cat" a listen for old times sake and discovered it was written by Lalo Schifrin. Oooops.

[ADino]

Talking about the organ crowd...anyone hip to Winston Walls?

[Tusker]

 

Off the top of my head for me it'd be things like Begin the Beguine/Yesterdays by God himself,

 

It's a mark of his influence that no one has had to ask who Kayvon is referring to!

 

Yesterdays is by Jerome Kern isn't it?

[Kayvon]

Yes, i'm not sure if Tatum wrote many/any tunes. Tatum Pole Boogie perhaps?

[retrokeys]

Winston Walls used to play regularly and lived from time to time in my former hometown of Lexington, KY. Despite his imposing appearance he was, at heart, a truly nice guy and a great organist. The most intimidated I ever got was when I was playing a small club and Winston was working just across the street. I was about 22 at the time. He stopped in during a break and sat right down front. I thought court was definitely in session. As I say, once you got to know him however, he was a good man to know and generous with advice. "The Master of the B3" for sure.

[SK]

Good insights on here. Skip this post if you want to protect your sanity.

 

Yeah, Wayne Shorter has a wealth of great compositions. I didn't mention Wayne tunes like I didn't first mention "Giant Steps" - I was trying to narrow the field to universal influence - or jazz that influenced public listening and propelled it beyond musician circles. And I was going with Tusker's suggestion - actual jazz compositions, not tunes that later became jazz standards.

 

Add to that list, lots of Fats Waller tunes like "Jitterbug Waltz", all Charlie Parker and Bud Powell tunes introducing bebop, like Bird's all important album/tune "Now's The Time".

 

If you include innovative jazz writing and composition, the list is a lot longer: Richie Powell's clever writing for the Clifford Brown recordings, etc., Gunther Schuller, George Russell, Vince Mendoza, on and on.

 

If we're talking influential jazz recordings, not just compositions themselves, then Louis Armstrong's early recordings, Billy Holiday's "God Bless The Child" as her singing influenced generations of singers, Frank Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin" for the exact same reason, and Jimmy Giuffre's and Jimmy Rainey's improvised "Thesis" for the first "free jazz" recording.

 

For instrument specific music like harmonica and organ (honorable mentions on organ: Don Patterson and Larry Young) include Alice Coltrane for harp, Bela Fleck for banjo, and throw in Rufus Harley for the first jazz bagpipe recordings.

 

What about guys who pushed the envelope of their instruments like Roland Kirk, Cecil Taylor, or Eric Dolphy?

 

We're still left with an endless list of players who heavily influenced others on their instruments, like Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Chick Corea for piano, Tal Farlow, Pat Martino and Joe Pass to John McLaughlin, Scofield or Bill Frisell for guitar, Ron Carter to Charlie Haden, bass, Gene Krupa to Tony Williams and Elvin Jones, drums, etc.

 

Mind boggling list that's never complete, but fun to try.

 

 

 

[Dave Ferris]

If it didn't derail the thread too much it'd be interesting to see which tunes are most influential to each particular persons jazz piano playing as well.

 

Well since we covered most of the original thread I'll throw out my list here.

 

Maybe my ail time favorite tune, one I've been playing close to 30 years. I never get tired of playing it...Clare Fischer's "Pensativa".

 

I tend to play the same songs over and over, year after year...........

 

Benny Golson:

Whisper Not

Along Came Betty

Stablemates

 

Billy Strayhorn:

Isfahan

Lush Life

Upper Medical Manhattan Group (UMMG)

Chelsea Bridge

 

Bill Evans:

Very Early

 

Chick Corea:

Windows

Spain

Crystal Silence

Humpty Dumpty

Tones for Jones Bones

 

Herbie Hancock:

Dolphin Dance

 

Kenny Barron:

Voyage

 

Monk:

I Mean You

Bye-Ya

Eronel

Ask Me Now

Reflections

 

Trane:

Giant steps

Moments Notice

Naima

26-2

Bessie's Blues

Lazy Bird

 

Cedar Walton:

Boliva

 

Tadd Dameron:

Hot House

Lady Bird

 

Steve Swallow:

Falling Grace

 

Dizzy Gillespie:

Con Alma

Night In Tunsia

 

Bud Powell:

Bouncin' with Bud

Celia

 

Wayne Shorter:

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum

Speak No Evil

El Gaucho

Black Nile

 

Sam Rivers:

Beatrice

 

George Shearing:

Conception

 

Dave Brubeck:

In Your Own Sweet Way

 

Clifford Brown:

Daahoud

Joy Spring

 

Bobby Hutcherson:

Little B's Poem

 

Miles Davis:

Milestones (Original one with the changes, Bird played Tenor on it)

Four

Seven steps to Heaven (co author is Victor Feldman)

 

Bird:

Yardbird Suite

Donna Lee

Confirmation

Scapple from the Apple

 

Joe Henderson:

Inner urge

Recorda me

 

I probably left some things out but that's all I can think of for right now. I'll add has I remember.

 

A lot of the Jobim stuff too.

 

Horace Silver:

Nica's Dream

Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lucasb]

Dave you'd fit in real nice here in Philly playing all those tunes.

[kanker.]

Talking about the organ crowd...anyone hip to Winston Walls?

I knew Winston a little, got into a few "duels" with him on stage at this little club here in Indy where I used to play some Sunday nights.

[Blue JC]

In my opinion, the most influential early 20th century jazz compositions that made a lot of later jazz compositions possible (with a little help from Bing Crosby) was probably the Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Seven records. Pops doesn't get enough credit in the jazz world but he opened a lot of doors.

[ADino]

Talking about the organ crowd...anyone hip to Winston Walls?

I knew Winston a little, got into a few "duels" with him on stage at this little club here in Indy where I used to play some Sunday nights.

 

Winston dueled w/everyone..I started going to a cabaret when I was like 16...when Winston walked in, he would simply say your gig is over, my gig now....to anyone on the B..that included some pretty heavyweight cats...someone recently laid a cd on me of Winston n McGriff "dueling"...Winston was a bad cat...I grew up going to that cabaret, where I got to hear many famous cats, sit in..I dont mean grew up in age. When I did a few stints with Groove Holmnes, he knew where I was from..he would always ask me what Winston was doing...Sadly there arent many of the B cats left..1 still going strong over in Pittsburgh, my old friend Gene Ludwig.

[Jaime Chimuelo]

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by T.Monk.

I could ramble all night about others but it is my old favorite.

 

http://forums.planetz.com/download/file.php?id=2969

[Jazz+]

Songbird by Kenny G?

[SMcD]

Songbird by Kenny G?

 

*twitch*

[moj]

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by T.Monk.

I could ramble all night about others but it is my old favorite.

 

http://forums.planetz.com/download/file.php?id=2969

 

Charles Mingus composed Goodbye Pork Pie Hat as a tribute to Lester Young. BTW, that was a sublime recording, nice arrangement. What did you use for the Rhodes?