The Stupid List
I was watching that Clifford Brown autograph (as well as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, et al), but didn’t have enough interest to actually bid on it. To my surprise, there were only five bidders altogether, which would seem to indicate minimal interest at that price, which turned out to be $482.11. I did casually mention when I wrote the earlier post that Clifford was probably among my top five musicians of all time and that I would ponder that and do another post on it this weekend. Sometimes, as we all do, I say and do stupid things. It was stupid to even suggest that I could create a list of top five favorite musicians, when there are so many musicians I love and each musician brings something different and special to my life and my enjoyment of music. Last night I was listening to the Dexter Gordon record, Getting’ Around, Blue Note 4204, and I was thinking about how much I love Dexter and how much I treasured seeing him as often as I did in the early and mid-1970s, particularly his very first club date when he began playing again in the United States. And, goodness, what an amazing ballad performance on “Who Can I Turn To.” And then I put on two Miles Davis records, Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain, and I thought
how could I ever leave Miles off a list of favorites. And then I put on a Bill Evans record, and then an Art Tatum record, and then a Paul Desmond record, favorites all. And yet, still, I thought about that post I did the other day and what would I do if someone put a gun to my head and said I had to name five jazz musicians that were my “favorites.” So now I am going to compound the stupid mistake I made the other day by promising to think about this silly task, and I am actually going to make a Stupid List of the five musicians that emerged from my pondering. This is jazz only, so it leaves out The Beatles or James Taylor or other musicians I also revere in different genres. Anyway, my Stupid List is this: John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins. Those are easy, no thought, no questions. Next is Miles Davis. Also pretty easy. The last one is hardest. Clifford is among the contenders, as are Bill Evans, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley and Thelonious Monk. My final choice: As I suggested the other day, it is Clifford Brown. Before anyone gets wacky and talks about other musicians, say how can I even compare Clifford Brown to Louis Armstrong, as an example, I say this: This is my Stupid List. If you don’t like it, make your own Stupid List.
Al, My Stupid Jazz List differs from yours only in that Mingus and Silver take the place of Clifford and Sonny. I think we can agree to disagree on that. 🙂
Silver will always have a special place in my heart, as his records constitute about 1/2 of my Blue Note collection because for some reason, I stumble upon decent original copies regularly. I have always loved them, and more and more Silver is becoming a top favorite of mine.
I suppose as long as you call it “stupid” there’s no argument. I think your five are clearly worthy, but 10 more pop IMMEDIATELY to mind, so I won’t even try.
My stupid five are Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver and Grant Green. As a guitarist at heart, I couldn’t leave my favorite Jazz guitarist off my list even if I was leaning towards Art Blakey. Great post.
Horace Silver
Thelonious Monk
Herbie Hancock
Clifford Brown
Lee Morgan
.
Took me five seconds…I think I make the task easier by considering that for me, composition is just as important if not more important than playing, so it helps me to narrow it down easier. There’s dozens of jazz composers/musicians I love but these are easily my top five.
My stupid list :
Stan Getz
John Coltrane
Bill Evans
Blue Mitchell
Herbie Hancock
Miles Davis.
My stupid 5 list is so stupid, it has 6 names.
My stupid top 5:
Charlie Parker
Lee Morgan
Art Pepper
Sonny Rollins
John Coltrane
Miles
Coltrane
Clifford
Mingus
Roland Kirk
My stupid list:
Miles
Coltrane
Mingus
Monk
Lee Morgan
Mingus, Monk, Miles, Evans, Rollins
I’ll steal HD’s list but exchange Rollins for Morgan.
I think a stupid list that doesn’t include duke Ellington is really a stupid list.However here it is mine
ellington
mingus
bill Evans
coltrane
davis
lee Konitz
and 100 more…
Mingus, Miles, Trane, Bill Evans, Giuffre. How stupid to be limited to five, “Take Five” being Al’s order to be followed strictly, this includes Paul Desmond, so here I am, five no more.
O.k. How about this list: Ray Brown,
Percy Heath, Red Mitchell, Paul Chambers, And Niels Henning Orsted Pederson for the guys who never get mentioned..
