(CA ggressive, boastful,
complex, extremely
heavy”—these words describe
very well not only this
particular genre of music, but
also the greats who created it.
Many of them were virtuosos
and by the time a lot of them
graduated high school, they
were experts of their choice
instruments, moving their
fingers up and down their
instruments so quickly that
you'd need to be in bullet-time
to see even 10 per cent of the
moves they were making. Some
lived fast and died young. A lot
of them were born into less-
than-desirable circumstances
and music was their only
escape from their troubles.
Many of these legends were
mentally ill, and many of them
were heroin addicts. Most,
as it happens, were both.
But in any case, they
were masters of their
craft and are considered
to be some of history’s
most talented composers
and instrumentalists.
I’m not talking about
extreme metal, though to
mix up these two genres from
a description like that would
be totally understandable.
Replace seven-string electric

guitars and
lightning Aa

 
 
   

Jazz for Dummies:

speed double bass with an alto
saxophone and a double-time
swing beat, and you're close.
I'm talking about jazz.

I’ve been a big jazz geek
for about three or four years
now, and this is a list of
albums that I believe provides
essential aural experiences
for anyone who decides to
become more musically
educated. I picked every
album for different reasons.
Some are really accessible,
and some require repeated
spins and your undivided
attention. Some are low-key
and soft, and some are among
the most musically complex
sound recordings ever. But all
of them are must-hear albums
for anyone who wants to take
“experiencing jazz” off of their
bucket list.

Blue Train (1957) by John
Coltrane
This is one of those albums
where you start it from the top
and it captures your attention
within the first 10 seconds.
The opening notes of the title
track sting you like a shoe-
dwelling scorpion before
they begin the song properly
and execute perfectly timed
switches between really fast
and impossibly fast; this goes
for the band, of course, but
more so for ‘Trane himself,

who rolls into the station and
walks out on a velvet red carpet
to uproarious fanfare every
time he plays a saxophone
solo. Coltrane and his merry
musical men kick off the hard
bop revolution with his best
album of the 1950s. Lend an
ear out for “Locomotive” and
“Lazy Bird” if you want to hear
what beats per minute can
conceivably measure. Other
than Psytrance fans, you all
should consider sticking to it.

Time Out (1959) by The Dave
Brubeck Quartet

The coolest of cool jazz, this
album got its catchy name
from the fact that with every
single tune on this record,
piano player Dave Brubeck
decided to have a little fun with
unorthodox time signatures.
In layman’s terms, if you’ve
ever listened to a song and
thought, “That’s a pretty odd
place to end/begin that part of
the song,” you were probably
listening to a not quite four-
to-the-floor beat. You'll likely
have these thoughts every few
seconds or so listening to this
record, most notably with
“Take Five,” a composition
written solely by saxophone
player Paul Desmond; the
quartet’s signature songs “Blue
Rondo a la Turk” and “Strange
Meadowlark” can and will