strongly recommend, some of the best music of the era imo

Let me guess he's on the country albums

op? nah hes on one of the very orchestrated vocal jazz-y ones

These 3 the only ones I had down for him on my list

• Ray Charles (57)
• The genius of ray Charles (59)
• Modern sounds in country and western music (62)

Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles (59)

I said earlier itt, but this was a really great first listen. Usually albums from this series have taken a few listens to really appreciate, but this one was pretty immediate. Vocally he was amazing all over this album, the song selection on point, the instrumentals amazing. Everything really just comes together with this one. I will say that this album does start more or less pretty slow. It isn't until track 7 does it really hits it's stride with Just For Thrill. A lot of the tracks on here really remind me of both Lady In Satin and In the Wee Small hours, mostly likely has to do with the jazz, orchestral combinations. I also love the background vocals throughout this.

Going back to the stretch from track 7. Almost every song after this is flawless fr, You Won't Let Me Go, Tell Me You'll Wait For Me, Don't Let The Sun, etc now that's some real music. Love the melancholic and mellow vibes on these tracks. But the albums ends on probably the highlight of the project, Come Rain Or Come Shine. This song is beautiful asf. The lyrics paired with those dramatic strings and Ray's vocals, s*** is sum else.

Yeah, but I'm with you alwayssss, I'm with you rainnnn or shineeeeeee

Favorite Tracks: Come Rain Or Come Shine, You Won't Let Me Go, You'll Wait For Me
Least Alexander's Ragtime

Say man

I’m late, but I’ve been meaning to check out In The Wee Small Hours and I am now and this s*** is gorgeous (but sad)

Damn @op started with the 50s that’s too bad because Woody Guthries Dust Bowl Ballads came out in 1940 and it is an essential old album. Might be the first concept album ever recorded

Have you read Frank Sinatra Has a Cold? One of the first truly great musician profiles, incredibly informative

Nah, might have to check it out tho. Seems like it's interesting

its a bit long in parts but I read it every once in a while, it just puts you right in there

In

Album cover hard as s*** tbh

Bo Diddley - Go Bo Diddley (59)

Yeah wasn't too big of a fan of this album. There's some good songs across the project, but overall this didn't really do much for me. The album's only like 30 minutes, but it felt like it was taking an hour plus to finish it. Kinda felt like the album was just dragging especially in that second half.

Wasn't really drawn in by majority of the instrumentals, and the lyrics were so so. The album does start off pretty high tho I will say that with Crackin Up and I'm Sorry. Those were the highlights for me. Wish there was more songs like that on this project.

Favorite Tracks: Crackin Up, I'm Sorry
Least Favorite: Oh Yea

moanin

The drum thunder

Yeah this top tier jazz right here

Title track sum special

Art Blakey - Moanin' (59)

This album exceeded all expectations I had for it. Going into this one, I saw quite a bit of acclaim so I was expecting greatness and that's what I got. The album starts with the title track Moanin. Moanin is special, just starting with the little piano intro then just progressing into this very groovy and upbeat track with amazing improv from both the sax and trumpet giving the song this somewhat mysterious and ominous vibe, idk exactly what to call it but it's amazing.

The album never really lets up after this track. The album was able to stay very melodic, while also being very engaging. The chemistry amongst the band players is crazy. Also the many different changes of pace, most notable in The Drum Thunder suite also add to how energetic this project is, not too many dull moments on here. Going back The Drum Thunder suite, this track right here really lives up to it's name, meaning the drums and rhythm on this are especially crazy as if it was real thunder. Not only just the drums, but honestly everything bout this song is perfect, especially all the switch ups that keep you guessing.

I will say Blue's March is probably the weakest moment on here, not that it was bad, but it just wasn't anything special especially when sitting next to the rest of the songs on here. Overall great album

Favorite Tracks: The Drum Thunder Suite, Moanin
Least Favorite: Blues March

With my ranking system. Moanin might be the highest one so far

Goodbye pork pie hat is beautiful

Self portrait

Charles Mingus - Ah Um (59)

Mingus really outdid himself with this one. I thought The Clown and Pithecanthropus were good but this really blows both of them out the water. This album is filled with amazing pieces from top to bottom. The run from the opening track to Open Letter To Duke is some really amazing stuff there. The album is really almost adventurous in terms of how it flows. Like it really keeps you on the edge of your seat, because you don't really know what to expect. Starting with the very energetic and fast paced Better Get Hit In Your Soul, which is then followed by Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, which is a very melodic cool jazz piece. This is then followed by Boogie Stop Shuffle, another energetic piece. There's a lot of range that's being displayed here.

Another factor that results in the quality of this album is just how unique and distinct it is. I'm no music theorist, but just from my listening experience, there's not too many jazz projects I heard that sound like this. I'm guessing this is from the way Mingus approach his work, by incorporating a lot of non traditional sounds, styles, etc. It's hard to explain, but there's sounds in this album, that isn't typical from other jazz works I heard so far.

This album is very free-flowing, in terms of how it's structured. Like I said before, it's adventurous with the mixture of high and low energy songs. With that being said Mingus is somehow able to maintain the same level of engagement for both types, like the low energy songs are just as a captivating as the high if not more at times. This is seen with the best song on the project, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Don't really know what to say about that song, just a really beautiful piece that illustrates how powerful music can be. Cause even though there's no lyrics, you really feel this song and all the emotions of sorrow and grief it's trying to convey.

With that being said, the lowpoints of this album for me were probably the last two songs. Not that they were bad, but compared to the rest of the project, they were kinda lackluster.

Favorite Tracks: Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Better Get Hit In Your Soul, Self-Portrait In Three Colours
Least Favorite: P**** Cat Dues, Jelly Roll

Dinah Washington - What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! (59)

I was originally going to cut this album out of my list, and I kinda wish I did. Not that it's bad but it's pretty boring. Full albums from Dinah Washington never really did it for me. She has a great singing voice, but everything else doesn't really connect with me. This album might be a lil too mellow and slow for my liking. Also the only version I could find on streaming was the stereo where vocals and instrumentations are hard panned. These the flaws, there's some cool tracks on here like Cry Me a River and the title track

Favorite Tracks: Cry Me A River, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
Least Favorite: That's All There is To That.