While jazz is not a dying art form, it’s not always a part of mainstream music radio stations. But the legacy of jazz giants like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Dave Brubeck are still thriving and finding new generations of audiences. And contemporary artists like Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Terrance Blanchard, Tutu Puoane, Carmen Lundy carry on the tradition, insuring that jazz lives on forever.
If the names of these artists are not familiar to you, then you can read more about them from a slew of well designed and content-filled websites featuring album lists, reviews, sample MP3s, concert and club performance videos that I’ll be listing.
The aptly named 100 Greatest Jazz Albums site offers a great “100 Best” catalog, including recording dates and reviews for each album. It also includes other lists for great free music – jazz podcasts to listen to, 100 Jazz CD albums, charts and a jazz gig guide. Best of all, there are very few obtrusive ads on the site.
If you want a simple list for printing out, DigitalDreamDoor offers a 200 Best list. This one doesn’t feature links to reviews or music samples, but it’s a great reference guide.
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These sites are some of my personal favorites. I’m sure there others, so please share you own in the comments below. As an avid jazz listener, I can be found on Lala.com where I and other site members recommend jazz albums to one another on an almost regular basis.
If the names of these artists are not familiar to you, then you can read more about them from a slew of well designed and content-filled websites featuring album lists, reviews, sample MP3s, concert and club performance videos that I’ll be listing.
Best Jazz Lists
“Best” lists are always subjective but if you want to get an idea of the jazz greats, the lists I found on the net are not all that varied in their selections.The aptly named 100 Greatest Jazz Albums site offers a great “100 Best” catalog, including recording dates and reviews for each album. It also includes other lists for great free music – jazz podcasts to listen to, 100 Jazz CD albums, charts and a jazz gig guide. Best of all, there are very few obtrusive ads on the site.
AllAboutJazz
AllAboutJazz features tons of reviews, interviews, discussion forums, concert photographs, links to radio stations, about jazz artists throughout the world. They also include free music, a Daily MP3 catalog of jazz to listen to – downloads that go back as far as 2005.YouTube Jazz Channel
As a jazz fan, I was elated to discover a couple of years ago the amount of videos on YouTube featuring concert and club performances by both old and new jazz artists. The Jazz Video Guy, Bret Primack, seems to have the largest collection, with over 11,166 subscribers.Popout
JazzTimes
JazzTimes is a website companion to the magazine of the same name. It also features free MP3 downloads by contemporary artists. Similar to other sites, it includes reviews, book recommendations, festivals and events lists, and a jazz education guide. Its daily columns about happenings in the jazz world will keep any aficionado of the music well informed. The site is easy to navigate and too cluttered with ads.TheJazzNetwork
The JazzNetwork is Ning.com’s network site, started by Jaijai Jackson, where you can create your own Facebook-like page with your personal blog, links, and music uploads. It also features over 200 networking groups on related subjects like Jazz Drummers, History of Jazz, Musicians for Hire, Bay Area Jazz Network, and a Network Listening Room, which features playlists by Network members.iTunes Store
The iTunes Store features well over 200 podcasts by musicians, jazz fans, and critics. Many podcasts are just straight music cuts with little or no talking. Subscribe to four or five these podcasts and you’ll have a wealth of information and music selections.
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