As some of you know, I like straight-ahead jazz as well as contemporary jazz. Do any of you like the older sounding stuff too? If so, who do you like?

Mark, there is so much great straight ahead stuff from the past but I must say that I am particularly partial to Wayne Shorter's and McCoy Tyner's records from the 60s and 70s, anything from Bill Evans and of course Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass....and Grant Green, kind of an unsung hero of jazz guitar...the list goes on and on but that's a start!

Ken
www.kennavarro.com

I wouldn't know where to start. Freddie Hubbard. Cannonball Adderley.
More recently, Kenny Garrett.
And those that Ken listed.

Thanks for the replies! I really like Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, Beatlejazz, and Brad Mehldau. From the 50s and 60s, I like Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis. We are quite lucky that Sonny Rollins is still with us. Organ trios are cool too. Peace and goodwill.

Yes to most of above. Thanks for starting the thread, Mark. Jazzwriter, I just picked up Cannonball Adderly/Sergio Mendes disc from 60's (?) a couple weeks ago. Wow.
Best,
Steve C.

I want to clarify something.
As to the sound, I've always loved it. My favorite is a mid-sized band, with 2 horns (a trumpet and tenor sax, for example) blending on the melody.
As far as artists go, I can't point to any one band or bandleader who stands out. It's sort of like the football fan who loves the game but doesn't have a favorite team.
That's because most of the straight-ahead jazz in my collection is represented by individual songs (Spyro Gyra's "Midnight," for example) rather than any artist having a lot of recordings in that style. Most of my jazz is by artists who perform a variety of styles.

I'm a big fan of Elmo Hope. He was one of the best!

Trio And Quintet by Elmo Hope

Mark . . .

I've always been a fan of pianist Bill Evans and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. And lately if you can find stuff by the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, you can enjoy one of the truly defining hard bop groups of the 1950s. Another excellent trumpet man was Chet Baker. Most of his music is available and sounds as fresh today as it did when originally recorded.

We hear so much about the greatness of alto sax man, Charlie Parker, but another guy that was incredible was Art Pepper. I've also been partial to piano jazz greats like Gene Harris and Oscar Peterson.

Gerry Mulligan, the baritone sax master, is another musician who played and recorded with just about everyone. And as already mentioned, there are so many others worth appreciating that this thread could continue for many pages.

Thankfully though, most of these artists' music is available on services like iTunes where you can go and sample their discographies.

Enjoy,

Phil

Boy, this is sure much nicer than if I had asked the opposite question on a straight-ahead forum! Peace and goodwill.