Jordan Fine

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TOP 50 ALBUMS OF THE LATTER HALF

OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND THEN SOME

1959 – Ornette Coleman – SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME

Best Song: Lonely Woman

Honorable Mention: Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

For Jazz aficionados, 1959 was the only year for music. While Rock music was still in its infancy, Jazz was reaching its apex. Miles’ perfectly honed ‘cool’ album, Kind of Blue. Mingus’ gospel inspired Ah Um. The pioneer album of all prog-rock, Brubeck’s Time Out. Art Blakey’s Afro Cuban Moanin’.

You could argue every Jazz album that came after 1959 (and my choice for best album of 1960) would become less relevant. It has always been my belief that Jazz has become a dead art form – one soaked in tradition, but oversaturated by its own evolution…somewhat like present day Rock and Roll. Everything that could be done has already been done, and the one album that led the most to the medium’s demise is Ornette’s Shape of Jazz to Come.

Abstract and expressionist, Ornette was mimicking similar movements in modern art…while players like Miles and Coltrane were representative of Cubism and Minimalism, reflecting Picasso, Mondrian and Newman, Ornette was a couple decades ahead, splashing free expressionism with the likes of Pollock and De Kooning.

The album features Charlie Haden on bass, Don Cherry on Cornet, and Billy Higgins on percussion, and Ornette on Alto.

1960 – Coltrane – GIANT STEPS

Best Song: Giant Steps

So while Ornette was honing the model of “free” Jazz, Coltrane was working on his own masterpiece, Giant Steps, his first album of completely original “modal” compositions.

Before Modal Jazz, there was bebop. Bebop was rooted in complicated harmonic progressions and structure, fast tempos, and riff-based soloing. Modal music, conversely, was set apart by the simplicity of its harmonic framework, which allowed for more comfortable exploratory improvisation. Now, the onus was far more on the individual soloist to create interest…composing entirely new songs within single chords and choruses.

Both Miles and Coltrane were pioneers of Modal jazz, but while Miles’ approach was to textural nuance, and his modal exploration was sporadic, Coltrane emphasized the form, and would influence an entire generation of Sax Players.

1961 – Bill Evans – SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD

Best Song: Gloria’s Step

Simply one of the best live Jazz albums ever recorded, and the final recording by the Bill Evans trio.

1962 – Sonny Rollins – THE BRIDGE

Best Song: The Bridge

1962 was one of the weaker years for groundbreaking recordings, but still filled with classic, traditionalist jazz recordings. The Bridge is a great album by one of the best tenor players of all time.

1963 – Charles Mingus – THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY

Best Song: The whole thing

Mingus’ masterpiece is surely one of the greatest accomplishments in musical recording history. In addition to leading the way for future albums’ emphasis on overdubbing techniques, Black Saint is simply one of the most beautiful compositions put on record. The amount of intermingling between genres might be uncontested in any other recording at the time. Mingus defined the Avant Garde movement in Jazz.

1964 – Eric Dolphy – OUT TO LUNCH

Best Song: Out to Lunch

Once a Mingus collaborator, Dolphy could be described as “Coltrane on Speed.” This album comfortably bridges the gap between Avant Garde and Free music.

1965 – Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

Best Song: Like a Rolling Stone

Honorable Mention: Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage

It was hard for me not to pick Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage as the best album of 1965 (and for anyone interested in hearing the greatest Trumpet solo of all time, I suggest you listen to the title track, at precisely 2:24)

But 1965 marks the beginning of a time when Jazz was no longer the king of progressive music. Rock was now where great changes were happening, and one of the most important moments of Rock music was Bob Dylan becoming “electric” at the Newport Folk Festival (please refer to your music history textbook for this one) and Dylan’s first electric recording was this one.

1966 – Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Best Song: God Only Knows

Honorable Mention: Byrds – Fifth Dimension

1966 was a particularly good year for Rock. Dylan (Blonde on Blonde), the Rolling Stones (Aftermath), the Beatles (Revolver) The Monks (Black Monk Time,) The Kinks (Face to Face), The Byrds (Fifth Dimension) 13 th Floor Elevators, Zappa, Yardbirds, Donova, Simon and Garfunkle, Buffalo Springfield, Sun Ra …they are ALL good.

But Pet Sounds is the king of kings for 1965. It is by far, one of the most influential albums, if not THE most important albums of the 20 th century.

It features unconventional instruments (Theramin, Dog Whistles, Harpsichords, Buzzing Organs, Bicycle horns,) extremely intricate and elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, and was a development and refinement of Phil Spectre’s “wall of sound” recording style, making the final masters in Mono.

Unfortunately “Good Vibrations” was dropped from the lineup, later to be released on the Smile album.

1967 – Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Best Song: A Day in the Life

Honorable Mention: The Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground and Nico

This may not even be the best Beatles album (the White Album) but in 1967, this was undoubtedly the most significant recording of the year.

1968 – The Band – Music from Big Pink

Best Song: The Weight

Honorable Mention: The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle

1969 saw Hendrix, the Kinks, the Beatles, and multiple others releasing vital albums. I actually originally had the Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle in here. But I soon realized that while Psychedelic Pop was interested, the Band’s take on country and rock was far more essential to the progression of music in the 1970s.

The backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, and then Bob Dylan, the Band's influence spread from Southern Rock, to Classic Rock, to Alt-Rock, and onwards.