Recommended Listening

I’ve put together some Spotify playlists as recommended listening for my students and anyone who is new to jazz. They are grouped by instrument. Of course, these lists don’t include everything and everyone, there’s a lot of other music that I also recommend you listen to. These playlists are just meant to be a starting point, to introduce some of the classics. They include a little bit from a few different artists you should check out. If you like the sound of a particular musician then do some research and check them out further. Listen to more of their music, until you become very familiar with their work. 

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When listening to this music please bear the following in mind… 

Don’t just listen to the style of music, try to listen to the individual musicians and the sound of their instrument. Do any of the musicians have a sound that you particularly like? If so, listen to more of them and try to copy them. Try to recreate that sound on your instrument. Study that artist. 

Try not to judge the music based on whether you like it or not, or whether it sounds old or new. Be open. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to be familiar with it. These are the classics, the great jazz artists. You should get to know them. If you were an art student you would be expected to recognise the difference between a Turner and a Van Gogh. It doesn’t matter which one you’d rather have on your wall. The same is true of jazz. 

How does the music make you feel? Any answer is ok! 

What do you think they are trying to say to you? What emotion are they trying to convey? How do they use their instrument to project that emotion or feeling? 

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Enjoy!