Starting a Jazz collection is something every well-rounded music listener considers. Unfortunately, most folks have trouble getting started because they don't know where to begin. Do you start chronologically with Louis Armstrong or do you jump
right into the new stuff -- how about the '50's and '60's? Everyone is different, so where you begin will depend a lot on your musical taste.
We hope the information on this page provides you with some insight on how to build your CD collection as well as discover the essentials about the music, its players and its rich history.
There's a lot of great music out there. Take your time and have fun exploring the world of Jazz!
-- Michael Ricci (AAJ Founder & Publisher)
Jazz is NOT exactly rocket science, you know.
Jazz is creative, spontaneous, lively, energetic, romantic, boisterous and
playful...It is incredible driving music and whimsical dinner accompaniment.
Jazz is the ultimate romantic encounter companion...
It is the sort of music that crawls inside you slowly and captures a place in
your heart normally reserved for romance and passion...It is a burning glow
of seduction and a life-long journey of discovery...
And...so much to discover!
In order to discover jazz and all it offers, it is important to feel welcome.
While many are inspired to "study" jazz, it is exactly that energy that may
prevent new listeners from this path to discovery...
Hip Jazz-Bop! hopes to change this, and to provide a welcome mat for those
curious about the culture but don't know how to start.
Hip Jazz-Bop! is a series of nine CDs compiled from fantastic jazz recordings
originally released on Black Lion Records. Many critics will tell you some
of these artists' best work was recorded for Black Lion. The All Music
Guide, perhaps the most respected of all the reference books, ranks pianist
Thelonious Monk's recordings for Black Lion a five (out of five stars). Sax
players Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon's Black Lion recordings are given four
stars. Try finding consistently better Stephane Grappelli recordings than
those the violinist made for Black Lion.
The best tracks were chosen and compiled, not for how the artists relate to
one another as musicologists would hope for, but for how the music sounds
together. The colorful packages were created to make the culture welcome,
and to help those interested in discovery feel energized by jazz, not
intimidated by it.
We sincerely hope the concept is an open door for jazz curiousity seekers.
Once you are in the den of the culture of jazz, the energy that may be
difficult to understand while on the outside looking in will open in full
form, and you will soon find your own rhythm in this process of discovery.
We hope Hip Jazz-Bop! helps you get started!
-- Joe Maita (jerryjazzmusician.com)
