2/6/15

HERC Listens To Jazz

Longtime viewers know HERC loves him some music but he's never been much into jazz of any kind until the last two years or so when he made a somewhat focused and concentrated effort to both listen to more and learn more about jazz.  Several events set the wheels in motion and guided him along the way: a marathon watching and attentive re-watching of Ken Burns nineteen hour Jazz series from 2001, discovering Groove Notes and their list of 1000 Jazz Albums You Should Hear Before You Die, listening to an hour of jazz music every morning for more than a year including damn near every jazz playlist over on Songza and befriending fellow music lover Mark, who happens to be somewhat of a huge jazz fan.  In fact it has been Mark's ongoing series of Billboard Number One Jazz Albums posts over at his other site 1976-1985: My Favorite Decade that drives today's post.  Applying everything he has gleaned over the past two years as well as his still developing taste for jazz, HERC will name his favorite Number One Jazz Album from each of the ten posts Mark has upped, essentially one album for each year from 1976 through 1985.


1976

1977


1978


1979


1980


1981


1982


1983


1984


1985



So, it appears HERC likes the music of George Benson. And so much more.  It seems HERC's favorite jazz albums of the decade 1976-1985 never peaked at the top of the chart so here they are, in no particular order with the years they peaked as well as their peak positions:

1981
#18


1980
#16


1981
#3


1979
#2


1983
#5


1981
#10


1982
#37


1983
#2

1980
#10


1984
#7


Jazz is a very diverse and welcoming genre.
Let the commenting commence!

2 comments:

  1. Well done, old bean! You've hit almost all of my old favorites and then some! I haven't given it much thought (so don't hold me to it), but here's a quick list I just threw together based on your above criteria, while adding your usual rule of not repeating any artists in a list:

    1976: Breezin' by George Benson
    1977: Conquistador by Maynard Ferguson
    1978: Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione
    1979: Rise by Herb Alpert
    1980: Catching the Sun by Spyro Gyra
    1981: Winelight by Grover Washington Jr
    1982: As We Speak by David Sanborn
    1983: Jarreau by Al Jarreau
    1984: Wishful Thinking by Earl Klugh
    1985: Magic Touch by Stanley Jordan

    Thanks for linking to my jazz charts list, I hope to have it complete for 1976-85 by the end of March.

    Now that I look at my list, it seems to go through 3 distinct phases: 1) trumpet/flugelhorn, 2) saxophone, then 3) guitar.

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    Replies
    1. Criteria?!? Sorry boys, but the dude can't abide by criteria... He will, however, reveal his favorite Jazz LP's from your favorite decade!

      As I've previously stated, my tastes lean pretty heavily towards the smooth grooves of the Mid to Late '70s. I'm particularly fond of the more lushly orchestrated sounds they were throwin' down during that time period; and as a result, am not quite as keen on the synths & drum programming that flourished during the '80s and beyond. There are plenty of exceptions in the grand scheme of things, but I'll give you MY "Ten Best" during the "decade" that was:

      10) Taxi Driver (Soundtrack) – Bernard Herrmann (1976)
      09) Weekend In L.A. – George Benson (1978)
      08) Arabesque – John Klemmer (1978)
      07) Breakin' Away – Al Jarreau (1981)
      06) Touchdown – Bob James (1978)

      05) Jarreau – Al Jarreau (1983)
      04) Sleeping Gypsy – Michael Franks (1977)
      03) The Kenny Rankin Album – Kenny Rankin (1977)
      02) Morning Dance – Spyro Gyra (1979)
      01) Breezin' – George Benson (1976)

      That's my list, and I'm stickin' to it, by golly... Bring on the naysayers!!

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