Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

[pro-fusion]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

For blues guitar, my alltime favorite album is Albert King's "Live Wire/Blues Power". Every single blues lick you need to know is contained on that one album.

Jazz guitar is such a varied thing, it's hard to give a list. My favorite fusion guitarists are Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Shawn Lane, not necessarily in that order. For more traditional jazz, I've always been fond of Wes Montgomery's work. I have to say, though, that most traditional jazz guitar kind of bores me--I much prefer to listen to the trumpet and saxophone guys. John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" album alone has inspiration enough for a lifetime.

[thetroy]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

Allan Holdsworth

I got into jazz/fusion by accident when I downloaded some stuff from Jens and Anders Johansson (of Stratovarius and HammerFall, respectively. also played with Yngwie) and it turned out to be a fusion album with them and Holdsworth called "Heavy Machinery"

[hippietim]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

I'm listening to The Inner Mounting Flame by the Mahavishnu Orchestra today. That's bad ass.

Some other great stuff:
Gov't Mule - Warren Haynes is a SMOKIN' guitarist

Derek Trucks - most amazing slide player I've ever heard

The Hellecasters - crazy good tele pickin'

Kula Shaker - very eclectic blues, pop, and eastern blend

Michael Hedges - beautiful acoustic work

Johnny Hilland - the heir apparent to Danny Gatton - freaky good

Oh, and the MUST HAVE jazz disc is Miles Davis "A Kind of Blue" - that is sooooooo good.

And if you are at all interested in giving some country music a listen I would suggest any of Brad Paisley's discs - great guitarist and singer plus his songs are often pretty funny. Clint Black is very good too.

[Ralph E.]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

Thanks guys, some great stuff on here. I already checked most of it out on itunes.

[hippietim]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

Any conclusions Ralph?

[beaner]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

Jumping in a little late here:

Blues -
John Mayall - Chicago Line this cd turned me on to blues
John Mayall - Sense of Place

Any of the Buddy Guy / Junior Wells cds. There are several with them together.

John Lee Hooker - Mr Lucky JLH is one of the first electric bluesmen. Good stuff, though not the 'set your fingers aflame' kind of blues.

Keb' Mo' is good. He's an excellent player, but doesn't really show it. A great example of good songwriting for contemporary blues, but you might wanna pass on him if you're specifically looking for guitar blues.

Rick Derringer has a couple good blues cds, though I can't think of their names at the moment.

Jazz: Other than Al Dimeola, I can't think of a thing. My wife likes the Yellow Jackets (that's Robbin Ford isn't it?) But jazz, for the most part, just bores the holy hell out of me. YMMV

One guy I can heartily recommend, though I can't figure where to categorize him is Gary Hoey. I've yet to hear him attempt a style that he couldn't pull off convincingly. If you don't know him, he's sorta like a Satch or Vai in that he puts out guitar oriented mostly instrumental cds. However, he has a MUCH broader range than those guys in my opinion. He'll go from a spanish type jazz thing, to Dick Dale style surf music, to flat out rock on the same cd. I totally dig all his cds except Money. For some reason, that one sorta sucked. My faves are his newest (self titled), the Endless Summer 2 soundtrack, and Bug Alley. He also has some good xmas music cds too.

[toejam]

Re: Jazz/Blues cd suggestions

Rory Gallagher.
Gov't Mule.