#karpeh

Top Ten Gateway Jazz Albums

Every music fan has to start somewhere. That’s what I tell myself when I see that someone hasn’t heard of an artist or an album; not every music fan needs to have heard every classic album, song, or artist to be considered a “real fan,” and I hate that term because of that reason. There are a lot of albums I found through word of mouth, looking at best of lists, and just finding in stores, whether it was FYE or an indie record store, and that doesn’t make me any less of a music fan. Hell, when I was younger, I would have loved to have someone give me a list of some classic albums to get into, especially for a genre that’s very vast and time consuming. I’m gonna be doing that today, and who knows, this might help someone get into this genre.

With that said, I’ve talked a lot about how I’ve become a big fan of jazz lately, as well as celebrating the genre through my top 20 jazz albums list, but I wanted to talk about some great jazz albums to get into if you’re new to the genre. Jazz is a daunting genre, especially if you’re new, because there are so many artists to sink your teeth into, but where do you start? That’s where I want to help out, as I’ve been able to really spend some time with the genre over the past few years, and I’ve gotten a lot of really awesome albums, so I wanted to pass my knowledge onto someone that might want to get into the genre, only they don’t know where they should begin. These are ten “gateway” albums that I think everyone should listen to if they want a good and accessible experience getting into the genre. That’s the key — accessible. All of these albums are going to be accessible in some way, so don’t expect to find the 93-minute jazz fusion maestro that’s 1970’s Bitches Brew from Miles Davis. That’s not a record that will ease someone into the genre, but these other ten albums (hopefully) will! Starting with…

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

This past year marked the 60th anniversary of the first Peanuts special, and the soundtrack to it remains one of my favorite soundtracks, as well as favorite jazz albums. A Charlie Brown Christmas may be best played during a few months of the year, but it has some iconic songs that people know, whether it’s from the special or from the Christmas canon of music. It’s one of the first jazz albums I ever heard, and it’s still one that I go back to all these years later.

Jon Batiste - Chronology Of A Dream (2019)

One of the best modern jazz musicians is pianist Jon Batiste, and you may know his work from the Pixar movie Soul, but he was also the bandleader for Stephen Colbert’s show for a long time. He left the show in 2022 to continue on with his own career, but he’s put out some wonderful albums. I really like 2021’s We Are, which combines jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, and pop to make an album that’s both diverse and homogenous at the same time; it has so many influences, but it doesn’t fold under its own weight. That isn’t really a jazz album, although it has a lot of jazz influence, but my favorite of his is 2019’s Chronology Of A Dream. He recorded a pair of albums in 2019 live at the Village Vanguard, and this is the one that’s more fun, energetic, and shorter. This album is very playful, fun, and lively, ultimately showcasing a soul-jazz type of sound that is very accessible to people that may not really be familiar with this sound.

Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me

A great type of jazz for someone new to get into the genre for the first time is vocal jazz, and that’s what most people think of when they think of jazz. This includes crooner type of singers, like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra. If there’s one artist that people associate with that vocal jazz style, it’s Sinatra. I could have put a bunch of Sinatra albums here, but I wanted to include one — 1958’s Come Fly With Me. I decided on this one for a couple of reasons, namely because it’s my favorite of his, but it’s also a fun, catchy, and easygoing album about traveling and the act thereof. There isn’t anything hard to understand here, and that’s why I’m putting it here, because it’s an accessible and catchy vacation that doesn’t require you to leave your house.

Billy Joel - 52nd Street

A perfect way to introduce people to jazz that may only have a passing familiarity with it would be to show them a jazz-rock album. During the 1970s, rock music and jazz really had a moment together, as artists were being influenced by the genre, and jazz fusion was becoming a thing. I’ll be talking about another jazz-rock classic later, but for now, let’s briefly talk about 1978’s 52nd Street by Billy Joel. By this point, Joel had his breakthrough with 1977’s The Stranger, but 52nd Street was his first number one album, and he enlisted the help of jazz musicians to give the album a different feel, and it definitely works. It has a lot of iconic songs on it, albeit with a jazzy bent that doesn’t feel too overwhelming.

Cautious Clay - Karpeh (2023)

The newest album here is the latest album from R&B / pop artist Cautious Clay, but this album counts for a couple of reasons: this album was released on acclaimed jazz label, Blue Note, and the album has a lot of esteemed jazz players, such as Julian Lage, so it counts. It’s more so an R&B and soul album that takes on elements of jazz, but when the jazzy sounds hit, it’s great. Clay, real name Joshua Karpeh (the title is based on his last name and it’s about his family history), is a multi-instrumentalist that plays with a lot of genres, and it’s great for pop and R&B fans that might want something to get into that will be a small step.

Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin’ (1958)

I wanted to include a few lesser known artists on the list, and one of them is Sonny Clark’s 1958 masterpiece, Cool Struttin’. Clark lived a very short life, only living until he was 31, but in that short time (as well as his short career), he put out some fantastic stuff. Cool Struttin’ is more of an album with a cult following, but this is a hard bop masterpiece. Clocking in at only 34 minutes, and only having four songs, this album is a quick exercise in how you can make a jazz album fun, energetic, and so lively. It’s really the performers coming together that makes each and every one of these albums work, and this album features trumpeter Art Farmer, as well as some of Miles Davis’ rhythm section from the time. That’s important, because they would go onto play on another album, which is…

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (1959)

I could have put this at one, but this gateway list isn’t ranked, or in any type of order, so we need to talk about one of the most important jazz albums of all time, if not the most important jazz album. Kind Of Blue is one of the first jazz albums I ever got into, and for good reason. It’s the jazz album that everyone tells you to check out. There’s a reason for it: it’s a classic album that revolutionized the genre. It experimented with modes, especially in favor of his typical hard bop sounds, but this record became an instant classic. This is the first jazz album, minus A Charlie Brown Christmas, that I ever heard, and it was because of it being an influential album that’s also the highest selling jazz album of all time. I always knew it as being this album that everyone recommends if you want to get into the genre. It’s a great record for that, as it’s both melodic and energetic, but it’s the main album I would recommend out of all of these. Miles Davis is the ultimate jazz performer, and this is the record to check out if you want to get into the genre.

Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

If there’s one jazz-rock album that I would recommend for newcomers to the genre, it would be Steely Dan’s Aja, but this record is truly something special. It sits between yacht-rock, jazz-rock, soul, and pop, but it’s such a wonderful album that encapsulates an easy listening experience. Steely Dan is one of those bands that a lot of rock fans know, but they might not be a fan. Now your dad, on the other hand, might be a diehard fan of these guys. This is an essential classic rock album, but it’s also a great jazz rock album, especially with its use of horns and brass instrumentation. The harmonies and hooks on this thing are utterly impeccable, but regardless of whether or both it’s a jazz or rock album, it’s just a great album overall.

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956)

This album isn’t necessarily one of the first albums I’d recommend to listen to if you’re new to jazz, but it’s an album I put here because it’s one of my favorites, and it was a solid cult classic to throw on. I wanted to throw on a few cult classics, and more underrated albums, versus the typical classics and albums people recommend, but that would still be accessible. Sonny Rollins is a saxophone player from the 1940s and 1950s that was huge in that scene, and he played with a lot of the big players of that time. The album right before the one I’ll be talking about today, 1956’s Tenor Madness, featured the only recording with John Coltrane. The album we’ll be talking about today is 1956’s Saxophone Colossus, and it’s a masterclass in the saxophone. I’m a huge fan of Rollins, and this was one of the first jazz albums I got into, but it’s a solid hard bop album that has a great balance between being energetic and melodic.

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1965)

I took a stroll through the highlands

I took a chance on the mindless

Chasing a closed loop

Hoping through free throws in my mind

Throwing me out

Throwing me up

Throwing me outta my element

Oh baby, you'll be a star

Ohio

Ohio

I took a stroll through the highlands

Took a chance on the mindless

Minding my own feet

Hands on the steering wheel of lives

Throwing me out

Throwing me up

Coughing it out like it's cinnamon

But I've been on this hill before

Ohio

Cautious Clay - Karpeh

The landscape of physical media has changed quite a lot over the last decade or so. I have fond memories of going to Best Buy, Target, and even Walmart sometimes, and finding random albums, some of which were completely new to me. I’m still of the mindset of checking out an album with a cool cover, but sometimes looks are deceiving. If a cover looks cool enough, I’ll check it out. I’ll also check out an album if the price is right, and there’s only a few places you can do that nowadays. One of my favorite places to go now is Half Price Books, because you can find almost anything if you go every couple of weeks. Things change constantly, but you never know what you’ll find.

That’s exactly what happened when I found copies of two 2023 albums in the clearance section, both of which I had on my radar, yet never listened to. The first one is Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino’s solo debut, Natural Disaster, and I’ll talk about that one soon, too, but the other album I found was the sophomore album by Cautious Clay. Entitled Karpeh, this album caught my attention for a couple of reasons, namely that he signed to legendary jazz label Blue Note, and he shifted his sound from an alt-R&B/pop sound to a jazzier and more soulful sound.

I love jazz, and I’ve made no secret about that, so I was really ecstatic when I saw this album in the clearance section. I got both of these albums for a dollar each, and that’s a steal, basically. For that price, if I didn’t love the album, I wouldn’t be mad about it, because I only spent a dollar, but if I did love it, it would be an awesome deal to say that I got. Sure enough, I really like this album, and I kinda love it, at least parts of it, anyway. I’ve got some issues with this thing, but it’s a solid little record. I know I typically don’t review stuff that isn’t “new,” but I wanted to talk about these two albums I got, because they’re albums I wanted to check out.

The thing with Karpeh is that I like this album quite a bit, and what it tries to do, but this album feels like it’s two albums at the same time. What do I mean by that? Well, this record has two different distinct sounds, whether it’s a jazzy sound that shows up a lot, or an R&B/soul sound. Sometimes a track might lean into one or the other, but sometimes it also leans into both at the same time. And that’s where the album loses me, at least somewhat, because it doesn’t balance these two sides of his sound well. I love individual moments, or certain songs, but the album itself just doesn’t flow well.