[Start Here] Jazz Masterpieces: A Must-Listen Album Selection

St. ThomasSonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins – St. Thomas

Saxophone Colossus is a perfect album title for a giant of jazz saxophone—a truly legendary figure! Released in 1956, this work is regarded as one of the most important albums in jazz history.

As mentioned, it’s a signature record by Sonny Rollins, a leading jazz saxophonist, and a pinnacle of modern jazz born in the 1950s.

Rollins, who even embarked on an 80th-birthday tour in 2010 and can rightly be called a living encyclopedia of jazz, offers here a performance that’s both bold and warm, vividly evoking his younger days.

It’s an album that should be considered essential in every sense.

St.

Thomas, which Rollins himself created based on an English traditional song, is among the most popular tracks on the album and has continued to be covered by many musicians as a jazz standard.

For those who want to savor the sound of the tenor saxophone, or those just stepping into the world of jazz, this is a work I highly recommend as your first listen.

Full HouseWes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery quartet – full house

One of the legendary jazz guitarists who had an enormous influence on subsequent artists is Wes Montgomery, born in 1923.

Though he grew up in a musical family, he reportedly couldn’t read music and didn’t start practicing guitar until he was around 20.

Self-taught, he became known for his distinctive style of picking with just his thumb and for extensively using octave playing—a combination that reshaped the history of jazz guitar.

His 1962 album Full House features a very cool cover that focuses on Wes’s hands as he plays.

With contributions from saxophonist Johnny Griffin and pianist Wynton Kelly, this record is a true classic etched into jazz guitar history.

It brims with the engaging tension unique to live recordings, while boasting an ensemble precision that rivals studio albums—still astonishing today.

Spanning standards to Wes’s original compositions, it’s an ideal album for enjoying the fundamentals of jazz guitar.

AcknowledgementJohn Coltrane

A Love Supreme, Pt. I – Acknowledgement

Even the Japanese title “Supreme Love” alone hints at a high level of artistry, imbued with a sacred resonance and atmosphere.

Despite a relatively brief active career of about a decade, John Coltrane, who is remembered as a giant in the jazz world, released his 1965 masterpiece A Love Supreme.

As noted at the outset, Coltrane spent many years in obscurity and only began working on the front lines in the late 1950s, after turning 30.

In the roughly ten years until his death in 1967, he blazed through an intensely concentrated jazz life at incredible speed, achieving a charismatic popularity that has inspired several documentary films.

Considered one of Coltrane’s crowning achievements, A Love Supreme is a conceptual album dedicated to God, structured in four movements.

It is an artistic tour de force in which the creativity and forward-looking style that would lead Coltrane toward free jazz in his later years come to full fruition, while also attaining commercial success.

Coltrane’s emotionally explosive playing, along with the powerhouse ensemble work of master musicians, is nothing short of breathtaking.

For listeners unaccustomed to jazz, certain aspects may feel challenging, but I hope you will experience the joy of immersing yourself in this sonic world with an open heart.

Autumn LeavesCannonball Adderley

Cannonball Adderley – Autumn Leaves

Nicknamed “Cannonball,” reportedly from his hearty appetite, Cannonball Adderley was a quintessential alto saxophonist who won wide popularity both for his work with Miles Davis’s group and for a crossover sound that reached beyond jazz.

While contributing to classics like Miles’s masterwork Kind of Blue and the experimental Bitches Brew, he also pursued a solo career; in 1961, Cannonball’s Bossa Nova—a collaboration with Brazilian great Sérgio Mendes—became a hit.

Adderley showed his versatility in the realm of soul jazz as well, and his 1958 solo album Somethin’ Else is widely regarded as a record effectively directed by Miles Davis.

Among the many Blue Note releases, this is a towering classic and a foundational title.

There are countless highlights, but the wistful, perfectly balanced ensemble on the jazz standard Autumn Leaves stands out—its poised, luxuriant sonorities epitomize mature, adult jazz and are simply mesmerizing.

It is an ideal choice as a first album for anyone beginning to explore jazz.

Cleopatra’s DreamBud Powell

Cleopatra’s Dream

Many early jazz musicians, despite their exceptional talent, struggled with various personal issues, and Bud Powell—the jazz pianist often called a leading figure of the so-called bebop style—was one of them.

Universally recognized as a genius pianist who also composed outstanding masterpieces, Powell was highly regarded for his potential from the start of his career and left recordings worthy of his talent.

However, due to health problems and other issues, he fell into alcohol and the like.

For these reasons, his peak period is generally considered the recordings from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.

Here, though, I’d like to introduce The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol.

5), released by the prestigious Blue Note Records in 1958.

In any case, Cleopatra’s Dream—known in Japan by the widely popular title “Kureopatora no Yume”—is simply superb.

It’s a piece you should hear at least once, a masterpiece that stands in jazz history.

By the way, the humming and groans you hear in the track are Powell’s own.

Why not start with this song to discover Powell’s allure, and let it be your gateway to exploring his other classic albums?

Maiden VoyageHerbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage

Herbie Hancock, who began his professional career in 1960 at the young age of 20, is a brilliant artist who, despite being a gifted jazz pianist, has continually challenged himself with a wide range of styles throughout his long career—embodying the flexibility suggested by the title of his own piece, “Chameleon.” Although he debuted on the prestigious Blue Note label, he went on to create pioneering works in jazz-funk and fusion, and by the 1980s he was already incorporating hip-hop methodologies.

As the times evolved, so did his music, making him a towering figure who balanced artistic integrity with commercial success.

It’s hard to choose just one album from Hancock’s discography, but here we’ll highlight 1965’s Maiden Voyage, widely celebrated as a landmark of the “new mainstream jazz” of the 1960s.

Known in Japan under the title “Shojo Kōkai” (“Maiden Voyage”), the album brings together members who had honed their craft in Miles Davis’s band and, as its title suggests, is a concept work themed around a “voyage.” Its restrained, intellectual ensemble playing has a strong sense of cohesion, while the memorable melodies resonate with grandeur and poetic richness.

It’s a wonderful album to accompany a solitary evening of quiet reflection.

What’s NewHelen Merrill

Helen Merrill & Clifford Brown – 1954 – 03 What’s New

Helen Merrill is a jazz singer who has been active from the 1950s to the present day.

Known for her cool, sophisticated vocal style, she is beloved by many jazz fans.

Released in 1954, “With Clifford Brown” is celebrated as a masterpiece from the early part of her career.

This album, which brought her together with Clifford Brown, is highly regarded as a work that symbolizes the golden age of jazz.

Centered on jazz standards, it showcases the exquisite harmony between Merrill’s lustrous vocals and Brown’s virtuosic trumpet.

It’s a highly recommended album for everyone from jazz beginners to seasoned listeners.