…and should!
michel, i laughed a lot more than i should admit at that. well done.
teach: my list had mingus! and for bassists, you simply MUST include jimmy garrison!
i’ll even be controversial and say i LOVE slam stewart.
Fredrik: For talking about how much you love the trumpet on your site, your list sure does have a lot of sax in it! 😉
Top 5 Jazz Musicians:
(1.) Billie Holiday (I consider her voice a Jazz instrument)
(2.) Miles Davis
(3.) Oscar Peterson
(4.) Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives & Sevens)
(5.) Dave Brubeck
1,2,3,4,5: Coltrane
Parker
Trane
Sonny Clark
Hank Mobley
Mister P.C.
Top Five
1- Beyonce
2- Kanye
3- Taylor Swift
4- One Direction
5- One More
Congratulations, Bill. That is truly a Stupid List.
…That’s pretty much where I was at with it as well “doctor jazz”. Coltrane, Bird, Canonball, Ella, Evans etc. were definitely amoung the original draft picks, but I broke it down based on the “desert album” approach, and favorite go-to LPs… It came down to artists that had some personal meaning in the end. Most of the top five artists I chose had L’Ps I could listen to forever, and included any artists not in the top five list as side-men anyway. (Sort of cheated by that logic…)
Miles
Monk
Evans
Dorham
Bud powell
I forgot Dolphy! Let us never speak of this again.
This is my list:
Tp: Clifford Brown
B: Oscar Pettiford
D: Roy Haynes
P: Carl Perkins
Reeds: Eric Dolphy
I do love Kenny Dorham, but there is something about Clifford that is so special. Same with Bill Evans, Bill Evans may be the best jazz pianist ever, but I think Perkins was so underrated, I wanted to give him the nod. And I love Perkins playing, it is very distinctive.
50’s
Miles
Art Pepper
Benny Golson
Brubeck & Desmond
Hank Mobley
60’s
Stanley Turrentine
Quincy Jones(arr)
Lee Morgan
Ramsey Lewis
Dexter Gordon
70’s
Deodato
George Duke
Crusaders
Janne Schaffer (Ok I’m from Sweden;_)
Herbie Hancock
Some did excellent work in all decades 😉
Stupid five.
Ellington
miles
Trane
Monk
Bird
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Rich: I know, I know 🙂 I could easily replace someone (not Charlie Parker though) with a trumpeter, no doubt.
Tough (hence, stupid?).
The obvious choices of Trane, Miles, Bird, Mingus and Monk, are not on my go to list. So. . .
1. Cotrane
2. Miles Davis
3. Joe Henderson
4. Wayne Shorter
5. Jackie McLean
I could not live without the Shorter, McLean,and Henderson 60’s Blue Notes. Joe makes the list not only becuase of his group led efforts, but also as a result of the remarkable list of sessions in which he sat (Una Mas, Unity, Real McCoy, Black Fire, Point of Departure, etc . . .)
Cecil Taylor
Coltrane
Ayler
Frank Wright
Don Cherry
and a bunch more…
In no particular order:
1. Bobby Timmons
2. Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis
3. Shirley Scott
4. Phineas Newborn, Jr.
5. Cannonball Adderly
Bill Evans
John Coltrane
Wayne Shorter
Joe Henderson
Andrew Hill
Top 5 –
1. Miles Davis
2. Art Blakey
3. John Coltrane
4. Herbie Hancock
5. Thelonious Monk
I just discovered it and must say that I love this funny concept of the Stupid List.
If a spontaneus Top 5 List including Sonny Rollins – Thelonious Monk – Miles Davis – John Coltrane – Bill Evans (those ones often mentionned) is stupid , then I try an alternative one (no order) :
Wayne Shorter
Sonny Stitt
Lee Konitz
Tommy Flanagan
Gerry Mulligan
Two lists … OK, I’m cheating … (must be Stupid).
Based on the records I play the most :
Horace Silver
Art Blakey
Miles Davis
Cannonball Adderly
Duke Ellington
And I have to give Honorable mention to Brubeck and Vince Guralddi. I have one album by Guaraldi (other than Peanuts Xmas) and it goes into the morning heavy rotation. Kinda off beat I know.