looking for very slow jazz, any suggestions?

[scottmjazz]

Hi, I am extremely new here.

I am looking for a certain type of jazz music, I'm not sure if it falls under a certain style. I would say it is slow jazz, or mellow jazz. Maybe blue? What I have found so far that I really like is usually from the 50’s and 60’s. I tend to think of it as rainy night, urban. The drum sometimes has a brush sound, it is very slow, ah, I will just stop there before I embarrass myself further. (hopefully this is amusing for veteran enthusiasts, versus irritating..)

A few examples:
In A Sentimental Mood, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
A Ballad, Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan, Getz Meets Mulligan in Hi Fi
The Masquerade Is Over, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley
Ruby My Dear, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane

I am slowly building a collection and have been doing ok on my own, but thought I would ask. I would take any information at all. Albums to check out, labels, personal favorites, websites for more info, etc. Thanks very much.

Scott Miller
Tucson AZ

[Siddhartha]

Three records from the top of my head that fit your description:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (fairly obvious choice, but still...)
Mark Isham - Blue Sun
Charles Lloyd - The Water is Wide

This has been discussed before, though. Check out this thread: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=29666

[page]

Hi Scottmjazz, welcome to the AAJ forum. I didn't know the expression 'mellow' jazz yet, but I like the really slow jazz too. I'm a singer and ballads are my favourite to sing, just because I can express so much more in them. I used to call it 'smooth' jazz but right here on the board I found out there was something different meant by that term. I call it sensitive jazz, but what's in a name.
Maybe you will find some music you like in the ballads-thread too: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=40854
Have fun around here!
And Siddhartha, thanks for posting that link, I must have missed that one.

regards, page

[Moreno]

Not yet mentioned:
Chet Baker: Chet
A classic from the late Fifties.
This ones is super mellow from a mellow jazzman.

[cultchas]

These are some slow jazz tunes, artists, album and label:

Naima - John Coltrane; Giant Steps (Atlantic)
What is there to say - Sonny Rollins; The sound of Sonny (Riverside)
That's all - Lester Young; Pres and Sweets (Verve)
The Infants Song - Art Farmer; When Farmer Met Gryce (Prestige)

Not from 60's or 50's but has the feel of what youre looking for, I hope:

Warm valley - Paul Desmond; Pure Desmond (CTI)

No brushwork, no drums at all but again hoping its something what you like:

Morning Blues - Michel Petrucciani; Power of three (Blue Note)

I could not recall an album where all tracks are super slow between 50 and 60s. Try checking "themed" jazz compilations of the following labels:

1) Blue Note
2) Riverside
3) Contemporary
4) Prestige
5) Verve
6) Atlantic
7) Columbia
8) Emarcy

Happy listening!!

[Jackie P]

Maybe mellow, maybe smooth, maybe even fitting into both camps...

Milt Jackson & The Modern Jazz Quartet

Most recordings..

[MellowOut]

Tomasz Stanko makes a lot of slow and mellow music. You should check out these recordings: Leosia, Lontano and two of my favs which are Suspended Night and Soul of Things.

[hepcat1950]

One of the most impressing contemporary instrumental groups with regard to slowness, quietness, and subtlety has been the Tord Gustavsen Trio. I never saw a drummer like Jarle Vespestad literally caressing his drum set.

Visit the website of the trio also offering sound samples.

Check out John Kelman's excellent reviews of the albums Being There and The Ground.

[walkin]

Originally Posted by Moreno

Not yet mentioned:
Chet Baker: Chet
A classic from the late Fifties.
This ones is super mellow from a mellow jazzman.

I`ll add Bill Evans-Moon Beams

[spitfirepete]

Grant Green's "Stolen Moments".......you won't find a better example...

[Jimmer]

Originally Posted by Moreno

Not yet mentioned:
Chet Baker: Chet
A classic from the late Fifties.
This ones is super mellow from a mellow jazzman.

I think it would be an excellent choice, too. Here's the cover:

[AndyL]

Originally Posted by spitfirepete

Grant Green's "Stolen Moments".......you won't find a better example...

You mean "Idle Moments" I think ("Stolen Moments" was Oliver Nelson)? That one always annoys me because it slows down so much in the course of the song, when the head comes back in at the end it sounds ridiculous because the tempo has gone too slow for it.

[spitfirepete]

Originally Posted by AndyL

You mean "Idle Moments" I think ("Stolen Moments" was Oliver Nelson)? That one always annoys me because it slows down so much in the course of the song, when the head comes back in at the end it sounds ridiculous because the tempo has gone too slow for it.

.

Yeah......my age is showing....

[robmid]

I recently made an iTunes compilation of "Mellow Jazz." Much of it are recordings of ballads. One place to start may be the Blue Note compilations "Music for Lovers." They compile the mellow side of many Blue Note artists. They include Dexter Gordon, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, and Stanley Turrentine.

There are two Art of the Ballad albums compiled by Prestige of Kenny Dorham and also Dexter Gordon.

Then there's Ballads by John Coltrane as well as "In a Gentle Mood"

By Miles there's Kind of Blue, Someday My Prince Will Come and ESP (Most of his albums contain a couple of great ballads)
Same goes for Wayne Shorter. They should compiles his ballads from his Blue Notes - some of the most beautiful ever.

Modern mellow albums include:

Worlds by Aaron Goldberg
Eternal by Branford Marsalis
For Sentimental Reasons by Bobby Hutherson
Voice in the Night and Notes from Big Sur by Charles Lloyd
Seasons of Change by Brian Blade
Easy Living by Enrico Rava
Sideways by Jacob Young
The Widow in the Window, Angel Song and It Takes Two by Kenny Wheeler
Alhambra Love Songs by John Zorn
Another Place by Mark Copland
January by Marcin Wasilewski
Blue Sun and Afterglow by Mark Isham
Ballad Session by Mark Turner
The Door by Mattias Eck
The Nearness of You by Michael Brecker
Northern Lights by Mike Mainieri
Where is There by Myriam Alter
Time and Time again - Paul Motian
A Long Story by Anat Fort
Approaching Standards by Roy Hargrove
Mostly Coltrane by Steve Kuhn
From the Green Hill by Tomasz Stanko

None of these are the same style, but they are all pretty mellow and mostly quite beautiful.

Cheers,

[Brasko]

You can't go wrong with Ben Webster. Check him out.